The SteamCon II SteamPunk Convention is scheduled for November 19th – 21st, 2010.  They’ve just announced a new website (much of it still under development), which is very nicely done.

The 1st SteamCon was a huge success.  I had sent Omega7Red’s own infamous Captain Jamison Dao of the HRMAS Prometheus to the SteamCon event.  However, he failed to report back.  Apparently, he was killed in a duel, most violently.  (hit the more to read on) Read more »

Usually, I look at most SteamPunk jewelry, and I think “Meh…”  There’s some pretty creative stuff out there, but usually not something you would wear to work.  However, this ring is fairly well done, and worthy of attention.

It’s also functional.  You can create your own nervous habit of spinning the counter-rotating rings on your finger.  Or, if you’re like me, you can give them “the finger” with style.

 The Gear Ring from Kinekt has functional gears in the middle that allow the bezel to rotate. And that’s pretty much it. No lasers or anything. They’re available in US sizes 9-12 for $165, and may need to be oiled from time to time. Not unlike the Tin Man! Who, fun fact: is not a robot. Don’t get me wrong, I’d still crush his ass on my face like an empty beer can, he just isn’t a robot. No laughing, Lion, you’re next.

Via Geekologie

Most impressive…  Steve Wozniak, Apple’s co-founder and an impressive engineer, has made himself a functional and practical Nixie-tube watch.  I don’t know why I have such a hard-on for Nixie’s, but it’s certainly more impressive than the steampunk toiletthat came across my desk recently.  Seriously, some of you steampunk’ers have too much in common with pot-heads; instead of trying to make a bong out of everything, you try to make everything into a vacuum-tube, like this Model 420 Pneumatiform Infumationizer.

Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak shows us that a nixie tube watch is probably a better idea in theory than it is in practice. It’s so bulky. Sure looks like a lot of trouble he has to go through just to change the time zone. Never mind that, if they could just make these things a whole lot smaller, we’d really be lusting after one.

via: DVICE

BTW, pot-heads suck.  Read my Official Position on 420.

Now this is cool, no matter who you are.  A self-propelled Victorian house.  This is an HDRI photo of the Neverwas Haul.  And it’s not just pretty, it’s actually functional.  It even sports a psuedo-periscope called a “Camera Obscura”.  I only wish that there were more photos of the interior; as well as a generous amount of scantily-clad Victorian prostitutes and Whiskey.

Neverwas Haul, a self-propelled 3-story Victorian House, made from 75% recycled equipment and materials, returns with new interiors, operating system, and collections from its travels around the world (i.e., oddities of the Jules Verne era including a Camera Obscura, described below). The Haul measures 24 feet long by 24 feet high and 12 feet wide and is built on the base of a 5 th wheel travel trailer.

A cooperative effort of a number of artists, photographers and lens makers, the Camera Obscura is installed in the turret of the Haul. With the support of a trained technician, the public sees many a spectacular view. A camera obscura is a series of lenses creating an image that is projected onto a concave screen table (sketch included below) [not on this site]. The size of the unit is approximately 12 feet tall by 3 feet wide and is made from hand-made glass lenses, recycled brass fittings and antique ironwork.

Check out the Site for full details: neverwashaul.com

I ran across this recently, but I can’t tell if it’s real. It looks like a really good 3D rendering. Plus, the surface mount components on the PCB kind of ruin the valve tech feel.  Now, take this case and make it a “ship in a bottle”, that would be awesome.  Anyways, it’s interesting, but not as cool as the Nixie Clock with GPS Accurracy that I recently posted.

BTW, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed so that you can now when there are new posts.  If you don’t know how to use RSS feeds, figure it out; it’s the only way to keep up with your favorite blogs.  Sorry I’ve been out for a while. I had to move from California back to Arizona. California can fall off into the ocean, and I hope it does and takes Florida with it.

Oh man.  Super nice models of the Nautilus (Disney version) from the Nautilus Drydocks (go there for more pictures).  I’m loowking at the 66-inch model, and there’s exceptional attention to detail.  You could almost shoot with this as the hero model.  Even the wheelhouse is fully detailed.

They even have additional options to convert it to a Radio Controlled sub that can go into the water.  But you’ll never catch me putting such a toy into the drink.  Knowing my luck, somebody with a model HMS Warrior would come along and sink my sub.

There’s a lot of buzz on the popular, tech blogs about the new T-2 amplifier from Neuhaus Labs.  It’s built on vacuum tubes and hand-wound transformers.  I’ve got about 14 years in the Pro Audio and Video manufacturing industries, so naturally I was very curious to look at the T-2.  Short answer:  It’s a WIN!  Here’s my opinion.

Read more »

Escapement, by Jay Lake.  3 Stars out of 5.  A novel set in a SteamPunk universe where the world is hollow and filled with gears, and a giant Wall dividing the world is guarded by mechanical Brass Men.  This is the sequel to Mainspring (maybe, it’s hard to tell if it’s actually a sequel).  The story follows a young girl from a tiny fishing village who wants to see more of the world, and as fate would have it, is compelled to do just that.  Soon into her journey, she learns of the great mechanical prowess of the British, and sets out for England.  However, her skills in constructing the rare Gleam attract the attentions of evil-doers, and her magnificent adventure ensues.

Read more »

It’s a SteamPunk, SteamPump, StinkPunk, some kind of comic or graphic novel…  Anyways, this guy’s trying his hand at making himself a SteamPunk style comic.  The website (stinkpump.com) shows several panels, but the comic itself seems incomplete; it looks like an active work-in-progress.

However, I did enjoy watching the video below the panels that showed a time-lapse sequence of the creation process; quite amusing, especially when the artist changes his mind.  You can see a strong Anime influence as well, but what are we trying to say with “stinkpump”?  Somebody let me know when it’s done so I can do a proper WIN/FAIL review.  Good luck finding my e-mail address…

Greeting Professor…

This is cool no matter who you are.  A nice chess set with vacuum tubes that apparently light up when they are placed into the sockets on the board.  Very nice.  However, a close look at the photos, and it appears that LED’s are doing the actual illumination.  Well, I guess 20kV of filament voltage would burn the fingers.

This wonderful vacuum tube chess set, by maker Paul Fryer, actually has electricity running inside the board so that the tubes can draw power and glow as you move them from square to square. It is called, somewhat appropriately, Chess Set for Tesla, and Paul actually made seven sets last year.

From: WIRED