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Just ignore those Jedi wannabes and their toy Lightsabers, not to mention the irritating cubicle-mate who wants to show off his Darth Vader umbrella every chance he gets. The true Star Wars aficionado will reveal himself with this, to the awe of all: Atari's original arcade cockpit.

Voyager Arcade, a U.K. company that specializes in retro arcade machines (obviously), is offering this vintage 1983 cockpit refurbished to its former glory. (We didn't know there was such a thing as an arcade refurb.) And the price on this machine has even been slashed to 3,995 pounds, or … Read more

I'm In Like With You is a different kind of dating site. On the site, users spend points to bid for access to people they like. You get these spendable points as you use the site: when you log in, for example, and when you answer simple, seemingly random questions, like "What's your favorite drink?" and "Have you been roller skating since the 8th grade?" that pop up in the lower portion of the window. Unlike most "dating" sites, these questions aren't there to help users make a deep connection--they're … Read more

When I was a kid, one of my friends had a doormat at her house that simply said "GO AWAY." Of course, it was a joke, and we all thought it was hilarious. But that was the 20th century, and nowadays a simple threatening message just won't do. This is the digital age, folks.

Apparently, now you have to scare your unwanted visitors away with an LED animation of the classic arcade game "Space Invaders." The Back Off Doormat, which retails for $110, is designed to do just that. It's powered by two AA … Read more

UPDATE on 6/4: Some weeks after this item was posted, Apple revealed its release date for the iPhone: On the first Sunday in June, the company said the iPhone would be available June 29 and began running a series of ads featuring the device.

ORIGINAL POST STARTS HERE: Ever since Steve Jobs' keynote at the Macworld Expo in January, we've known that the iPhone is being released sometime in June. But we haven't known exactly when.

Now Cingular is confirming that the release date will be June 11. A customer service manager at Cingular (we called 800-947-5096 … Read more

So you're ready to take on the world with your Lightsaber phone and MP3 Lightsaber. But wait--your Millennium Falcon develops engine trouble. What's a Jedi to do?

Why, whip out your Safety Wand and Megaphone, of course--"a safety beacon that amplifies your voice up to five football fields away," as Uber-Review says. It's not an official piece of equipment from the Lucas empire, but it sure could have fooled us. (Do we hear the pitter-patter of trademark attorneys?)

Anyway, at least your ship has been rescued. And good thing you didn't have a … Read more

Gossip about the superhyped Apple iPhone is like the latest Lindsay Lohan tidbit. You may not know that it's true, but it's worth repeating just the same. Such was the case for the Crave blog I posted two days ago that predicted a possible iPhone release date of June 15. At the time, we warned you that Apple's "leaked" FCC letter could be a hoax, and yesterday our Phonescoop friends discovered indeed it was. As Engadget says, the document in question was actually a Photoshopped filing for Apple's Airport Extreme base station. Aw shucks. … Read more

The headline on this item posted by Gizmodo says it all: the "opposite of a chick magnet." No offense to Star Wars loyalists (OK, a little), but this has got to be one of the nerdier ideas we've seen in awhile--and, trust us, that's saying a lot. Do you really want to be known as the guy/gal who has a Lightsaber MP3 player?

Then again, it would be the perfect complement to the Lightsaber phone and, for that matter, the R2-D2 projector. All this could end up costing a pretty penny, but think of all … Read more

On Monday, Oodle will officially launch its personals service. Oodle is a classifieds aggregator: it parses and collates results from thousands of sites in response to search queries. And now it's adding personal ads.

A little background: If you're looking for a used sofa or car, Oodle will scan classifieds in your area and link you directly to listings. It's a great way to make sure you're not missing out on a good deal. (It would be much better if Oodle scanned Craigslist, though. Unfortunately, Craigslist forbids it.)

With personals, the game is somewhat different. Many … Read more

There should be a rule: Just because you can make something, it doesn't mean you should. That's how we feel about these iDazzle mini-speakers made for the iPod, as seen on Chip Chick. Sure, they may very well work. But even if they had Bose-quality sound (which, at $10, we somehow doubt), these things are coyote ugly. And we don't mean in the good way.

(Photo: SPI)