The Raspberry Pi credit-card sized computer can’t do everything — but boy can it sure do a lot. Whether you spring for the full-sized Model B+ to create a custom 3D printed smart home camera, or the compact Zero to create a frickin’ homebrew pocketable smartphone, there’s no denying that the affordable boards are one of the best ways to kill a lazy Saturday in the workshop. Following suit with other brands including Nike, Microsoft, and Apple skewing towards “experiential retail”, the Raspberry Pi foundation launched their first retail store in Cambridge, UK Thursday with an emphasis on allowing visitors to experience that #RaspberryPiLife. With stations arranged throughout with project breakdowns,…

NVIDIA introduced their Quadro RTX line with an eye-poppin’ mix of high-end GPUs that put previous Quadro cards to shame and made workstations question their life choices. What seemed to be missing, however, was a mid-range RTX option. They introduced that last fall – the Quadro RTX 4000 – and it’s due… really, any moment. NVIDIA snagged one and shot it over so we could give you a first look and see what this GPU can do. At the time of this writing, I don’t have a tower workstation for the RTX 4000, so don’t have photos of it in its natural RAM-rich, storage-maxed, PCIe-ready, motherboardin’ habitat. However… well, you…

Even if you’re not some hotshot designer or engineer, being your family and friends’ resident Mr. Fixit can be just as good of a title. But now it’s time to take it up a notch and get your workshop organized. Here are 10 storage tips on how to turn your garage into a streamlined workshop fit for any project. 1. Use magnetic strips for drill bits. Stop leaving your drill pieces around for people to accidentally step on and toddlers to chew. By sticking some magnetic strips in high places such as your workstation walls or worktable, you now have a place to store all your drill bits without the…

It’s time for another round of apps that cover the spectrum of your beloved smart device(s)! The Weekly App Smack is the best of new or updated design and productivity apps (and maybe a couple of fun ones, too) for the busy design or engineering professional. This week we have a list sure to make you more efficient. Do you have an app suggestion that has made your life easier or changed up your workflow? Let us know in the comments below or send it into tips@solidsmack.com. Hit it! Tunity: Hear any muted TV (iOS — Free) Now you can tune-in wherever you go! TUNITY is a FREE app that allows…

These days, you can get just about any computer rig designed to your exact specifications. Whether you’re a RAM-hogging SolidWorks user, or simply just want a powerful workstation, there’s something for everybody. But no standardized hardware mod will ever replace the satisfaction of building your own rig from scratch. If you’ve ever wanted to create your own custom-built PC but didn’t know where to start, boy do we have great news for you. The How to Build a Computer Bundle consolidates five intensive online courses (a total of 126 individual lessons) ranging from how to create a blueprint for your desired desktop or laptop setup to how to overclock CPU…

Even with the prevalence of touchscreens and touchpads, no piece of input hardware can interact with a computer quite like the traditional mouse. Introduced as a prototype in 1964, the very first personal computer mouse has let users edit their Word documents, play video games, and altogether explore a digital world created by 1s and 0s. Take away your computer’s mouse, and you’ll discover just how hard it is to get any real work done (and no, switching to your laptop’s touchpad doesn’t count). The computer is dependent on the mouse and vise versa — but what if you could integrate the two? While a trackpad roughly counts as a mouse…