This week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist brings an entirely new face-smack of great music to help propel you through those laborious, tedious design tasks for the next few days. This week we’re steppin’ in the DeLorean to head back to the Summer of 1995 where we’ll revisit some classic 90’s alternative rock. We’ll start with some Spacehog and move through everything from The Breeders to Garbage and Jane’s Addiction to Porno for Pyros.
Not sure about you, but I enjoy a plate of steaming hot Styrofoam chunks and raw silicon rubber in the morning. I enjoy it even more when it’s chock full of electronic and re-soldered PCB bits. Delicious. Now, take that and turn it into a lesson on form, function and recycling a USB mouse to be the tool of file dragging, text selecting, geometry tweaking joy you’ve always desired. I present to you a new Instructable from Jude Pullen that steps you through the wonderfully educating process of making your own Ergonomic USB Mouse. You probably have a spare mouse laying about and this is just the project for some weekend fun or introduce design process to kids.
There have been quite a few multitool products launched on Kickstarter, even a few for your pocket, but do any of them pop the top of a bottle and let you tighten a 8mm hex head on your fancy scooter? NO. Not like the Ringtool does anyway. Ringtool is a single-piece multi-tool, designed by Jonathan Sabutis, that just hit funding on its Kickstarter campaign. Without the unfolding, flipping or flicking you get nine tools packed into a wee stainless steel ring that attaches to your keychain and fits inside your pocket. We asked Jonathan about the design, the prototyping and manufacturing process of this simple, smart design.
Shapeways recently announced a new material, a ‘Maker-only’ material called Elasto Plastic–high strength, high flexibility, low detail and smoothness. I was intrigued. What wondrous creations could be manufactured with this wondrous material? Having created many other items with many other materials via Shapeways, there was definitely a lot of possibility for a more flexible material. Let’s explore, shall we?
Delivering the infusion, the sound of the metal chair hit against the wall. It wasn’t as if it were trying to escape, but there was a look in its eyes that said, “once the lights flicker, flicker just one more time, all of you will know exactly what I am.” The lights did flicker, flicker…