Strange film catalog. For those with more eclectic tastes in movie genres, this list is for you. Browse this compilation of films grouped in categories that you'd be hard pressed find at your local rental store.
Relevant links: Search DVDs in other genres
Phone-controlled car. Just in time for the holidays, this toy is great for road warriors everywhere. Let your Bluetooth-enabled cellphone charge up and drive this near-Hugo-sized Ferrari wannabe.
Brilliant writing. This video shows how drawing can be a real enlightening experience! The graphite in pencil lines can complete a circuit that turns on a light bulb. Erase to break the circuit and the light goes out.
Gun that fires around corners. This recoil-less Israeli firearm allows the operator to aim and fire at targets that are otherwise too dangerous to attack face-to-face. Plus, the optional paintball kit is sure to improve your odds at your next bachelor party.
Acrobatic Automaton. This 19th century device performs on a trapeze with no outside help. The video (which launches automatically in a new browser) must be seen to be believed.
Relevant links: Learn about the magic
Japanese vending machines. From water salad and toilet paper to used schoolgirl underwear, our friends from the Orient have public automated tellers for nearly everything. Mildly disturbing, yet oddly convenient.
Speakers from another planet? These UFO-inspired speakers from Bang & Olufsen use the properties of the ellipse to produce out-of-this-world music. Active technology adapts the sound dynamics to wherever this 2500-watt speaker is placed in the room.
No effort lawn mowing. Your old clunker can't quite cut it? Controlled remotely from the convenience of your front porch, this gas/electric hybrid mower is every allowance-deprived pre-teen's dream.
Hurricane season video. This amazing video highlights the paths of the major hurricanes of 2005. Great for determining the odds of your next failed vacation.
The Internet mapped. Ever wondered what the Internet looks like from a topological network perspective? Glad you asked, because this team graphs linked nodes over time and comes up with some fascinating diagrams.
BMW films in the comics. The ground-breaking car film shorts have switched gears, and are now available in the comic world. Unforunately the films are no longer available on the Net, but leave it to the artists at Dark Horse to put you back in the driver's seat.
Plasma TV art. In an ironic twist of technology, these hour-long DVDs turn your plasma screen into an aquarium, a fireplace, or even a classic painting. Watching your pixels burn out has never been more entertaining.
Relevant links: Buy this DVD
Oriental mouse rugs. Treat your mouse to luxurious-looking oriental patterned rugs without those far-away import prices. Point-and-click with panache as the feel-good nylon fibers ensure a great working surface.
Relevant links: Get your own
The world's ugliest dog. With its gremlin hair tufts, oozing pustules, rotting gums and vacant eyes, this revolting canine looks like it rolled over and is still playing dead. Go fetch an extreme makeover, Cujo.
Relevant links: Read about the breed
Explosive tree roots. This pine-tingling image shows a tree struck by lighting in the U.S. Shockingly, the water and sap in the roots instantly boiled and exploded out of the ground. Protect your own limbs and stay indoors!
Record breaking Origami. Nothing gets you in shape better than Origami! From cranes made from one-millimeter square pieces of paper to an urchin that took 913 creases to create, these awe-inspiring paper achievements show more folding than after a stock market crash.
Relevant links: Gallery, Paper airplanes, Learn how to do Origami
Interactive projection technology. Video showing a prototype of a digital projection system from Microsoft that physically interacts with the user. Unfortunately, playing pong with yourself may not help your personal life.
Creature Art. This NYC artist's boogeyman complex is slightly more scary than his designs, but his imaginative drawings definitely capture all of the emotions that terrorize 3-year-olds everywhere.
Relevant links: Draw your own monsters
Remember Qix, BurgerTime, Snafu and Zaxxon? GameTap allows download of all the games that defined your childhood. Never again will your sought-after high scores be thwarted by technology upgrades.
Humans remote controlled! Japanese inventors have answered the call of spouses everywhere. This reporter tries a new device that sends pulses to the nervous system in an attempt to drive her motions. While it probably made her more nauseous than compliant, it does give us a glimpse of the future of democracy.
Baby vomit. This jaw-dropping TV recap pieces together some excerpts of the more unpleasant parts of a child's upbringing.
Innovative messaging phone. Samsung's new SGH-D307 phone transforms to make texting and moblogging easier. Despite the intuitive keyboard, you can dictate your e-mails and messages and it will write it out for you. An updated model that mows the lawn is supposedly out next year.
Relevant links: More Specs
Plague hits a multi-player video game. Is this contagious bit of news of a digital virus affecting characters in the World of Warcraft online game a programming bug, brilliant gameplay idea or a well-executed publicity stunt?
Relevant links: Get the Game
Order your Veyron today. Going zero to 300 km/h in under 17 seconds (tops out at 400 km/h), the 1,001 HP Bugatti Veyron is now officially a production vehicle. Scientists are researching the effects of esophageal compression and circulatory deficiencies in adults using the accelerator pedal.
Relevant links: See it in Sicily, More images
Beetles from Hell! 12 people hurt in Rove beetle attack in Malaysia. Known as the Devil's Coach-horse in New Zealand, the fluid they excrete is 15 times more potent than cobra venom!
Relevant links: Read about deadly bugs
