Flow electricity down the pipe and out comes light. Simple.

I really like these pipe-light examples of crafted ingenuity - thanks to baekdal.com for this one.

It describes the KOZO desk lamps as follows.

"Galvanized steel pipes can be used for many things. They are usually used to direct the flow of water. But if you pour electricity through them you end up with these amazing desk lamps."

This modder went back to nature for inspiration. To pebbles and a hollowed out log, to be precise, with sawn slots for the non-wooden peripherals.

Thanks to techeblog for this one, which has a range of pictures in gallery format. It writes:

Most custom computers these days need a fancy case to stand out, whether it be a retro-styled radio or Apple G5, but this modder decided that a log was the most economical solution available. So, he hollowed out the log, created custom slots for all the PC components, and the finished product is the computer you see above.

Think of it as a DIY home security system: if something disturbs a chosen location, you will know because your mobile phone will be rung.

Thanks again to our sister site Design News for this Gadget Freak, which involves an intrusion detection system.

Basically, it is a home alarm system that calls you whenever an event is triggered, whether a door or window is opened, or a panic button is pressed, etc.

You can set it up to indicate intrusion into a door, window, office or pool. It can also connect to a panic button. The circuit includes a small PIC microcontroller, an assembly program and a handful of other parts that can be designed to detect the interruption of a switch closure or the connection of a panic button. When the circuit is tripped, the gadget dials your number and indicates what device has been triggered.

Wow! What a strange but clever idea: a "Bulbdial clock" - applying the principles of a sundial to (adjustable) electric light.

Back in March 2008, David Friedman published the idea on his blog Ironic Sans*.

He writes:

The Bulbdial Clock [pictured, below] has no hands - just one pole in the center of the clock, and three light sources of varying heights which revolve around the pole casting shadows. In the model illustrated above, the light sources are each attached to a ring which rotates around the pole. The innermost ring rotates once per minute, casting a "second hand" shadow. The middle ring rotates once per hour, and casts the "minute hand" shadow. And the outer ring rotates once every 12 hours, casting the "little hand" shadow.

Well, the excellent evilmadscientist.com website picked up this bulb and ran with it, as it were, constructing a working, LED-based bulbdial clock that builds on the original concept.

This is the last week for our Creative ZEN X-Fi MPEG-4 media player competition - get your entry in before it closes at 23:59pm, Friday 5 June.

Thank you to all who have taken part, we have now had more than 550 entries.

Up for grabs is this nifty mobile multimedia player. The ZEN X-Fi 16GB with Wireless LAN Compatibility - measuring 14 x 9 x 4cm and weighing a mere 69g - would set you back £113.87 on Amazon (down from £150).

The prize question