Considerably more complex than a typical desk lamp or a child’s nightlight, the folks at CE Lighting have come up with a modern reinterpretation of everyone’s favorite boogeyman buster. At first glance, the Skala Lamp looks like a pencil holder without the…you know, pencil holding feature. In fact, it looks like little more than a paperweight—but folding out the telescoping portion of the device turns the Skala into a much more useful task lamp. Let’s shed some ‘light’ on this: Skala is a USB-charged wireless lamp consisting of four telescoping rings. These rings can be extruded from the base in a variety of ways to provide 4,000K (Kelvin) light via…

It’s time for another round of apps that cover the spectrum of your beloved mobile 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 and 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@www.solidsmack.com. Hit it! TapMeasure (iOS — Free) Meet TapMeasure, the spatial utility that combines computer vision and AR, creating a whole new way to…

It’s no secret that online learning is more popular than ever. From easy screencasting software to dozens of video hosting platforms, learning new skills is easier than ever before. But have you ever considered creating your own online classes—whether to help others with your rockstar workflows or even secure a profitable side gig? The good news is that anybody can get started—all you need is something to teach and the motivation to do so. And with the How to Create an Awesome Online Course training, you can get started producing your own content immediately (yes—this an online course about creating online courses). In this highly self-aware course containing over 8…

Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos aren’t the only renegades out there building rockets. “Mad” Mike Hughes is a 61-year-old limo driver who apparently has had enough of driving on land and has set his sights to the stars. The ‘Flat-Earther’ has spent the past few years using his self-taught knowledge of rocket science to create a steam-powered scrap metal rocket that will theoretically propel him 1,800 feet into the sky and help him discern whether the Earth is flat or not. Yes, folks—this is for reals. The maiden flight will be conducted by Hughes himself as he flies over the ghost town of Amboy, California on November 28 at a…

While multimedia notetaking and sketching continue to drive professional tablet sales, the ability to pull the best from both worlds—the immediate digitization of analog sketches created with physical media—still leaves a lot to be desired. In the Spring of 2016, Moleskine released what we declared “The Best Analog/Digital Sketchbook of Them All” in the form of the Smart Writing Set; an analog notebook system that enables users to digitally archive, edit, and share real-time paper sketches without the pain point of taking a photo, scanning loose documents, and uploading files to the Cloud. “We see demand for our paper-based collections grow in double digits year after year, showing the continued…

When it comes to product design books, it’s not always easy to eliminate glamorized portfolios from those that get down to the real nitty-gritty of product design. And when it comes to those actually worth reading, Don Norman will never do you wrong. As a strong (and very early) advocate for user-centered design, Norman is a pioneer in UX and UI design principles that exist in many of the products we use today. In his book, The Design of Everyday Things, Norman dives deeper into not just why…but how smart design is changing the landscape all around us—and what you can do to give your designs a competitive edge. If…