You'll have to pardon our ignorance for a moment. You see, up until now we couldn't even remotely fathom slot cars being used as works of art — they always just seemed like the perfect recreational tools for NASCAR fans needing something to do during the downtime between races (ed note: besides being jackasses?). Well, that all changed when we saw the Slot Car Wall Sculpture by Pete Nidzgorski. Made from a slot car track and two cars that the designer found online for a mere $100, Nidzgorski fashioned the tracks, which can be arranged in virtually infinite combinations, into a figure eight shape to create an unlikely, yet totally wonderful work of art that could also provide racing excitement when not on the wall. If you have the need for speed and wall decorations, maybe you should make your own.

Many people these days work without walls as boundaries. Instead of toiling away in a cubicle all day, their laptop is the only consistent element of their personal workspace. One of the only negatives about not working in a cubicle is not being able to decorate it your liking, unless your favorite wi-fi hotspot doesn't mind you hanging up original prints next to the coffee maker. Well, what if you got a sweet wallpaper design for your computer? Would that satisfy your need to decorate? We recommend checking out The Desktop Wallpaper Project at Kitsune Noir. The project is the brainchild of the site's founder Bobby, who thought it would be a great idea to contact his favorite artists and ask them to create wallpapers exclusively for the site that readers can download to their desktop, iPhone or PSP for free. So far sixty artists are involved including Tim Biskup, Mcbess, and IMAKETHINGS. The site will showcase a new wallpaper design every Wednesday until artists stop contributing…hopefully never.

It's been a long time coming for Crap Hound. Sean Tejaratchi's seminal clip-art zine has lay dormant for nine years since the release of Crap Hound #6. That's okay, he's been busy with other things like this Lightboxing project. While last time around Tejeratchi focused on a seemingly unconnected theme of death, telephone and scissors, his latest work seems to hone in on two topics that many people in the United States think should be unrelated. In an election year where religion and its role in government is always a hot topic, Tejeratchi's Crap Hound #7 takes aim at the theme of ‘Church and State’ with the help of his dazzling wit, as well as blunt images of Uncle Sam, Stars and stripes, and plenty of copyright free type faces. Pick up your copy today, because otherwise you might have to wait another nine years.

When Energizer came out with the Energi To Go — the battery operated chargers that can perk up your cell or iPod “on the go” — mobile tech geeks found it a fair solution to their energy crisis. But, the biggest problem with the device: it takes alkaline batteries. Good for Energizer’s profit margins, bad for Mother Earth. Which is why the USBCell is pretty brilliant. Tip back the positive terminal and you have yourself a little USB jack. If only our laptop ran on these AAs (and the Law of Conservation didn’t exist), you’d have an infinite loop of laptop power. Did we just blow your mind?

Via Inhabitat

As Brazil’s totally unofficial pop culture diplomat, I thought it would be appropriate to dedicate a post to telling you about some of the Brazilian bands playing at South by Southwest that no doubt a few of you will be attending starting tomorrow in Texas. While it’s still hard to call if any of these bands will be the next Cansei de Ser Sexy, music heads will get an idea of what’s being scouted and what you might be rockin’ out to from a soundsystem near you soon.

• MixHell: Iggor Cavalera, ex-drummer of Sepultura, and his wife are the DJs behind MixHell, which uses electro as its base with rock on top. Electro’s what everyone’s into here in Sao Paulo. Cavalera sometimes drums along live with the mixes, so with all the dates they’re playing for Vice during the event, your chances of seeing the legend behind his kit are high.
• Curumin: Blackalicious introduced Luciano Nakata Albuquerque a few years ago stateside, and he’s about to release his second album on hip-hop label Quannum. Curumin isn’t entirely hip-hop though; think grooves, think samba.
• Alexia Bomtempo: Alexia Bomtempo’s amazing voice is like syrup. This songstress’ songs have the nostalgic feel of classic bossa nova.
• Pierre Aderne: Easy-listening for the world music set, and like Alexia Bomtempo, harkens back to Brazil’s national music.
• Marcelo D2: This rapper has a storied history in hip-hop in Brazil as part of a band called Planet Hemp, and his solo career has taken off. Do not miss him.
• Debate: Their music reminds me a little of the mid-’90s indie rock I used to listen to, and more recently, the Trail of Dead. High energy and angst-y.
• Nancy: Rock band fronted by a talented female singer and has some Garbage-esque moments if the latter hadn’t gone so pop.