Have you ever thought about building your own motorcycle? The TV shows make it look so easy, don’t they? But, I’m not talking about a chopper, I’m talking about an electric motorcycle. And not just any electric motorcycle. Not long ago, contractor, carpenter, and renewable energy enthusiast James Biggar designed and built his very own electric motorcycle from scratch. By attaching a 72-volt motor to a welded steel tube frame wrapped in custom molded fiberglass body, the end result is an electric bike as street-worthy as any motor vehicle, and cooler than most electric motorcycles on the market today. Building an Electric Motorcycle As mentioned, the frame is constructed with…
Those of you who inhabit itty-bitty living quarters know that space is a premium. For most, the name of the game for everyday living becomes home organization and efficient use of space. Taming the little stuff is simple enough by just following the old saying “there’s a place for everything and everything is in place.” Yet it’s a little trickier when it comes to big furniture pieces like tables. They are serious space hogs and often sit unused for hours. Much like the small objects, it would be great if the table could be store away or take on a different form and use. Enter German company Smart Living with…
We all know the basics of how a wind turbine works. Using passing winds as an energy source, a typical wind turbine converts kinetic energy into useable electricity. While many wind turbines are large and found in mountainous regions or open fields, the Enlil has a more urban source of wind energy. By plopping this tiny tower in the middle of a street, even one with relatively little traffic, it captures the wind of passing vehicles and convert it into electricity. This relatively small wind turbine is easily installed on an island between traffic lanes, where it captures the winds from both directions of traffic flow. And for moments when…
A new online service has emerged that hopes to guide 3D printer operators to better printing parameters: 3DOptimizer. FabControl SIA, the producers of 3DOptimizer, seems to be a spinoff from well-known 3D printer manufacturer Mass Portal. Their claim to fame was being able to achieve 3D prints of astonishing quality, so there’s definitely skill present. In fact, one of the founders and former CEO of Mass Portal, Janis Grinhofs, is now running FabControl SIA. Optimizing 3D Prints Getting the best print is a quest known by any 3D printer operator, and it is usually a tedious affair. Benchmark 3D prints are produced iteratively, each time tweaking this or that setting.…
If you awoke from a dream this morning with P’s written in Sharpie all across your torso, there’s a reason. Lenovo has announced the next generation of the ThinkPad P Series laptops bringing a whole host of upgrades to the ThinkPad family. Altogether there are five laptops in the mix and while they all hit different needs, you’ll likely be most interested in the 3D pro-focused updates for the P15 and P17. 10th Gen Intel + Ultra Performance Mode Leading the features for the entire P Series line is the new Ultra Performance Mode (enabled in the BIOS) that brings you more control over performance settings, shifting VPU and GPU…
We’ve all been there before: your package arrives in the mail and you have nothing to open it with. It’s times like these we reach for the closest sharp object in the vicinity: a pair of scissors, a letter opener, an untrimmed fingernail. In my case? You guessed it. A Swiss Army knife. However, the Dagr is definitely one to add to the EDC list. Made by Calvin Laituri, a father and son design team, this tiny knife can be easily carried for those impromptu cutting ceremonies. The Dagr has two distinct modes: one being screwed on and totally safe, the other being unscrewed and sharper than a politician’s tongue…