How did you spend your holidays? Jimmy DiResta spent his working, both in his city and country shops, to produce (from scratch, naturally) a series of work tables for a school. As always he offers plenty of his signature tips, from why he prefers a bandsaw for cutting steel bar stock to how you can keep working even when the supplier's closed to a clever trick with a ruler when you're producing cut-offs. Watch and enjoy!

With a dismal 16% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the Assassin's Creed movie has to be one of 2016's biggest stinkers. But this "paper parkour" animation created to promote the movie is pretty awesome:

That was executed by illustrator/graphic designer Serene Teh. Some of you might find it similar to PES' 2016 Emmy-nominated animated spot for Honda, but Teh has been working on the technique since at least six years ago, when she gained the attention of Saatchi & Saatchi with this clip she created:

Lastly I'll say, Ms. Teh, your last name is burdensome to type in an era of autocorrect.

Who We Are Mango Audio is a earphone company pushing the boundaries of how we listen to music. Music has become such a task to listen to nowadays with tangled wires at the helm of our frustration. We have a strong dedication to providing music lovers a listening experience

Say hello to Uber Freight. Last summer, good old Uber acquired the company Otto, which planned to bring self-driving trucks to the hauling market. The concept tested reasonably well, delivering mega loads of beer and Christmas trees to San Francisco. Now, since the buy up, it looks like Uber is pivoting that branch away from just autonomous and towards their traditional product: decentralized movement. Drivers can sign up to deliver long distance, users can sign up to avoid traditional contracts with shipping companies. Sounds legit right? 

While this seems like a bootleg industry nightmare to me, the ability to monitor the behavior of human drivers and their use networks will help further development of the Otto autonomous line. This is expected to depress some shipping costs, but does leave plenty of room for the beloved surge pricing. While multiple other tech brands have shown interest in the shipping world, this is the boldest move ahead yet.

The details are still gray but given the arrival of the new Uber Freight website, they should be delivered pretty soon. 

A set screw is a type of fastener designed to pass through one object to connect it to another. For example, when a gear or collar needs to be fastened to a shaft, set screws are the typical solution.

In situations where registering the gear or collar to a specific location on the shaft is desirable, a flat can be machined into the shaft, which the end of the set screw then presses against to lock it into position. 

While repairing industrial sewing machines I've also come across conical depressions machined into a shaft with a corresponding conical-tipped set screw. In fact there are a variety of different head types one can choose from, depending on the application:

Graphic by Atlantic Fasteners

Set screws can technically have heads, as seen in this conduit fitting:

However, they most often do not have heads and consist entirely of threaded shaft. (This is probably why they're called "grub screws" in the UK, as a headless set screw can be said to resemble bug larvae.) 

The drive types can be anything, but the most common I've seen are hexagonal or slotted.

Interestingly enough, headless set screws came to prominence as a safety measure in reaction to line shafting. In factories with all of those exposed spinning parts, a set screw with an exposed head could slice a worker's hand open or worse, snag their clothing and pull them into the machine. By ditching the head and recessing the screw entirely, this risk was eliminated. The copy for this 1913 advertisement for the "Allen Safety Set Screw" touts this:

With a little outside-of-the-box thinking, you can probably think of more uses for set screws than merely affixing things. Their recessed nature makes them ideal for anti-tampering applications, particularly when manufactured with a proprietary drive system, like this hex pin incorporated by manufacturer Loss Prevention Fasteners:

As another example, Canadian manufacturer Lee Valley tools uses set screws in some of their handplanes, not for fastening, but for adjustment.

Here we see their shooting plane. There are two shafts containing set screws on either side of where the blade goes. (In this photo directly below the blade has been removed for visual clarity.)

Once the blade has been inserted, the set screws make contact (at a depth of the user's choosing) with either side of the blade.

Why? So that the user can dial in the precise lateral position of the blade that they prefer, and after removing the blade to sharpen it, can re-insert the blade and it will return to the exact position it was in before. Handplanes lacking this feature require a bit of fuss to get the blade back to its previous position.

So that's one example, and perhaps you can think of more uses for set screws in a project of your own. On that note, here are some (U.S.-based) set screw resources:

Atlantic Fasteners

Bolt Depot

Fastenal

Loss Prevention Fasteners

McMaster-Carr

And if you need super tiny set screws, check out this Japanese company:

Del Screw

To our readers in other regions, if you've got a good resource, please help your fellow locals out and list it in the comments.

