The Checkmate Retro Styled IPS Upgradeable Display is a flat-screen monitor that looks and works like a 1980s computer monitor. It's a Kickstarter project for people who want to play retro games on their old consoles and computers.

If you've ever tried to connect your old console to a modern TV, you might have learned that the picture is less than perfect. — Read the rest

The post This new flat-screen monitor looks like a 1980s computer monitor and has all the old sockets built in appeared first on Boing Boing.

When I was in Nagasaki earlier this month, I visited the Atomic Bomb Museum there. One of the displays, which showed the damage caused by the bomb that the U.S. dropped on the city, had long audio narration in Japanese only. — Read the rest

The post I wore Timekettle's translating earbuds around Kyushu, where few people speak English appeared first on Boing Boing.

I'm on the constant lookout for the tiniest umbrella available.

On my recent trip to Japan, I found the smallest one yet at the fantastic Hands store in Fukuoka.

It weighs just 65 grams and measures 8 inches long and about 1.5 inches in diameter when collapsed. — Read the rest

The post This 65-gram umbrella from Japan fits in my front pocket appeared first on Boing Boing.