It's got both audio in and out, and could actually be kind of useful in certain situations. I know in my clumsier younger days, I once accidentally kicked an audio cable that was plugged into my computer's audio out port, thoroughly destroying it, and bought a similar doodad because it was cheaper than getting my laptop repaired. At $32, the "Tube Delight" could probably serve that same purpose, albeit with added garishness. [Brando via DVICE]

And, also, forget Twitter—I need the narrator of these videos to just follow me around and annotate the minutiae of my life in that glorious 1940s radio voice. Now that would be entertainment.

[via Make]

Sure there isn't a whole lot of mainstream demand for vacuum tubes these days, what with those fancy solid state electronics everybody's been talking about, but in certain audiophile circles, nothing beats the clean boost of a tube amp. Electro-Harmonix manufacturers 2/3 of the world's new vacuum tubes, and stockpiles any rare tube stocks they can find in their Long Island City warehouse, where they extensively test and pair them before shipping them off.

And let's not forget those effects pedals. EH is responsible for legends like the Big Muff (my friend Greg still has his, the same one we used to distort the fuck out of our high school cover band, while at the same time receiving mild to mildly serious electric shocks from its well-worn wires—our fault for cracking it open, not EH's), the Small Stone phase shifter, Memory Man delay and cool new gear like the Voice Box auto harmonizer—chances are, at the next concert you go to, you'll spy an Electro-Harmonix pedal or two on the board. Very cool to see inside.

Just remember, if you ever need to play the bass part to Radiohead's National Anthem—a Big Muff is what you seek. [Electro-Harmonix, Boing Boing TV]

Designed, built and marketed solely by "Koolatron," the clock/display was cobbled together using "vintage Cold War-era Soviet vacuum fluorescent tubes and custom driver circuitry."

According to the designer, every four-letter English word could potentially pop up on the display. To prevent incomprehensible gibberish from ruining your day the device is programmed to display pronounceable words, not random letters. [Etsy via technabob]

There's two headphone jacks on the front for some dual-amplifying action. Honestly, though, if you need an $800 headphone amp powered by vacuum tubes, you may need to reconsider your priorities. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page [Audio Adviser via The Red Ferret Journal]

What's weird, though, is that it's only available in Japan (about $83). Kind of ironic considering most old people who'd appreciate the tube-based radio probably still have images of Pearl Harbor burned in their heads. It does look really fun, though. – Nicholas Deleon

Product Page (in Japanese) [Raktuen via Fareastgizmos.com]

Metasonix Unveils Wretch Machine Prototype [Create Digital Music]