Bake Engadget a birthday cake, win an Intel Alienware gaming rig

It's officially too late to send a gift basket now, but to celebrate our 2nd anniversary we've been giving you the presents during seven days of giveaways. We did a Slingbox, RAZRwire, mPack P800, Squeezebox, MDA, and a SDA. Some pretty sweet prizes if you ask us (well, maybe not the RAZRwire), but today being our last day, well, we had to blow out the candles just right. So how would you like an Alienware Area-51 3550? We thought so. How do you win it? Bake us a cake! Yes, we're serious.

It's pretty simple. You bake us a gadget-shaped or Engadget-themed cake, send us a picture (or pictures), and the winner (as judged by the editors of Engadget) picks up an Alienware Area-51 3550, courtesy of Intel and Alienware. Here are the specs:

• Space Black chasis
• Intel dual core 940 CPU
• 2GB dual-channel RAM
• 500GB hard drive
• 256MB GeForce 6800GS video
• Dual NTSC Tuners
• Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi 7.1 surround
  
• 16x Dual Layer DVD burner
• 10-in-1 card reader
  

One runner up will also receive a Squeezebox Wireless! Five more contestants will each win an Engadget t-shirt.

A few things:

1. No photoshops. Seriously, we shouldn't have to explain this one. Take lots of pictures -- be able to prove it's your cake, and that it's real!
2. Contests are open to anyone, anywhere. Unless you work for Engadget or Weblogs, Inc.
3. Enter by dropping your pictures of your cake in comments, or email your pictures in to engadget (at) gmail (dot) com, subject "Birthday cake" (no quotes).
   
4. Yes, even professional bakers are allowed to enter, so let's see some creativity! Best cake (as judged by Engadget) wins!
   
5. Monitor, keyboard, mouse, and other peripherals will not be included.
6. Please give Alienware a four week turnaround time to build your new Area-51 3550.
7. You've got until 11:59PM  EST Monday the 13th to enter your cake.

Best of luck to everyone and thanks for all of your support for these past two years!

P.S. If you want to mail us the cake when you're done, please ensure it's poison and razor-blade free first, ok? Thanks!

Yesterday's winner: Jason! Congratulations, Jason!

[Agozyen Posted Mar 13th 2006 10:18PM]

Here is my birthday tribute to Engadget!

I call it the Zen Vision:MMMMMMM

It has a sugar-based PCB sandwiched between a Chocolate Hard Drive and a Blak Raspberry Battery. I had a blast making it!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/52472461@N00/

and
http://www.flickr.com/photos/52472461@N00/112227198/in/set-72057594081684365/

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 10:22PM]

who really cares what the specs are?? If u win, you'll find out!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 10:23PM]

So heres my cake, its nothing special compared to others but i really did try...

http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/8536/dscf13965ws.jpg
http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/5293/dscf13940ve.jpg
http://img126.imageshack.us/img126/1380/dscf13951jr.jpg


Eh its ok.

I choked on it while eating it...not from the taste (it was good) but from my own stupidness.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 10:48PM]

Happy birthday engadgeteers. May your future years be as nice as these recently passed. Have an iBook. http://web.mac.com/brendan_eaton_/iWeb/dotMac/iBook%20Ginger.html

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 10:51PM]

Here is what I came up with. All parts of this cake are edible (assuming you enjoy fondant). :-)

http://www.taboot.com/engadget/

Thanks for the contest guys!!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:05PM]

here ya go

its my cakes
there basically your logo but i really would like this computer cause im still stuck sharing a 7 year old dell with my sister....and uhh its pentium 3 with 1.2ghz or somethin close to that

anyway it sucks and my parents wont get a new computer please i really need this and as you can see i worked eally hard for it!!?!

http://photobucket.com/albums/v290/photobuket1/engadget%20bday/

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:14PM]

Definitely a great assortment of work all around. It looks like fun was had by all. I look forward to seeing the final gallery tomorrow.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:16PM]

#205, your picture asks for a password.

[tkking Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:16PM]

dont beg for it....


BTW mine is done entirely in cake and buttercream iceing

engadget.shutterfly.com

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:18PM]

K, I am compeletly exhausted, heres mine. Everyone elses is very nice, and this has been a tough competition. Good luck to us all.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/[e-mail]/album?.dir=82e6&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:19PM]

Page one
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13638544@N00/page1/

Page Two
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13638544@N00/page2/

The Secret inside Area-51

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:31PM]

I will have mine up soon!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:41PM]

Here's my entry....Go to the very end to see the final result.
http://www.techcacophony.net/engadget_cake_contest_entry.htm

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:46PM]

happy Birthday Engadget hope you like it.

http://photobucket.com/albums/y289/eightysixfilms/Engadget/
http://photobucket.com/albums/y289/eightysixfilms/Engadget/
http://photobucket.com/albums/y289/eightysixfilms/Engadget/

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:49PM]

http://www.geocities.com/feetiesan/cake/index.html

Oricakey! Cakigami? Ive been lusting after the Samsung Q1 since your hands-on a few days ago. mmmm yummy.

[laserbeams Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:52PM]

Happy birthday big blue e!

Here's the cake, 5 pictures of me making and assembling it - it's chocolate mocha cake with buttercream, fondant, and piping gel for the reflective screen - more pics are avail on request.

http://www.farclip.com/ecake/

Talk about the eleventh hour!

I decided to make the cake of the first gadget I bought for myself, my Palm Vx, bought way back in 1999 or so for nearly $400, all bells and whistles included. The seminal first gadget! *submit*

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:55PM]

*Entry emailed as well with attachments*

I never would have imagined so many entries!
For myself - started Friday morning, finished about an hour ago! Time for sleep but first -
http://treocake.omnipod.ca

Cheers!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:55PM]

To my #208 comment, Sorry for the confusion, but I've sent my entry through email also. However, I used a different email to send the entry through comments. So please don't think theres two different people, its only one person. Thanks.

