This whole project started off rather simply. I needed a new coffee table and everything out there was either too expensive or too boring. I wanted something unique but didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg. Not sure how it happened but the idea of building a table out of a pinball machine struck me one night and got the gears turning. The biggest problem is that I’m not exactly what you would call “handy” with power tools. Luckily my grandfather is and usually when I bring a cool idea like this to him we build it together.

So off I went to design and figure out how to cram a pinball playfield into my living room in the form of a table. The first thing I did was find an old beat up pinball table online. I searched over Craigslist, local classifieds and eBay and finally found one there for less than $50. It was just the playfield from a pinball game called Tri-Zone, which was perfect for me since I didn’t want to destroy a working or refurbishable pinball machine… they ain’t exactly rolling off the production line much these days.

Read on to see how it all went together and I have a ton of pictures of the project!
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I’ve been a sorta fan of the Chop Shop ever since I bumped into their booth at the Philadelphia Wizard World comic con a few months back. They had some really sharp tshirt designs and some pretty slick art as well. I never bought anything that day but I did put their website on my watch list.

Not long ago they posted this brand new tshirt meant as a homage to all things awesome related to the world of film in the 80′s. A multitude of understated references to all the movies that made the decade great. Can you guess them all? The Star Wars ones are obviously easy, but don’t think this whole thing will be a walk in the park. Oh and if you’d like to buy the shirt you can do it here.

We’re rocking and rolling along now, with more than a few shows in the can I honestly feel like we’re really hitting our stride now. Having a show with separate segments makes for a better overall experience, both as a listener and as a host. It really does give us the feel of doing a radio show, especially cause what we do is essentially live to tape. Record, talk for 90 minutes and then stop. Of course there’s some technical wizardry in the background to make it sound like 3 people hundreds of miles away from each other all sound like we’re in the same room, but that’s why the quality of this podcast is better than rabble.

And with that, I present Perpetual Geek Machine: Show#00009

Here’s the breakdown on where to find/follow us online! We also want to hear your feedback, whatever it may be… suggestions for homework or topics for 5 hit-combo, etc. As always you can follow us on Twitter. You can subscribe to the lovely podcast on iTunes or Zune marketplace. And get in on our hot, uncensored RSS action.

Might I interest you in some of our refurbished show notes? If you click in the next ten minutes we’ll throw in a snuggie for FREE! (not really)
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So today we’re going to be taking a look at a quasi-educational game where you can learn about geography! Wait, WAIT… COME BACK! I promise it’s also alot of fun. It’s got that cool Carmen Sandiego vibe where it’s a fun game with some light education aspects incorporated instead on an educational game with a bit of fun sprinkled over top. While the game is about geography it’s also about chaining combos to bounce around countries trying to connect a 10 days journey. It’s obviously geared towards older kids and young adults but that in no way kept my wife and I from enjoying our time with it. It’s always a good sign when a game ends with one of us saying “Want to play it again?”

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The popular social network for mobile gaming, OpenFeint, recently launched for Android-powered phones so I decided to take a look at what this thing that our iOS friends have been experiencing for quite a while now was all about.

There are 8 games launching with Feint support with 5 more promised as “coming soon” as of this writing. The launch games are: . (Dot), Flick Kick Field Goal, Fruit Ninja, MiniSquadron, Super Slyder, Symbolism, The Moron Test and Tic Tac Toe Free. The 5 “coming soon” games are FaceFighter Gold, Flick Kick Football, Flick Kick Rugby, Mega Jump and MUST.EAT.BIRDS.

Hit the jump for my impressions of the service and three of the games. (more…)