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There aren't many people who don't enjoy stroking the fur of a pet, whether it be a dog, a cat, or a rabbit. And animal lovers aren't the only ones who appreciate brushing or stroking fur--there's something theraputic about cuddling up to a furry companion. Of course, not eveyone owns pets, which is why this fluffy iPhone case by ION Factory could be a quirky alternative.

The strange-looking Monster iPhone 4 or 4S cover comes in three different colors, and sports a long, wild faux fur material. It's just itching to be tamed by you stroking or even grooming it. The main case simply snaps onto the back of your phone, and has all the cutouts for the camera, and volume and lock buttons.

If you love your iPad but want something a little more steampunk, never fear: you can surround your iPad in vintage charm--and touch-typing, too. Meet the USBTypewriter, suitable for giving all your modern technology a bit of a retro feel.

This impressive gadget by Jack Zylkin is an actual old-timey typerwriter, modified to work like a typical USB keyboard for your computer or, even better, a few tablet models. In addition to the typical letters and number keys, it has control, escape, and F1 through F12 keys, plus old-school carriage return. Yes, it still works with paper, too (sorry, printer!).

[Photo: Erik de Nijs]

It's happened to the best of us: You spilled coffee on your keyboard at work, and the IT guy is so pissed that he doesn't want to give you a new one. What do you do? Get pants with a built-in keyboard of course!

Here at GeekTech, the entire team has eagerly awaited the launch of the Minecraft Lego set since it was just a small possibility back in December. Since then, the good people over at Lego CUUSOO and the Minecraft community have generated enough interest for Lego to approve the sets, and finally you can now get a glimpse of the finished project.

Named Lego Minecraft Micro World, three Lego fans developed the final design: Chris Malloy, Kyle Tingey, and Bjarne Tveskov. The set comprises of a typical mine with a hilly terrain on top, and all the essential minerals hidden underground. The set includes two characters—Steve and of course, a Creeper. As with many Lego sets, not only are there variations of the build, but also plenty of bricks to create your own Minecraft playground.

[Photo: Jason Tsui]Getting up before 9am is probably one of the worst chores of the day. It's almost like you wake up, but your bed keeps you firmly tucked under your warm sheets. So you set the alarm for "just another 5 minutes." Then an whole hour goes by, and you're late for work. Again.

If the conventional alarm isn't enough in the morning, you may want to check out the Ramos Alarm Clock by Paul Sammut. This alarm clock, currently a project on Kickstarter, looks like any other wooden alarm clock. You set it like a normal clock, and in the morning the alarm goes off like a normal clock. However, there's no button to switch off the noise. Instead, you have to walk to a "defuse panel" (which you would place somewhere like the bathroom or near the coffee maker) and enter a code to make it shut up.

[Photo: Flexoduss]What's cooler than rooting your smartphone or tablet to run upcoming versions of the Android OS? Making other random gadgets run Android. One of the coolest of these hacks has to be by XDA-Developers member "flexoduss," who got Android 2.1 running on his Game Boy. Wait, what?

OK, so this isn't quite the root it appears: Flexoduss gutted an old Game Boy and slid in his Motorola MB511 Flipout phone, so it's more like an extremely cool phone case. The ultimate goal is to get the GameBoy's control buttons to work, but Flexoduss hasn't gotten there just yet.

For us pet owners, one of the worst parts of the day is leaving our furry friends behind so we can go to work. Worse still, some pets don't handle being alone all that well, and take to destroying items around the house. While some cats may just let themselves out, not all other animals are content with sleeping in the house, so it's time to give your faithful companion a friend of its own.

DarwinBot is an experiment by Jordan Correa, a test developer at Microsoft's Robotics Group. He was looking for a way to test out the Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio 4 development tool, and decided to try out the most recent updates on his dog, Darwin, who needed some comfort and distraction while his owners were out. The robot allows Jordan to remotely interact with Darwin over the Internet.

[Photo: The Ratchet and Cog]When you're planning to hit up the clubs or attend a party, you want to make sure you are looking your absolute best. As a geek, there are many ways to make an impression beyond the usual apparel--and we're not just talking about a bringing along portable LED dance floor either.

Female geeks, here's a pair of shoes you'll never regret buying: vintage Steampunk LED Heels. When sat amongst your shoe collection, these wedge heels will just look like a pair of nice lace shoes. However, once you get to your party destination, switch them on and you will become the light show of the dance floor.

[Photo: Bristol Robotics Laboratory]A quick click through GeekTech's story archive will suggest just how realistic (and sometimes freaky) robotic technology has become. Robots can now beat us at all our favorite pastimes, carry heavy objects for days, wash hair...you name it, robots can probably do it. Now, researchers are working on a robot that not only eats biofuel and drinks dirty water, but can also excrete the waste.

EcoBot III, also known as BreadBot, is a self-sustaining robot created by the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK. It is not only capable of being charged by "food" such as leaves, dirt and, well, feces, but it can also go "poop" in a litter tray like a cat. Its predecessors, EcoBot I and II, would "eat" similar items, but they were unable to release the unwanted by-products.

Did you happen to pick up a HP TouchPad, but wish you'd been among the select few with the gadget running Android instead? Since the accidental Android drama, HP has decided to release the kernel and General Public License (GPL) for its tablet, much to the joy of the hacking community.

HP isn't required to provide developers with the kernel, but hardware hackers see it as a gesture of goodwill. However, it's also worth noting that this kernel code appears to be largely seperate from WebOS. HP last updared the kernel in March 2011, before the release of the TouchPad. The original forum post speculates that HP originally designed the TouchPad to ship with Android, but that HP scrapped those plans when it bought up Palm in mid-2010.

Two Swedish nationals with the same names as top executives of e-commerce startup Klarna were arrested on Saturday in New York and charged with criminal sexual abuse.

Niklas Adalberth and Jens Saltin were arrested on charges that they attacked a 19-year old woman at the W Hotel, the New York Post reported. Techcrunch.com linked the names to, respectively, the co-founder/COO and Netherlands country manager of the Swedish electronic payments company.

[Photo: Boston Dynamics]Back in October, we reported on an intriguing robotic project by DARPA and Boston Dynamics to help troops carry heavy items over rough terrain. At that point, the LS3/AlphaDog project was in the early stages of development, and the loyal robotic companion wasn't even allowed outside. Until now.

DARPA finally let the puppy go out and play by taking it outside for testing. Even when saddled up with 100 pounds of gear, AlphaDog was able to run up and down hills, and navigate around obstacles such as trees, humans, and rocks with little difficulty. Most significantly though, it proved its ability to follow a particular member of a group around without having to be controlled remotely.