The Japanese maple in Jeff Dauber's San Francisco backyard is not at the center of a carbon-sucking vortex. Sorry, sci-fi fans, but the Berkeley-based architect Thom Faulders's perfectly flat deck only looks like its far corner has its own warped gravity. Ever since Francesco Borromini's Gallery Spada, in Rome, forced perspectives and architectural patronage have gone hand in hand, but whereas the Renaissance architect employed a mathematician to make that arcade seem longer through foreshortening, Faulders used 3-D–modeling software to achieve Deformscape's dipping effect.

"I wanted someone to barf when they look at it," says Dauber

So Dauber serves guests burgers on the built-in grill only to get a perverse satisfaction when they puke it up later on. Nice. But the weirdness doesn't end there. Faulders also designed much of the interior space of the home, turning it into a bachelor pad/art gallery with crazy walls and ceilings that appear to undulate. Needless to say, if you suffer from motion sickness don't hang out with this man. [Metropolis via Fast Company]

That's right, you make any surface doodle-ready with a few coats of paint. It's perfect for offices, kids rooms, the fridge or backsplash in the kitchen—anywhere that it might be useful to jot things down. Hell, you could coat an entire room and put up crazy artwork. The possibilities are endless. And the best part is that you can request a free sample from the website—although purchasing enough for a project is going to run you about $4 per square foot. [IdeaPaint via Apartment Therapy]

The hack requires a little plumbing know how and some circuitry work, which makes it slightly harder than your normal DIY project. To help you and your pets out, Tsruzik has put together some kits for order. Prices range from $10 to $125.

The end product works a lot like those sinks that automatically turn on when you waive your hands under them—except instead of detecting hands, it detects cats. Tsruzik has even thrown in an optional “people detector” so that the faucet won't run every time a person walks by. Check out the video to see some cute kittie drinking action:
[MAKE]

Since it uses two AA batteries, if you have lots of guests or like to ring your doorbell a lot, you might want to have that ladder handy for replacing the batteries on a regular basis. It lets you choose three volume levels, and there's a hook on the back that lets you remove the unit to change out the sound files or batteries. Too bad it doesn't use the power from the low voltage circuit that runs your doorbell chime. This customizable doorbell idea better be important to you, because the thing costs $100. [Think Geek]

The only drawback we saw was the inability to have two or three of these switches together in a dual-gang or triple-gang arrangement, a common configuration around here. Some of us wished the conductive-fabric switching part was available in more than just that gray color, but the rest of us thought the whole concept was way cool. Big thumbs up! [International Fashion Machines]

Star Trek Voyager Apartment Now Up for Sale [Uber Review]

Not only is it spot-on realistic, it's packed with tech and gadgets such as voice-activated LED lighting throughout, hi-tech HVAC systems and authentic sound effects. He even has plans to install Star Trek-style sliding doors. But what, is this guy a set designer or something? Well, he is now. He's started his own renovation biz, 24th Century Design, doing projects like this for clients. Amazing. See how he did it in this well-written article. – Charlie White

Apartment Transformed into Star Trek Shrine [Electronic House]

Design Your Own Tiles [Coolest Gadgets]

These are still graphics in these ceiling tiles, but as soon as flat-panel displays get cheap enough, we're going to make ceiling tiles out of LCD displays, and then feed live video into them using an HD camera pointed at the sky. Sheesh, our idea probably won't be that much more expensive than a SkyCeiling. – Charlie White

Product Page [The Sky Factory] (Thanks, Stephen!)

Product page [via Uber Review]

How does it work? The flushless urinal contains a liquid consisting of alcohol and mineral oils, which are lighter than the urine which flows through the liquid and down the drain. There's a special cartridge that replaces the conventional drain that makes this possible. It wouldn't be much fun to be the poor soul who has to change those cartridges, though.

No Flush: Let the Yellow Mellow [Wired News]

360 Electrical plans a family of products based on this great idea including GFCI outlets, 20-amp commercial-grade outlets, 250-volt outlets, multiple outlets and even power strips. Wonder why nobody thought of this before?

Product page [via Gizmag] Thanks, Russell!