NASA Langley's newest round of design troubleshooting for life on Mars has come up with some intriguing design solutions. With the extreme cold, unbreathable atmosphere, and rainbow of radiation types, astronauts landing and living on the red planet will have to be well protected as soon as they arrive. 

The Mars Ice Home design aims to solve all of these problems with a couple startlingly simple principles. It's based around a torus (or donut) shape and a thick outer shell filled with water ice, which provides protection from both thermal extremes and high energy radiation. This design is lightweight and can be erected by robots before the arrival of the crew, even more viable now that Mars is known to have extensive ice deposits. 

The ideal structures for Martian survival would be underground, but at this point that would be impractical. If not using a prebuilt or inflated above ground option, heavy equipment for drilling and underground construction would have to be deployed and used before the astronauts arrive. Expensive in both fuel and complexity.

In this version, the lightweight skins can be made from easily shipped materials that are still durable enough to weather years of use. The water inside can even be repurposed as fuel for departure. 

The team anticipates "years of use in the harsh Martian environment, including ultraviolet radiation, charged-particle radiation, possibly some atomic oxygen, perchlorates, as well as dust storms, although not as fierce as in the movie The Martian," as researcher Sheila Ann Thibeault explains. You hear that Damon? Your Mars storm is totally not canon.

When people see the moon, they have particular feelings—they are inspired, in awe, etc. This collection of lamps is called Moon Shadow, and they gradually change color from white to dark according to paper thickness. The lamps create complex and beautiful shadows when lit. There is no skeleton inside the lamp shade because paper pulp is used. Rather than arranging the shadows’ gradations geometrically, I tried to make them as natural as possible to reflect the actual moon. I experimented with the form and layout to create a richly heterogeneous surface with a particular texture. The moon shadow range includes two different lamps.

Passionate about design, social media, and writing engaging editorial content? Then our winter internship might be for you! This internship offers a wealth of experience in editorial research, metric tracking, copywriting and editing (not to mention hanging with us in the New York office!)

We're currently looking for an Editorial Intern for the winter months to help provide support for the editorial team's web and social media efforts. The intern's responsibilities will include but are not limited to creating and sharing content on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, the Core77 calendar and Core77 newsletter.

The Editorial Intern reports to the Community Manager and Editorial Assistant to deliver research and content on a consistent and timely manner. The editorial intern will assist in producing and identifying content for the various properties owned and operated by Core77 working with additional product management teams as necessary and supporting contesting, production of imagery and identifying new platforms to amplify the Core77 brand.

Primary Objectives for this position include—

- Production of copy and content for Core77 social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest)

- Promotional copy for social media and editorial project campaigns as necessary
- Managing editorial assignments and posts

- Execute daily searches for relevant social media content (videos, images, news, etc.)
- Assist in maintaining the Core77 calendar with regular design events around the world

- Attending design events as needed

Skills to bring to the table & things to keep in mind—

- Innate understanding and passion for social media

- Ability to understand and adapt writing ability to a brand voice

- Strong writing skills, from 140-character Tweet text to entertaining blog posts

- Good sense of humor

- Display a passion for design in all of its manifestations

- Option of working between 4-6 hours each day, 2-3 days each week— in-office schedule flexible

- Must be able to report to our offices in Manhattan

- Paid internship (hourly rate)

To apply, please send a resume, cover letter and responses to the short writing exercise above to our Core77 Editors at recruiting@core77.com.

__________________________________

SOCIAL MEDIA COPYWRITING CHALLENGE (REQUIRED)

Please choose two of the four articles attached below. After reading, for each article please write:

– An alternative title option
– Twitter copy to promote the article under 140 characters (for example: "The real reason the Rebels want to destroy the Death Star? Fiscal concerns: http://bit.ly/2hezow6")
– Facebook copy to promote the article

Articles:
1. http://www.core77.com/posts/58516/Spamusement-Japans-Combination-Spa-and-Amusement-Park
2. http://www.core77.com/posts/58308/A-Cheese-Glue-Gun-Backed-by-Buzzfeed
3. http://www.core77.com/posts/58053/adidas-Unveils-Another-Sustainable-Sneaker%E2%80%94They-Are-Spidermans-Dream
4. http://www.core77.com/posts/57646/3D-Printed-Bone-That-Squishes-In-a-Good-Way

I had the better part of eight hours invested in this little project. Next I only had to plow the groove around the outside to free the lid and finish the shiplap shape. After 15 minutes, I'm onto the final face when an alarm bell starts clanging in my head—Something is wrong here.

Suddenly I realize that my entire design won't work. I have passed the point of no return and this project just became firewood.

