Note: As always, our prize list can be found on our "
Stupid Prizes Page"Check it out to see past prizes and contest winners.
The items below show the prizes that you can win at Community-Credit this month(January 2009 ). You can have a chance at earning one of these prizes by contributing to the
development community this month. Simply log your contributions (points awarded for
over 100 types of contributions) and the geeks with the most points at the end of January 2009 Contest will win one of the prizes shown below. You can also see the past winners and prizes on our
Stupid Prize Page.
But first... a word from our Sponsor: StupidCubicle.com
This month we are happy to have a brand new sponsor. It is our sister site,
StupidCubicle.com
. The site only has a few products right now, but they are cool products. Be sure to give them some love. Drop us an email and let us know what you think.
Onto this Month's Prizes...
Grand Prize: Projector Keyboard
No words can adequately describe quite how breathtakingly cool this i.Tech Virtual Keyboard is. Bluetooth enabled, it uses infrared to project a clear and crisp keyboard onto your desktop, and then transfers your keystrokes via wireless networking to your PDA, Pocket PC or smart phone - it sounds far too futuristic to be true. But it's very much for real, and it's awesome.
This 22nd Century gadget is about half the size of your average deck of cards, sits wirelessly on any flat surface, and projects a red standard QWERTY-layout keyboard on any flat opaque surface. Using detection technology it "watches" your fingers hit the key locations it has projected, and then sends the keystrokes through to your PDA, smart phone or pocket PC via Bluetooth.
The projected keyboard is highly visible even in strong light (though it does of course look spectacularly cool in the dark). It's highly portable as well, though it will make you look a bit of a lunatic at the local, as you will look like you're typing on nothing more than the pub table (which also raises some serious health and safety concerns), and you will of course be interrupted every fourteen seconds with someone coming over and wanting to know where they can get one.
1st Prize: The Remote Controlled Hovering Space Surfer.
This is the remote controlled 9" space surfer that hovers in the air, spins 360°, and moves left, right, and forward--all while levitating parallel to the ground. Capable of indoor or outdoor flights, the space surfer has dual propellers that generate enough thrust to send the device from a stationary position without requiring a hand-launch. The 27 MHz radio-frequency remote control has proportional throttle and trim settings that allow it to be precisely controlled through climbs, descents, and turns. Made from durable EPP foam, the aircraft's body withstands turbulent flights and crash landings. Pre-assembled and ready to fly, the device is powered by a rechargeable battery that recharges via the included AC adapter.
2nd Prize: There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Door/Floor mat
Tired of people stepping all over you? Well take your frustrations out by stepping all over these choice door/floor mats. Adorned with the peculiar 'There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1' phrase, consider them your own personal wormholes to a place where users invented clue and upper management gets outsourced. Just step on 'em, click heels twice, and off you go! Perfect for both outdoor home and indoor office use alike, so that makes them extra tastylicious!
Includes one Polypropylene surface, vinyl backed entrance mat with the phrase 'There's No Place Like 127.0.0.1' with raised printing front and center. Dimensions: 2' x 3'. Extremely hardy!
This floor/door mat is a densely needle punched, polypropylene carpet mat that combines durability with attractive appearance. The high low surface pattern promotes aggressive cleaning action while its rugged vinyl backing provides skid resistant traction. A great mat for stopping dirt and moisture at the door and promoting cleaner, safer interior floors. Ideal for use indoors or outside and built to handle heavy traffic! Easy to keep clean by sweeping, vacuuming or spraying with an ordinary garden hose.
Magical wormhole transporting enzymes not included.
3rd Prize: R2 Fish Training School Kit 
Picture it: Lassie returns to the house barking. "What is it girl? Timmy's fallen down the well?" And then everyone runs to get that little fool out. But it's too late. Goldie already saved Timmy's sorry butt. Because Goldie is the goldfish you trained with your R2 Fish Training School Kit - and fish lives in the well! Ok, so that was a little overdramatic, but when you put your fish though Fish School, you'll be amazed by the talent of your little scaly friend.
Take a sec and watch the video, we'll wait . . . done? No stunt fish or special effects were used; that was an actual fish trained using this kit. You get everything you need to teach your fish to play football, play soccer, limbo, weave, fetch, go through tubes, and more! And then you can quit your job and go on tour. It'll be just you, Twinkie the fish, and the open road. With the R2 Fish Training School Kit and a little perseverance, the world is your oyster . . . well, goldfish.
4th Prize: Fly Stick Van de Graaff Levitation Wand
This battery powered wand features a mini Van de Graaff generator inside. Push a button on the handle and the static charge built up in the wand causes the included 3D mylar shapes to levitate at your command. You can also do some cool tricks causing the shapes to jump back and forth from your hand to the wand. Not quite Harry Potter... but hey, we do our best for you
5th Prize: Plasma Bulb Night Light
Plasma is the fourth state of matter. When a solid melts, becomes gaseous, and is stripped of its electrons, it becomes a plasma. Plasma has found uses in wide-screen TV sets, fusion generator research, and has even been focused into saber like devices and offensive bolts! Now, we've harnessed the massive potential of plasma by using it to gently illuminate your bedroom.
We all know that the monsters under your bed and in your closet are only afraid of light - it's a documented fact! The challenge becomes, how to generate enough light to scare away the monsters, and yet still let you sleep through the night. This plasma bulb nightlight does just that, filling your room with the soothing purple-glow of electrons cascading back down to the ground state.
The Plasma Bulb Night Light fits lovingly into your 110v US power outlet, and will last for years. It generates light with only a teensy bit of heat, so don't worry about the kids or your drapes. Just bask in the glow, and sleep easy.
