Here is a cool talk we found on TED about our favorite subject, fractals (of course!). Ron Eglash noticed Julia set patterns in they way villages were laid out while flying over Africa and it spurred his interest to investigate what was going on. Specifically, he talks about his research on the intriguing fractal patterns he noticed in African villages across the continent. He talks about his work exploring the rigorous fractal math underpinning African architecture, art and even hair braiding.

If you loved our original Smiley Necklaces but hoped for a more affordable version, you’re finally in luck. Check out these Mini Smiley Necklaces that are just 1cm in diameter and only $38. Instead of a chain like the original they have a thin velvet cord that comes in black, java, denim, or plum as well, and are available in either :-) or ;-).

If you’ve already got either version of the Smiley Necklaces, our sterling silver Smiley Earrings at $68 make the perfect accompaniment. Also at just 1cm in diameter you can choose from “Wink” or “Smile” to dangle from your earlobes. Both come in a cute little gift box.

Got a guy on your gift list who’s got every gadget you can think of, and you’re not sure where to turn? Check out our suggestions for great geeky yet stylish gifts.

< Odin’s Rage Watch - $120.00
This futuristic watch has a novel way for displaying the time. You know how you’re expected to recall the position of numbers on a watch with a blank face? Well this watch operates on the same principle, but substitute a large inner dot for the hour hand position and a small outer dot for the minute hand position. Cool huh?

High Voltage Laptop Bag - $65.00 >
Watch yourself! Any guy who’s dreamed of having superpowers can indulge his fantasy just the slightest by suggesting that his mega gadget fascination has made him electrically charged himself. The army-green laptop bag has a padded laptop sleeve a roomy interior, and pockets under the flap to store a variety of other electron-pushing gear.

< Electronic Musician’s Emergency Adapters - $65.00
Even if the gift-recipient in question isn’t an electronic musician, he’ll be just as overjoyed to sift through this “first aid kit” and know he’ll be the hero when an audio emergency strikes. It has common audio adapters as well as ones used in professional audio situations, and there’s even an LED light to make following cables around in the dark much easier.

< Duct Tape Hybrid BiFold Wallet - $25.00
Raw industrial style meets clean minimal design with a touch of futuristic aspiration in this wallet made from real duct tape. It’s made from a specially-designed duct tape that won’t lift, peel or get sticky like the normal stuff, so your man won’t have to worry about trying to delicately detach a fifty at the cashier while the line of impatient shoppers behind him grows.

MIDI Cuff 1″ - $40.00 >
Get your geeky rockstar boy one or two of these cool cuffs made of four sequential black MIDI cable segments arranged in rows to form 1″ cuffs. On a few of the strands you can read a segment of the phrase “VTG Audio Low Noise Quad Balanced Cable. Made in the USA.” Perfect whether he’s a world-class electronic musician or could simply pass for one.

Microcontroller Cufflinks - Rectangular - $40.00 >
If your boy isn’t into our green circuit board cufflinks then make him rock these instead. Classy and subtly nerdy at the same time, these swank cufflinks are made from two matching black microcontrollers.

< Testosterone Keychain - $22.00
Quite possibly the “manliest keychain ever,” this pewter keychain cast in the form of the testosterone molecule is the perfect thing to adorn your guy’s keys, especially if they’re for a sportscar (appropriate, right?). And it sort of even looks like small brass knuckles–totally tough!

Hex Standoff Necklace - $12.00 >
If the guy you’re gift-shopping for is stylish with a streak of geek, this subtle aluminum-and-black necklace will be his new favorite accessory. The horizontal “pendant” is actually a hex standoff, a bit of hardware commonly used to connect circuit boards to their cases or each other.

Rhymetorrents has released an excellent compilation of Halloween-themed nerdcore hip hop tracks free on their site. There’s quite a bit of first-person zombie shooting, vampire berating, Satan-hating, and even some dice-rolling and router-rebooting gone wrong. Here’s some of the standout tracks:

Rocket Propelled Geeks - “No Carrier” [NSFR*]
What if you power-cycled your router to reboot your internet connection but ended up resurrecting the internet itself? Think of how scary it would be to have a cat watching you from the ceiling and a bunch of Nigerians in your living room.