What do you do when this happens? (Besides curse a blue streak to the walls.)

Me, I take a deep breath and walk away. Call me optimistic but I always believe there is a way to salvage a project gone wrong. They key is flexibility in your concept which can actually be a lot harder than it sounds. As woodworkers, we build things that are unique because we can. When we decide on a design it can be hard to compromise and alter it. However, every time I have been forced to creatively fix an error, I'm happier with the outcome and the way it has changed my design than I was with the original concept.

I examine what I have and where I want to go and figure out a way to connect those two points. Woodworkers make stuff so why can't I make a solution here? So guess what, this little box is the product of a major firewood-creating mistake. The Walnut rim was never planned but if I hadn't said anything, would you have known that? Exactly. Whatever doesn't end up as tiny shavings on the floor only makes us better woodworkers.

How about you? I can't be the only one who makes mistakes. Tell me about your creative fixes and how it changed your design.

___________________________________________________

This "Hand Tool School" series is provided courtesy of Shannon Rogers, a/k/a The Renaissance Woodworker. Rogers is founder of The Hand Tool School, which provides members with an online apprenticeship that teaches them how to use hand tools and to build furniture with traditional methods.

It's a little hard to believe at first sight, but Korea's Hankook Mirae Technology company has released video of their human piloted mech walking. It's called the Method-2, and the 13 foot 1.3 ton machine looks like something CG plucked out of a movie. Though untrue, this isn't terribly wrong, since its lead designer, Vitaly Bulgarov, has a professional background in SFX.

The Method-2 is being conceived of as an option for emergency response in dangerous conditions, but it'll need a better power pack before it gets unleashed. In the meantime, it's already handling well upright, both in forward and backward modes, and its arms function well too.

Here's the first video of the mega mech walking, posted to Facebook by Bulgarov.

In this video Bulgarov himself enters and pilots the arms: 

At this point, it sounds like the team's short term plan is to modify a legless version for faster response time in industrial settings. That sounds wise, but now that I've seen this awesome walker in action, I'll be sitting on my (puny flesh) hands until we see more of it.

Are you looking for a role where you can help define the future of play? Where you unite the digital and physical to create amazing play experiences for children? If you do, and love to combine systemic and creative thinking, we would like to hear from you.

It's always eye-opening to see how real people live, in contrast to the clutter-free staging of a design magazine apartment spread. It's also interesting to see that before-and-after photos of someone's home being cleaned…don't always look very different.

Unfuck Your Habitat is a Tumblr started by Rachel Hoffman, whose no-nonsense, piecemeal approach to cleaning house is refreshingly honest. If Japanese decluttering expert Marie Kondo is a General laying out long-term strategy, Hoffman is Special Forces, getting in-and-out to pull small, quiet, quick-'n-dirty jobs as needed. To that end, her Tumblr features submitted photos of folks' before-and-afters of minor cleaning jobs in the service of, well, unfucking things.

Hoffman's central tenet is that most of us are simply too busy to clean house. "Our lives are complicated and sometimes messy, and we're often distracted and overwhelmed and lazy," she writes. But the larger idea is that if we do a little at a time, using methods like her 20/10s—that's 20 minutes of cleaning, 10 minutes of fucking off—we can at least start to make a dent.

The important thing to remember is that there is nothing that can't be unfucked. You just have to do it. You just have to overcome the compulsion to sit on the couch, on the computer, watching TV, and get up and do SOMETHING. Anything.

Hoffman's cluttering-attacking philosophies, which are loaded up with more "fucks" than a Bill Burr set, has landed her a book deal; "Unf*ck Your Habitat: You're Better Than Your Mess" just came out this week. Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing has a review of it here.

The Airselfie is a new take on a now familiar subject: the drone camera. Smaller and more self-oriented than ever, it aims to fit a controllable selfie drone in the same pocket as your smartphone and remove the *need for selfie sticks. After seeing how this thing flashed up on Kickstarter, you might even see one buzzing around local attractions as soon as this February. 

The Airselfie's outside specs show an aluminum frame, weight of just 52 grams, and a body that measures 3.72 x 2.65 x 0.42 inches. Pretty smidgy. Inside is a 5mp camera, altitude sonar and stability cam, micro SD card, brushless motor, and small propeller guards. It comes with a power bank case that doubles as a phone case, which charges the drone when stored. Or you can recharge the drone directly via micro USB. 

To use the thing, you tether with your smartphone via its app (works with iOS and Android systems), then guide it into position before taking selfies or video… even on a timer mode. Wow! It also claims to work to a height or distance of 60 feet. 