6th Prize: USB Desktop Dunk
You may think this is just another silly USB desktop toy, and it is, but it's not! Sure it's cheesy looking and, to be honest, we don't even typically plug it in or use the score keeper or the included fake fan cheering. It's plenty fun as just a mechanical desktop toy. Just put it on your desk, and before you know it, co-workers will be flocking to your desk and you've got a real game going! It takes a little skill to bounce the included mini-basketballs off your desk and into the hoop. But once you figure it out, you'll be finger dunking like a pro. And you'll barely break a sweat.
7th Prize: Office Monkeys Playset
These monkeys have not heard of business casual, as they are all dressed up in their finest (just like some of the monkeys in your office, we're guessing). The Office Monkeys Playset is a great stress reliever. Name the monkeys after folks in your office - and where you go from there is up to you. You can recreate office drama, act out fictional office playlets, or just throw them across the room if their real-life counterparts make you angry (it's a lot safer and easier on the back then throwing the real person across the room). Monkeying around was never so much fun.
8th Prize: Magic IQ Gift Box
If you want something good sometimes you need to work for it. Look at your ungrateful friends and relatives. You give them nice gifts and get a half-hearted "thank you" with no true appreciation for the time you took from your busy gaming schedule to visit a physical store and select something. Finally with the Magic IQ Gift Box you can give a gift and gain evil vicarious enjoyment for yourself. This devious box of delight can be used to store a small gift, then you can give it to your unsuspecting giftee and watch the fun begin. With no obvious opening, latch, or moving parts your gift recipient will struggle in frustration as they are dominated by the task of opening a simple wooden box.
The Magic IQ Gift Box is not the same as those Chinese puzzle boxes you may have seen before with multiple sliding parts you push in a certain order. It features a simple mechanism that's a snap to open if you know how, but really frustrating when you don't. Try as you might to slide all the edges and corners of this box... nothing seems to move. No instructions of any kind are included so you'll need to figure out how to open the Magic IQ Gift Box beforehand and insert your gift...
9th Prize: Japanese Popping Edamame Keychain 
Edamame are baby soybeans, picked before they blossom into adulthood, and boiled. Edamame are also delicious and fun to pop out of their pods (especially when they shoot across a crowded restaurant and you have to explain to a room full of people how the 5 second rule still applies in public). But say you want the fun of popping edamame, but you're not very hungry. Oh, then have we got the keychain for you!
Each Japanese Popping Edamame Keychain has three beans. The end beans are small and immature. The middle bean, however, has one of 12 random faces printed on it. Why? We don't know, but there is nothing like the smile it puts on your face. And the beans are connected to some sort of elastic band, so they pop back in to be popped again as many times as you want. It sounds silly, but trust us, these things are highly addictive. They are also a great way to keep your fingers busy during boring meetings and your mood positive - because no one can frown when their edamame smiles.
10th Prize: The Annoy-a-tron 2.0
Now that they've mostly recovered from the twisted mind maze that was the original Annoy-a-tron, send them on a new journey of "self discovery" with version 2.0 Now featuring 6 sound choices plus volume control, it's at least twice as fun (and annoying) as the original. For effective deployment, we humbly suggest the following sound and volume combinations, but you can conduct your own field research for more insight.
- 15kHz (Mosquito tone** - young folks can hear it, older folks cannot!) (full volume)
- Cricket chirping (medium/low volume)
- IM Doorbell (low volume)
- Grating Electronic noise (full volume)
- Typical Electronic Beep (medium volume)
The cricket sound is interesting because someone will instinctively look near the ground when trying to locate a cricket. So, placing the Annoy-a-tron several feet or more above the ground will help to obscure its location. The 15kHz sound is also interesting because this frequency range of sound cannot be heard by everyone. In older adults or those with deteriorated hearing (a condition known as presbycusis) this high frequency sound will not be audible, while others will clearly hear the sound and find it quite annoying. They also might think they are going crazy when people nearby report that they don't hear anything.
Assuming you have done your part in selecting a suitable hiding location for the Annoy-a-tron, it will do its part to drive your co-workers slowly mad with its short and seemingly random beeps. And when someone does locate the Annoy-a-tron, they're really not going to know what it is - which is almost as much fun as watching them search for it. Muahaha.
The Annoy-a-tron 2.0 takes one CR2450 battery (included) and measures approximately: 2.5" x 1.5" x .35". It will run for over 4 weeks on a single battery.
** - The 'Mosquito Tone' is a frequency that young people can hear but older folks cannot. Sometimes younger folks cannot hear it and sometimes older folks can hear it, but, in general, it's called the 'Teen Buzz' tone. When you can hear it, trust us, it's annoying. Dogs agree.
11th Prize: Cubicaller Cubicle Doorbell
Tired of co-workers barging into your cube without invitation? Do you jump whenever a cubemate materializes silently behind you and taps your shoulder? Install a cubicle doorbell so visitors can civilly announce their arrival. Choose from 3 volume levels and 12 sounds, from "ding dong" to "aroooga" to "quack quack." Includes adhesive squares.
12th Prize: Mario Kart Wiimote Projector Light 
If you had a tiny keychain that looked like a itty bitty Wiimote what would you expect it to do? How about project images of Mario Kart characters on the wall? You're in luck because that's exactly what the Mario Kart Wiimote Projector Light does. Simply push the tiny "1" button on the Wiimote and an internal LED projects one of 6 different Mario Kart characters. Collect all six versions.