Good job, kid. I thought I was the master at winning at those claw machines/crane machines you see in the arcade. That was, until I saw you crawling into the goddamned machine in the above video. You sneaky shit. You think you can just climb in there and take all the XXL New York Mets t-shirts you want? Not on my watch. I demand you put those stuffed animals back and wait until security arrives. You’ve disrupted the inner balance of the almighty crane machine. Bastard from a basket.

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I think we can all agree that drinking cold beer is the best activity ever created. But after a long day at the beach, drinking cold brews under a hot sun, we’re left with tons of empty bottles. Now because we’re vacationing in a shitty state (we’re cheap), we can’t recycle these bottles for money. So what can we do with them? Smash ‘em.

Afasia 1, aka The Beer Blaster, from Arcangelo Sassolino is a pneumatic canon that uses nitrogen to shoot empty beer bottles at a wall. The entire enclosure has a cage around it so spectators can watch the smashing. Every few minutes, a shot is fired from the canon and another bottle is smashed. So the next time you start drinking, make sure you start smashing if you want to have any sort of fun.

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If you’re like Vince and I, competitive bikers and participators in the Tour de France, then you’ll be happy to know that the bike company Trek is pioneering the forefront in vending machines for bikes called “Trek Stop.” It’s the cycling convenience center that provides nearby stranded bikers all the needs (without the know-how) for bike repair.

At the moment, there is only this test unit, which will be set up for a month outside of Machinery Row Bicycles in Madison, Wisconsin. So, if you just so happen to be in the area and get a flat or need a spare water bottle, stop by the vending machine and take care of it. If you’re no where near Madison, Wisconsin, you’re shit out of luck, brahski.

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So you’ve seen the Star Wars Rube and the perhaps that viral ad Cadbury did with the eggs. Now we’ve found a Rube Goldberg machine that most Americans would be proud to build. It’s none other than a cocktail-mixing machine! But not just any cocktail…

This Rube Goldberg machine makes sheer delight out of the process of mixing a Falling Water ( 30mls (1Oz) 42BELOW Feijoa Vodka, lemonade, long slice of seedless cucumber, ice

Personally, I’d prefer a machine that could pour whiskey into my mouth in 10-minute intervals. That’s a slice of heaven in my book.

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Neatorama has done a great job at rounding up some wacky and unique vending machines. While we’ve all reached for that 5-year-old bag of Party Mix before, these machines offer everything from marijuana to hot dogs to iPods. Though iPods aren’t anything new, I was surprised to find you can get a delicious (and kosher) Nathan’s hot dog from a machine.

My personal favorite is the live bait machine. Something about it just seems - wrong? I’ll stop blabbing and let you check it out for yourself. And yes, there is a porno vending machine.

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A Japanese company called Fujitaka has introduced a “Child Check System” for cigarette vending machines that uses facial recognition. It then compares the face with 100,000 faces in the vending machines database after taking a digital photograph of the consumer.

The legal smoking age in Japan is 20, so if you just so happen to be a 13-year old looking 20 year-old man, you’re shit out of luck. And if you’re a 20-year old who looks like a 13-year old, you get to cheat the system.

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What is surely the result of brainstorming under the influence of far too much caffeine, coffee addict Tim Hirzel presents his hacked Rancilio Silvia espresso machine. With the help of an Arduino micro-controller, Hirzel has managed to allow the espresso machine to be controlled by the Wii Nunchuk controller.

The Silvia espresso machine, which now features an integrated calendar, sleep timer, wake-up alarm, and temperature regulation, can all be remotely controlled using the Wii peripheral. Hit the jump for a video demonstration. (more…)

Sanyo Japan was showcasing their new line of washing machines, AQUA this morning. The one that catches the most attention would be the ability of dry cleaning clothes at home. You heard that right, the wet-washing machine is able to dry-clean your clothes too, and they’re using Ozone. Sanyo was able to lower the temperature down to 50C, making leather jackets (and shoes) or silk ties fit to be tumbled in those washing drums.

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