While project videos show the tiny thing floating well enough, the handling and proof of concept seems sketchy to me. First of all, the whole idea is to do away with selfie sticks, but every example photo could have been more easily taken with a timer. Second, the ability to control pitch, height and static hovering aren't convincingly shown, and those are the areas where drones have any advantage. 

Then... there's the video.

"We've all been there, buddy." Have we?

In all seriousness, was this project developed and pitched by an AI built by the International Brotherhood of the Popped Collar? The video seems like something from The Onion's beat on reasons I hate all new San Francisco residents. Or am I just grouchy because the body design is way more boring than the Follow Me drone? 

*Ha hahaha haha ha.

Jimmy DiResta periodically releases very handy "Tips 'n Tricks" videos showing faster, more efficient ways to do things. Jimmy's nephew Matt came up with an idea: As an experiment, why not have several makers collaborate on these, with all three sharing screentime in each video? 

They've done so, and here's the first video, featuring efficiency tricks from Jimmy and fellow makers Matt DiResta and Linn from Darbin Orvar.

In the second video from Linn's channel, the trio share more tips:

And yet more in this third video from Matt's channel:

If it catches on, it sounds like they'll do more.

CORCRETE© is a material development by DESIGN STUDIO NIRUK based on the combination of two contradicting materials—concrete and recycled cork. It's visually and texturally unusual surface is a mixture of natural warmth and modern coolness—cold meets warm, hard becomes soft. The material is light and vibrant—objects and surfaces made out of CORCRETE© have an individual, intimate look and feeling. The material is available for different architectural and design applications in three colours - grey-cork, black-cork, white-cork.

The design duo Nina Ruthe-Klein and David Antonin designed tiles and furniture from CORCRETE, and the material was presented at fairs in Stockholm, Cologne, Leipzig and Kortrijk in 2016.

Corcrete_Colours

Corcrete_Colours

Corcrete_Colours

Corcrete_Colours

Corcrete_Colours

After reading our post on Ikea's new table leg connection system, reader Jason Campbell wrote us about a similar concept. Interestingly enough, it has to do with surfboards.

Surfers have been using fins on the bottom of their boards since at least the 1930s. Detachable fin systems were invented in the 1950s—a slotted "fin box" inserted within the board's underside could accept the rider's fin of choice—yet the attachment method was clumsy, and permanent, "glassed in" fiberglass fins remained popular.

The problem was that, like tires on a car, fins of different configurations confer completely different performance benefits (i.e. better straight-line speed, or easier turning, or better "hold" on larger waves). This meant that changeability was desirable. So in the 1990s a trio of Australian surfers invented a way to quickly and securely attach and detach fins to the bottom of their surfboards by means of set screws:

Their company, FCS Fin Systems, saw multiple competitors pop up as their detachable fins grew in popularity throughout the '90s. More recently, however, the company redesigned the system in a very clever way that does not require tools:

The FCS II Fin System, as it's called, is pretty brilliant. The connection is strong enough that the fins can withstand the enormous lateral stresses placed on them when turning in water, yet can be popped off using just finger pressure. This is because the designers have recognized that it's impossible for water to place pressure along the axis of the fin; it simply hits the blade's edge and flows around it. Fingers, however, can do the job handily.

Obviously a surfboard and an Ikea dining table are different animals that undergo different types of stresses. But I do wonder if the FCS II Fin System has any applications in the world of flatpack.

Thanks Jason!

"Learn-by-doing" PENSOLE Footwear Design Academy PENSOLE is starting 2017 off right with an exciting class and competition that focus on two large aspects of the footwear industry's future—material design and 3D design. Collaborating with Vibram, Autodesk and Wacom, the class and competition take note of the material experimentation and digital fabrication footwear trends we saw in 2016. The deadlines are quickly approaching, so you'll want to jump on this ASAP:

PENSOLE MLab X Vibram Master Class

This hands-on, four-week intensive master class is extra exciting because it's PENSOLE's first class focused on material design—not to mention they're partnering with Vibram. The course is meant to expand participants' knowledge of material design, color design and branding, all in the realm of footwear.  

In terms of actual curriculum, participating designers will design an athleisure shoe complete with a new Vibram outsole that each designer will design during the course—all in the presence of Vibram professionals. Why now? PENSOLE Material Director Suzette Henry believes that, "as industries shift how they manufacture, the need for specialized color and materials skills grows." We couldn't agree more.

