Presented by The O’Jays. Remember those guys? Probably not, but I guarantee you’ve heard their most popular song, For the Love of Money. Two chords and a repetitive five-word phrase later, and you’ve got a song stuck in your head for longer than you want. Those could easily be five reasons integrated CAM matters to engineers. But alas, we know engineers are not that superficial. So, in our final foray into Fusion 360 features, we’re going to look at something you shouldn’t overlook–its integrated CAM functionality. But rather than talk waaaaay out of my proficiency about CAM features like toolpath setup, tool libraries, roughing & finishing, and all things CAM…

While Apple’s industrial design team is known to sweat every last detail of a new product in their top-secret lab, a not-too-secret team of aftermarket hardware customizers at the ColorWare facility in Winona, Minnesota have been turning back the clock to keep the characteristics of yesterday’s Apple industrial design alive in 2016. Founded on the idea that electronic devices could be more appealing than the standard colors offered by the original manufacturer, the ColorWare team designs, disassembles, paints and reassembles existing consumer electronics for customers looking for something that sets them apart from the rest. More recently, the team has created an impressive lineup of 80s-inspired Apple hardware customizations including…

Designed to withstand the harsh demands of the world’s elite sports and wildlife photographers, Canon’s $11,000 EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4X high-performance super telephoto zoom lens is a beast of a piece of glass. While the specs – which includes a switch for increasing the zoom range from 200-400mm to 280-560mm at the flick of a switch – are certainly impressive, it’s the guts and part design considerations inside of a lens like this that deserve some true appreciation. With hundreds of precise mechanical and optical parts, the EF200-400mm F4L IS USM Extender 1.4x is nothing short of an engineering masterpiece – particularly as it’s designed to take ridiculously sharp photographs…

Time for another round of apps that cover the spectrum of your beloved mobile device, be it iPhone, Android or Windows! 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! Motion Stills “Photos are an extension of our memories, and our memories are never still.…

There’s just something that’s really awesome about drawing on paper… erasing it, wading it up. Even with all the tablet and pen options available, it’s something that just can’t be matched. But maybe I’m just partial to not staring onto a screen more than I already do. That’s where the this Digital/Ink Smartpen caught my eye. It captures all your sketches into editable digital copies and does so with real ink and any type of paper. It comes with the pen, charging cradle and receiver, comes with an iPad clip and can be used with Mac, Windows, iOS or Android. Once your nasty scribbles and drawings are digitized, it lets…

When’s the last time you went barreling down a hill on a skateboard the size of a small sea bass? Never? Well, there’s always a first time and while you’re at it, why not get extra crazy and have your questionable friends dare you to go down that hill on a 3D printed skateboards?