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Calling all Jedis! Grab your lightsabers, lace up your running shoes, and come embark on what's sure to be an epic journey to Comic-Con 2012. Even better, you'll get to use the Force to help some young Padawans in need.

Lucasfilm, Nerdist Industries, Octagon, and Machinima have teamed up to put on an Olympic torch-style relay race called Course of the Force that will help kick off this year's Comic-Con in San Diego and benefit the Make-a-Wish Foundation.

The 136-mile run/walk will begin in Santa Monica, Calif., on July 7. At every quarter-mile marker, participants will hand off the official Course of the Force lightsaber to the next runner until they reach San Diego on July 11, which just happens to be preview night for Comic-Con (the show officially kicks off on July 12). … Read more

Last night 20th Century Fox treated me to a screening of the new 3D version of "Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace," which is in cinemas now here in England (Friday in the U.S.). As I got to see it for free, it only seems fair I should let you know if it's worth spending actual money to see it.

First off, it's worth mentioning the obvious. No amount of 3D can change the fact that there's waaay too much about trade taxation routes in this film. The whole "is Natalie Portman grooming a child?" sub-plot is still there. Jar Jar Binks hasn't been digitally erased. But if you're reading this, you probably already have your own views about the artistic merit of this movie, so I'll stick to the techy stuff.

Read more of "Is it worth seeing Star Wars in 3D" on Crave UK. … Read more

Geek love can be a challenge on Valentine's Day. Roses are too old-fashioned, and chocolates are dull--unless they happen to be ThinkGeek's zombie head chocolates.

The $9.99 Chocolate Zombie Head Bon Bons show your special geek that you love him for his tasty brains, not his muscular World of Warcraft avatar.

Each box holds six grimacing, growling dark chocolates filled with cherry cordial brains in a particularly startling shade of red.

Give a box to a loved one and make a romantic pact that whoever turns zombie first will quickly be put down by the other.

Take … Read more

If you're a fan of old electric guitars, then axes that have been modified to look like they came out of a steampunk fantasy could be right up your alley.

Guitar enthusiast Tony Cochran (who's also the man behind the comic strip "Agnes") is selling a range of instruments that have been meticulously modified to look like steampunk creations. The guitars also come with interesting, and sometimes macabre, stories behind them--some that are linked to famous personalities from the past. … Read more

They say one man's trash is another man's treasure, and this certainly seems to be the case for Chilean artist Rodrigo Alonso.

Alonso is the mastermind behind the geeky chairs pictured above. They're made from pieces of old tech donated by Chilean recycling company Recycla.

The graphic designer creates the stools by pouring epoxy resin into a mold filled with the e-waste; the legs are made from cast aluminum. Alonso produces the chairs in limited editions, but he also takes special orders. Since no set of e-waste is alike, each piece is original and dyes can also be added to the resin to add color.

For Alonso, the project is more than just a piece of furniture or work of art. The chairs, which are called N+ew for No More Electronic Waste, is also about recycling e-waste. Though consumer electronics companies are slowly becoming more eco-conscious and more recycling programs are being put in place, the amount of e-waste is still expected to rise exponentially by 2020, especially in developing countries. … Read more

Remember those Magic Eye posters that were popular back in the '90s? You know, the ones where you'd focus your eyes on a 2D image and then boom, out of nowhere, a 3D image would appear? Well, that's the inspiration behind a new watch by Tokyoflash.

The Kisai Optical Illusion watch is the latest geeky accessory from Tokyoflash, and at first glance, the face of the watch just looks like a dizzying maze of lines. But of course, there's more than meets the eye.

As with the Magic Eye images, after staring at the display for a bit, you should be able to make out the hour and minutes presented in digit form. Tokyoflash says the time will be easy to see once you've trained your eyes, but if that's not the case, you can simply tap the touch screen to reveal the time. … Read more

A good portion of my adolescence was devoted to re-creating "Star Trek" props from household items. I still have my Lego flip communicator.

Now I can save myself a lot of time, effort, and Legos by dropping $30 on ThinkGeek's Star Trek Electronic Door Chime.

A DIY "Star Trek" door can be done. This guy made one. If you don't have the patience for that kind of elaborate project, you can settle for the ThinkGeek door chime's swooshing sound effects instead.… Read more

Legos are great, but if you're looking for something a little more animated, you might want to check out Cubelets, a robot construction kit that its creator likens to playing with bumblebees.

Yeah, I don't really get the bees reference either, but Cubelets look awesome nonetheless. Cubelets consist of a set of building blocks that you can interlock together to create a robot. Each cube has a name and a function that falls into one of three categories: action, sense, and think. For example, there is a block that acts as the battery, one that rotates, and another that provides light. … Read more

Here at Geek Gestalt, every day is different. The world of geek culture is broad--sometimes bewilderingly so. A typical year's coverage can easily include stories on everything from Burning Man to Lego, aviation to 3D printing, NASA to tech startups, MythBusters to Pixar movies, and so on.

That makes coming up with predictions for next year in culture a difficult task--but we're here to serve, so that's just we're offering. Of course, trying to settle on just five ideas for 2012 means leaving a lot of things out.

Still, prognosticating culture's next steps meant talking … Read more