Deadline to Register: January 15,2017

Fusion of Footwear with Autodesk and Wacom

PENSOLE, Autodesk and Wacom are in search for the best 3D designers to take part in this competition. To apply, select a footwear category from the ones provided, download Autodesk 360 (it's free) and get designing. The top 20 designs will be featured at FN Platform.

"3D design is the future of our industry, and with Autodesk's Fusion 360 software and Wacom's world class digital design equipment, we can provide aspiring footwear designers globally a platform to showcase their ability." —PENSOLE founder D’Wayne Edwards

Deadline to Register: January 22, 2017.

Core77's editors spend time combing through the news so you don't have to. Here's a weekly roundup of our favorite stories from the World Wide Web.

Architecture's Digital Turn and the Advent of Photoshop

"Amy Kulper locates architecture's "digital turn" in 1988, when Thomas Knoll invented Photoshop" … "One of my case studies is Neil Denari—a long-time friend and colleague who hired me to teach at SCI_Arc—who said to me, "You know, I didn't buy Photoshop at the time it came out because I couldn't afford it." But then he shared the procedures for making his drawings, which are completely Photoshopic, prior to the advent of the software."

—Eric Ludlum, editorial director

Sneakers Have Always Been Political Shoes

"Since its invention in the 19th century, the footwear has been about much more than athletics—conveying ideas about national identity, class, race, and other forms of social meaning."

—Stuart Constantine, publisher and managing partner

Four Ingenious Designs Found in Japan

As I'm sure we're all familiar, Japan is a wonderful hub of weird design. But there also exist there some very clever solutions to, as illustrator Wendy MacNaughton points out, "problems I never noticed existed". Check out all of her interesting observations during a recent trip to Tokyo and Kyoto.

—Allison Fonder, community manager

There are Plenty of Jobs Out There, America

This Bloomberg article takes a data-driven look at American employment and finds some surprises:

"Futurists have been saying for a while that the U.S. is hurtling toward a jobless economy, with driverless long-haul trucks and cashier-free brick-and-mortar Amazon stores. Someday, maybe. Right now the problem isn't too many workers who can't find jobs. It's too many jobs that can't find workers." Turns out unemployment is actually quite low, but U.S. industries are having a real problem finding skilled workers, businesses are not upgrading to modern equipment, and our infrastructure is in poor condition. Our President-Elect will have his work cut out for him.

—Rain Noe, senior editor

How Design Thinking Became a Buzzword at School

This recent Atlantic article discusses the confusion designers, educators and just about everyone else has with design thinking. Some clarity is provided, but the popular abstract concept has so many layers it's ridiculously tough to define.

—Emily Engle, editorial assistant

Which Blade III

This one's pretty wicked. Jimmy DiResta is prototyping a knife that can hold a Leatherman in the handle:

CNC-Cut Signage

Two from Jimmy this week. Here he cranks out a sign for a client using Corian, MDF and Plexi. Check out the trick he uses to pull the backing off of the Plexi after it's assembled:

How to Build a Simple Homemade Sawmill

A few weeks ago Izzy Swan designed and built his "urban sawmill." This week he pushes himself to create a simpler, more compact, less expensive version out of common dimensional lumber:

Big Bandsaw Build 7

Matthias Wandel finishes up his massive bandsaw, does some beefy resawing and has the finished plans ready:

Dude, Where's My CNC?

Frank Howarth scores a deal with CNC Router Parts, whereby they're buying his DIY machine and providing him with one of their own. Here they've got to break his machine down:

Collapsible Bookcase

David Picciuto builds a collapsible bookcase from Christopher Schwarz's "Campaign Furniture" book:

LP Frame with Removability

For vinyl lovers who want to display their records, but be able to easily listen to them too, Bob Clagett creates this display frame that allows you to slide the LP in and out:

Jack and Jill Bathroom Remodel, Part 1

Demolition time! As part of a remodel Sandra Powell rips out, completely by herself, an entire bathroom. It's fun to see all of the components and innards that bathrooms are made up of, and how with a little elbow grease you can make all of it disappear.

Shop Tour

Laura Kampf gives us a tour of her awesome, sprawling, colorful and functional shop. (Since she often shoots up close, I had no idea there were so many rooms!)

DIY Chin-Up Bar (and More) Without Using a Doorway

Ben Uyeda quit his gym membership, and is gradually DIY'ing his own exercise equipment. Here he creates an adjustable, multifunctional pull-up/dip/sit-up station that virtually disappears when not in use:

DIY Iron Pipe Lamp

Here Ben turns plumbing into lighting:

Table Saw Sled Giveaway

Nick Ferry is running a Kreg-sponsored table saw sled giveaway: