[Photo: Marine Corps Cpl. Aaron Diamant]There's something about finishing off a Lego set that feels quite rewarding--the bigger and trickier the better. You then usually add it to your collection on the window ledge or shelf and admire your collection. However, there's one guy who's collection is so big, not only does it take up most of his house, but also earned him a world record.

Marine Corps' Captain Kyle Ugone from Arizona has 1251 different Lego sets scattered across his home in Yuma. Each set is organized by its theme, ranging from Star Wars sets to the likes of space, castles, and trains--his biggest box set contained over 5000 individual pieces in order to complete. The collection is so cool, it could probably make some Lego theme parks blush.

Despite all the advances in mobile technology, even the best cell phones can't sustain a charge all night. (Especially not when you're calling, texting, and web surfing all at once.) In particular, bars and pubs are notorious for customers that abuse wall sockets and bartenders' stations for a quick charge.

But one day, the Juicebox might change things for the better. According to Mashable, this new brand of charging station has been in the prototype testing stages for a few weeks in the New York bar scene. They're easy to use, sleek-looking, and can charge just about any model cell phone that exists, displaying some impressively accessible technology.

[Photo: TigrisLi on Instructables]Remember the stupid-yet-awesome cardboard scratching post turntable for cats? Well, clever cardboard creations for your beloved feline don't end there. If you have a lot of cardboard around and are searching for a fun project to undertake, turn your attention to the cardboard cat tank.

Instructables user "Tigris Li" uploaded step-by-step instructions that detail how you can make an itteh bitteh tank for your kitteh. You don't really need any complicated materials here, just a decent-sized cardboard box, scissors, glue, and a bit of imagination. Cut out the tank shapes, glue them together, and voila! It's all ready for your cat to stride off to battle.

We've seen lots and lots of fun Lego-themed projects, but this sky-faring Lego minifigure takes the cake.

Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad of Agincourt, Toronto sent a Lego man into the edge of space using a homemade balloon craft. Their DIY project, which cost around $400 Canadian, was made up of a helium-filled weather balloon along with three point-and-shoot digital cameras, a wide-angle video camera, and a GPS-enabled cellphone, all attached to a custom rig--homespun nylon parachute included.

You probably don't have 40 iPads lying around your house. But if you have a business or school that does, this cart from Anthro might be for you. The Anthro Charging Cart & Cabinet for Tablets is a storage cabinet on wheels that can store and recharge up to 40 iPads or Android tablets.

This charging cart, on display at Macworld|iWorld in San Francisco has two compartments: one in the front for storing and charging the tablets, and one in the back for cable management and power outlets.

Comparison of Sample pictures in low-light setting (10 lux). [Photo: Sony] The boffins at Sony have developed a new back-illuminated CMOS sensor for phones. The new sensor promises better shooting performance in low light and HDR movie making.

A traditional backlit sensor is made with a combined backlit pixel-sensor and processing circuit section backed by a large supporting substrate. The sensor Sony has developed layers the pixel area and circuit on top of each other with no substrate.

[Photo: Brookstone]Have you ever been out for a night on the town and found yourself wishing you had your USB drive with you? Me neither. But just in case the need should arise, the next time you suit up, why don't you throw on a pair of these cufflinks from Brookstone?

Hidden in one of the polished silver cufflinks is a 2 GB USB drive. Even better, the other cufflink can be used to set up a Wi-Fi hotspot. Simply install a bit of software on your computer, plug in the USB hotspot, and you'll be browsing the Web on your wireless devices in no time.

[Photo: Christer Nyberg]We all know Lego-building is more fun when you don't follow instructions in a box set, so it's even better when someone comes along and creates a replica model of something from scratch--and a large one at that! Some of the geekiest (and even coolest!) replica projects are of course Star Trek ones, and the USS Reliant from the Wrath of Khan movie is an incredible example.

Christer Nyberg (Myko on Flickr) originally set out to construct a larger-scale model of the USS Enterprise, the setting of many Star Trek episodes and movies, but he found it was a bit too complicated to create using Lego bricks. Therefore, he turned his attention to the USS Reliant.

[Photos: Ola J. Joensen, Niels Bohr Institute] Here at GeekTech, we’ve seen our share of lasers used for anything from art to shooting down freaking missiles. But, one that “cools”?

The researchers from the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen have developed such a “cooling” laser that can bring a superconductor’s temperature down to -269 degrees Celsius.

There’s not a ton of oxygen in space. Because of this, we have to rethink how we go about doing the things that we take for granted here on Earth, like defense against an incoming missile. Back in 2007, China tested the first ASAT (Anti-Satellite missile) against one of it’s own dead satellites; it was a resounding success.

Because of that, companies like the Raytheon Company has been working to give US space assets a figurative barrel roll defense.

[Photo: Lego Cuusoo]Remember the news back in December that Lego may consider producing Minecraft Lego sets, provided the eight-bit game’s community produced some ideas? Well, it looks like Minecraft’s fan-base have pulled through, because the project just passed the building-block company’s review stage.

The Mojang Lego Minecraft project started up last year, and aimed to put forward great, original box-set ideas created by Minecraft players. With support from fans, Cuusoo hopes to secure a licensing agreement with Lego for the project, and then give the 1% royalty gained to charity.

[Photo: GenGAME]Minecraft is a great place to make whatever world you want out of virtual building blocks-- whether it be a Game Boy emulator or the Death Star trench. For this week’s Minecraft highlight, the mod group GenGame have made 1:1 scale re-creation of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (OOT).

The project, called HyruleCraft, took roughly 9 months to complete, starting in May 2011. GenGAME painstakingly replicated every environment in the game--from Hyrule Field, to Kokiri Forest, to Kakariko Village, to the Gorgon Mines. The Nintendo 64 graphics translate really well into Minecraft--Hyrule Castle looks just like it did when I first sneaked into it 13 years ago.