[laserbeams Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:55PM]

Make that a few more pics (for detail).

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:55PM]

Here's my flickr final photos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49157125@N00/?saved=1

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:55PM]

money shot @ the bottom, 100% edible!

http://uweb.txstate.edu/~jj25/cake/cake.html

(almost didn't make it!)

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:55PM]

Here's my wife and I's entry. Hope you all like it!

http://www.suplido.com/reggie/engadget/

- fondant cake (PC and base)
- stenciled engadget logo and circuit board pattern on base. Airbrushed with green food color.

5 min before deadline! We made it! LOL.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:56PM]

after making the inspector Engadget we decide to give you a another cool cake THE EngadgetMobile!!!!

he are the links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79565791@N00/112285655/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79565791@N00/112285654/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79565791@N00/112285653/

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:56PM]

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/1759/finalshot27bx.jpg

Looks like another awesome would-be Apple product turned out to be a bake......I mean fake.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=brandoncripps

Thanks. A lot.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:57PM]

Hey, this cake took forever and I JUST finished...

http://photobucket.com/albums/e135/jenenicake/

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:57PM]

Nothing says happy birthday like a 1983 Casio Calculator Watch with indiglo option.

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/jcmoses83/engadgetcake6.jpg

http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f117/jcmoses83/engadgetcake3.jpg

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 13th 2006 11:57PM]

http://www.fattriplets.com/?p=487

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 12:04AM]

Woohoo! Happy Birthday Engadget.

This is Colin Bulthaup over at Squid Labs. I've been a big fan of your site for a long while now and it was fun to throw together a cake to celebrate with you guys. Admittedly, I determined early on that not any old cake would do. It had to be something special. Something gadgety. I decided that the coolest thing to do would be to make a cake using gadgets.

Particularly, a 45 Watt CO2 CNC Laser Cutting System!

I made up a set of standard thin white cakes, loaded them into the laser cutter, did a whole lot of experimentation to determine the appropriate cutting parameters (12 passes, 60% Power, 100% Speed, 600 DPI,) drew up a design in Corel Draw, and then cut the cakes into beautifully patterned works of tastiness. I did 3 layers to the design, frosted each of the different layers with different colored icing, and then took a mess load of pictures. The cool thing about this process is that it allows you to make cakes that would be very difficult to make by normal methods.

I'm in the process of writing up an Instructable on the process that I used. I'll add an additional comment when it's finished.

But first, here are some of the pictures:

The laser cutting the cake:
http://www.bulthaup.org/colin/grafix/upload/cake/DSC_6404.JPG

Iced and complete!
http://www.bulthaup.org/colin/grafix/upload/cake/DSC_6473.JPG

Oh yeah:
http://www.bulthaup.org/colin/grafix/upload/cake/DSC_6520.JPG

Cheers,
- Colin

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 12:08AM]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41383432@N00/?saved=1

there the link and btw tomorrow is my 16th Birthday

[twellzer Posted Mar 14th 2006 12:12AM]

happy second birthday engadget!!!


http://worldsworstmovies.com/ebday10.JPG

http://worldsworstmovies.com/ebday01.JPG
http://worldsworstmovies.com/ebday02.JPG
http://worldsworstmovies.com/ebday03.JPG
http://worldsworstmovies.com/ebday04.JPG
http://worldsworstmovies.com/ebday05.JPG
http://worldsworstmovies.com/ebday06.JPG

and many moooooore!!!!

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 1:14AM]

Hey, this is Colin again... The guy who cut his cake using a 45W Laser.

I've posted an Instructable describing how I did it along with a whole mess load of pictures. Enjoy!

http://www.instructables.com/ex/i/11C783C40461102985CB001143E7E506/

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 1:44AM]

some really good entries, sent mine in, its inspired by all those mp3 injected toilets in japan, its a combo toilet and ipod (the seat is the scroll wheel) i call it the "iPlod" :)sent it in...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 2:35AM]

Photobucket for some more pics: http://photobucket.com/albums/v206/seamouse/Dreamcake/

Sent mine in a bit late through email---but thought I'd post it on here. I present: the Dreamcake (with removable lid), with controller, VMU, and Chu

Dreamcake
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/seamouse/Dreamcake/100_2828.jpg

Controller and VMU
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v206/seamouse/Dreamcake/100_2809.jpg

I'm glad no one else did a Dreamcast, at least. :-)

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 5:31AM]

So is there to be a gallery of all the fab cakes sent in? haven't been able to put mine on the web yet, would also be cool to see other email entries that were just emailed in.

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 9:30AM]

I thought mine was pretty good. There are a lot of great entries here! I'm so excited...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 9:42AM]

Hey all,

These cakes are amazing!! I am dumbfounded by some of them! Last night I emailed my pics to engadget but I'm also posting them here for all to see.

www.ycds.org/~jayers/engadgetcake.html

Great job everyone and best of luck!

-Jusin

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 9:45AM]

http://www.ycds.org/~jayers/engadgetcake.html

sry, heres a live link of the above
-Justin

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 11:28AM]

Alienware Area-51 3550 PLEASE!!!
If its exists...

[(Unverified) Posted Mar 14th 2006 11:56AM]

Hi all, emailed my pics a while back, but signed up to flickr atlast, so all can see my DS Lite cake. lol. sooooo not gonna win but was fun to try anyway.
So many fab cakes, well done all.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51639644@N00/?saved=1