Get that stretch out of your system with this week’s Spotify-powered SolidSmack Radio Playlist. It’s fashioned up, ready to make you pull your shoulder blades back and knock out another week of meaningful work while you bob your head to the beat. Whether you’re in the shop milling aluminum, sketching the latest product prototypes or modeling up a 3D storm, consider these tracks as a tool for your process. This week on SolidSmack Radio we’ll get the groove going with the super chill “A Calf Born in Winter” from Khruangbin before diving into fresh tracks from Whitney, Happyness, Slow Club, Night Moves, and others before wrapping things up with the…

When it comes to side projects, hours become days, days become weeks, and weeks can often become months or years. But what if getting a minimum viable product created could happen on a Saturday…assuming you aren’t building a flying car? Many successful entrepreneurs have been touting the benefits of the 1-Day MVP—a one-day, all-out sprint to go from fresh idea to app or hardware prototype. Sure, some projects may take a little more energy and time than others, but having the process and infrastructure in place to successfully glide ideas along is what counts the most. Which is exactly the premise behind the 1-Day MVP 2.0 online training course; one…

Mondays might not be your favorite day of the week, but the good news is that we’re all in this together ladies and gentlemen. As purveyors of prime Grade A web content, the SolidSmack crew has done some of the heavy-lifting to make sure you get your Mondays started on the right track. Welcome to The Monday List. Every Monday, we link you up with some of the most insightful, informative, and socially-relevant stories to keep tabbed, bookmarked, reading listed, pocketed, or what have you to get your week started on the right foot. Be sure to check in each week for a new crop of freshly sprouted words curated straight…

While multi-million dollar companies are trying to bring the flying car dream into the real world, one ambitious Filipino man has already beaten them to the punch. Kyxz Mendiola isn’t a famous designer, engineer, or CEO of some big wig company. In fact, he’s a dancer! Most of his electrical engineering, fabricating, aircraft designing, and yes, even his piloting skills are self-taught via the good old internet. But with research, skill, and a whole lot of determination, this guy managed to create a single-seated, one-person multicopter capable of flying at low altitudes for 15 minutes at a time. Dubbed Koncepto Millenya (“The Millenium Concept”), this manned flying machine is no…

For those who spend their days slicin’ and dicin’ material—be it for rough prototyping or simply just opening up all those Amazon purchases—having the right utility blade is an absolute must. While we love the simple and old-fashioned X-Acto blade, we’ve found them to be better for precision cutting versus all-around, at-the-ready utility. This grippy heavy-duty cutter makes use of OLFA’s unique snap-off blade system, so you’re never without a sharp blade at the ready. And with an anti-slip rubber grip design featuring a ratchet-wheel blade lock for safety, you won’t have to worry about slipping or unexpected pocket surprises. OLFA 18mm Rubber Inset Heavy-Duty Utility Knife — $11.43 Features:…

The canopy was a sandwich of eyes and dew-drenched leaves. We had all but to shift our gaze to see blinks that would start a rainfall. We inched closer to the clearing, their movements becoming more intense with each of our steps and their eyes starting to glow like the edges of these links. Alice Bruderer – Industrial designer with a crush on creatures creating amazing mash-ups of mechs, ships, racecars, and aircraft with beast. More on her site at mechanized-monsters.com. Moving Backwards – There’s this dolly out method in film that backs you away from the scene. This is a montage of how it has been used over the years. Cowboys,…