MC Lars & MC Chris - “Roommate From Hell (Ice & Fire Mix)”
You’d be regretting not trying to find off-campus housing on Craigslist if your dorm roommate ended up being the Prince of Darkness himself.

Able-X - “Dark times”
A funky, bleepy, creepy take on Armageddon.

MC Loki - “Prince Of The City”
More of the n00b pwning.

High-C - “Schizo” [NSFR]
Best line: “I’m dropping more than clues if you want to hunt the Wumpus but you couldn’t find your rump with a motherf***ing compass”

ZeaLouS1 - “Zombie Killa”
A geeksta rap about owning zombies.

*Not Safe For Radio

Here’s the entire compilation: Rhyme Torrents Halloween 2.0.

Guys you’ve lusted after our Molecule Jewelry for a long time and were briefly placated by our Testosterone Keychain. Now here’s your chance to proudly sport serotonin on your person: the Serotonin Tie Tack.

Serotonin is responsible for the regulation of mood, sleep, and appetite, among other things, and low levels of it can be responsible for anger and aggression. So if you’re suffering through a boring presentation by a bunch incompetent underlings right before lunch, glance down at your stylish tie tack and remember to keep your cool.

Here’s an interesting blog featuring tracks from video game soundtracks, along with a bit of insightful commentary and historical context. Not only do they include symphonic renditions of tracks from Final Fantasy, there are nods to more obscure tracks such as the medievel-eque vocal track“You Were There” from ICO [PS2], “Let Mom Sleep,” the breakdance-inspiring title track from Jet Grind Radio [Dreamcast], the brooding, Eastern-European “Waiting For Action” track that opens Hitman 2 [Mult.], and the instrumental 90s-Jrock combat accompaniment, “Blue Water, Blue Sky “ from Guilty Gear X [Arcade].

I had Hitman 2 for the PC and loved the puzzle-solving / strategy aspect combined with the creeipiness of the environment and badass factor. Hearing the soundtrack makes me want to dig up those disks and pretend to be a bald super assassin once again.

Check out the entire collection here: VGMe >> Music.

Until October 21 you can get your very own “Your Beats Are Weak” T-shirt (Men’s or Women’s) for only $19.99 (instead of $24.00), and an IDE Belt for only $9.99 (normally $16.00). Just add any of those to your cart and you’ll see the discount at checkout. Get your belt and beats on the cheap!

And by “arsenal” we mean only a dozen :-). If you’re wondering what sort of little gifts you can buy for the people at work or to stuff into a bunch of stockings, candy will fit the bill. And nerdy / gaming geek candy is even better. If you buy 12 or more each of our Nintendo Mints, Game Boy Advance, Mushroom Candy or Nerds, we’ll hook you up with a 10% discount on the lot. You can mix up the colors of each, too. Yay for discounts!

• The Super Mario Brothers Flautist with beatboxing added
• Beating Super Mario Brothers in 5 minutes *SPOILER*
• The Super Mario Bros. theme song played on two Tesla Coils The nerdiest of the nerdiest.
• If you’re feeling bummed you can’t play the original SMB in 3D like your current favorite games, now you can
• Line Rider, Super Mario Bros. Style. No doubt you’ve played with making a track for the scarf-sporting little “dude” in Line Rider, but I bet you haven’t seen him ace the first level of SMB.
• How about Mario Bros. World of Warcraft style?
• Or even better, Live Action / Talent Show style.
• And the best alternate-universe version, a crazy Mario world that’s like a bad dream or extreme food poisoning where flower pipes float and gravity is somewhat… unusual

No, not “mushroom candy”–candy that tasted like mushrooms would be pretty gag-inducing (but we found some chocolate candies in the shape of mushrooms if the subject intrigues you). We’re talking about candy that come in a mushroom, Super Mario Brothers style. Once you’re done with the candy you can use the mushroom part to store a collection of small things. Check them out: Super Mario Brothers Mushroom Candy.