Every now and then there comes a lamp that makes me tingle. I’m not referring to the Smoon Ombrella or the Centipede Lamp, though those two are weird in their own right. Designer Chris Natt was fed up with varying levels of light in his work environment, so he made this lamp, the Stimuli 3.0, that will keep the light level constant. When asked, “What the hell is this thing you made, Chris?”

His response, “It’s a lighting system whose shape and therefore light output sensitively varies inversely with the surrounding natural light intensity. For example, at dusk, illumination gradually increases as natural light recedes. At the heart of this device is a unique 3 axis gear box which enables this subtle alteration of lighting through an attractive and striking change in form of the device.”

Very cool, indeed. It’s like a chameleon but instead of color-changing skin, it’s camouflage is the light and it adjusts accordingly. I can’t imagine skulking in front of my Hot Pocket-infested desk in the office of my Mother’s basement without one of these to keep the light level just right.

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Sometimes size doesn’t matter. But we all know that only men lacking in the trouser snake department say that. For example, don’t buy a Ferrari because you have a tiny penis. Sure, you’ll get a date out of it but, once you drop your pants, that girl will be singing to the whole town about what you aren’t packing.

Why not show her something worth talking about that isn’t connected to your body, like the Little Lamp. What makes it so little? The fact that its power source is also its stand, which happens to be a D-cell battery. It packs quite the punch for such a tiny lamp and one battery provides 150 hours of light from an LED bulb that’ll outlive the next 40 batteries you use on it. At $35, it won’t confuse your lady friends at the dinner table like the lamp candle and it’ll also give them a hint of what’s to come.

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In your neighborhood, you may have noticed that the street lights can be almost as horrendous looking as the telephone lines. Designer Jongoh Lee must’ve been disgusted by the intrusion on mother nature for having come up with these solar powered street lights that imitate leaves, called Invisible Streetlight. The lights are comprised of a double injection of silicon, aluminum materials and a photocapacitor, which keeps it glowing all night long.

While it’s by no means a bloomin’ dildo light source, it’ll at least fit in with the other leaves on the tree. Though we’re more impressed with leaves that want to be lights rather than lights that want to be leaves, the Invisible Streetlight is a fine alternative to power wasting street lights.

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The picture above is Microsoft’s new fortress of solitude for Bill Gates. Just kidding, it’s actually a fire station in Mexico City. It was designed by the companies At 103 and BGP Arquitectura.  It’s not much of a looker during the day but at night, light shines through the slits in between the chrome-like plates for an impressive light show you’re guaranteed not to find at any other fire station.

Why such a fancy fire station? Well, it also serves as a recruiting center. As such, you’ve got to have an appealing environment if you want to attract heat-craving lifesavers that are not only crazy enough to wear a fire hose, but also crazy enough to take a job that’s about as dangerous as it gets.

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Making your own arcade unit? What about some other DIY project that uses buttons? Buttons that don’t glow are mundane and unattractive, so why not make your own illuminating buttons? Playing arcade games in the dark is tough without being able to see what button you’re mashing down upon.

Thankfully, Hacknmod has written up a great how to guide on converting those dull unilluminating buttons into the glowing variety. It’s not too late to turn the buttons on your DIY Neo-Geo joystick into something worthwhile.

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 I just can’t get enough of all this new glass.  Saazs has developed a self-illuminating glass which could eventually replace light-bulbs altogether. It’s an eco-friendly design that eliminates the need for electricity.  It doesn’t quite light up the room like a neon-light would and only lasts about 20 years, but it’s still a better solution if you’re all about the green.

Environmental improvements are delivered in part by the non-toxic gas employed: a significant improvement over the mercury-infused gas of neon bulbs.

Within three years, the company hopes to not only increase the life of the illuminating glass but also make its light efficiency just as bright as your average neon-light. Hippies are going to love to couple this with the Livinglass.

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