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Game of Thrones Fans: So Just What is "Dragonglass," Anyway?

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If you haven't seen last night's premiere of "Game of Thrones," stop reading this. Mild spoilers ahead.

So on last night's Season 7 premiere of "Game of Thrones," lots of stuff happened. The Red Wedding was repaid with the Red Wine Tasting. Ed Sheeran made a cameo. Cersei remodeled her patio with some cartographic artwork. Jon Snow released a BOM for his upcoming line of White-Walker-killing products. And it was revealed that Sam, who's been hanging out in that bad-ass library in the Citadel, discovered where there's a cache of the material at the top of Snow's BOM, "dragonglass."

We HBO-watching earthbound humans recognize dragonglass as obsidian. In the mythical world of Westeros, if fashioned into blades it can be used to kill those pesky albino zombies. But here on earth we use it to make everything from jewelry to sex toys*.

So what exactly is obsidian?

In both worlds, in comes from lava or more specifically, molten magma. It's essentially naturally-occurring glass. Way before we humans figured out how to work metal, obsidian was the go-to material for creating edged weapons because the stuff is freakishly sharp.

How sharp? So sharp that some surgeons (outside of America, that is) actually use scalpels made of obsidian to perform surgeries. Obsidian is not crystalline in structure, whereas steel is. That means that if you look at the blade of an obsidian scalpel next to a steel scalpel under a microscope…

…you can clearly see that one is sharper than the other. According to CNN,

Dr. Lee Green, professor and chairman of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta, says he routinely uses obsidian blades.

"The biggest advantage with obsidian is that it is the sharpest edge there is, it causes very little trauma to tissue, it heals faster, and more importantly, it heals with less scarring," he said.

"It makes for the best cosmetic outcome."

He explained that steel scalpels at a microscopic level have a rough cutting edge that tears into tissue, a function of the crystals that make up the metal. Obsidian, meanwhile, cleaves into a fine and continuous edge when properly cut.

Obsidian scalpels are a no-no in America because they don't have FDA approval. They're also quite brittle and don't tolerate lateral forces well, and understandably some surgeons don't want to use a scalpel that might break off inside the patient's tissue.

On Westeros, however, it might be acceptable to break blades provided they're inside the body of a White Walker. Particularly if Sam's information makes it to Jon, and if Jon can acquire the mining rights to the dragonglass cache on Dragonstone. Hopefully we'll know more next week.

*For those of you that thought I was joking, here's a bunch of obsidian dildoes.


Mid Century Modern Find of the Week: 1960s Ikea Teak Bar

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This wonderful mid century modern bar in teak was designed by Arne Wahl Iversen for IKEA in the 1960s.

Although it's rare to find pristine examples of well crafted IKEA pieces from the 1950s and 1960s, they do pop up once in a while, and are found mostly in Sweden, where the company did most of their business.

This piece still retains its original key, intact with the company's logo.

A large teak door drops open to expose a black laminate serving surface and a black-glass-and-mirror-lined interior. 

A small glass shelf offers storage for barware. 

A light turns on when the door opens and is hidden behind a teak peg board rail.

Two lower cabinet doors unlock to reveal two bays with adjustable shelving.

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These "Mid Century Modern Find of the Week" posts are provided courtesy of Mid Century Møbler, which specializes in importing vintage Danish Modern and authentic Mid Century furniture from the 1950s and 1960s.

Reader Submitted: Concrete Speakers Sleek Enough to Display in the Home and Handmade Enough to Feel Personal

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UTOPIA Audio is a speaker maker team specialized in handmade concrete speakers. Our vision is to create an interesting mix between industrial design and wireless sound technology. We design speakers that are beautiful parts of your home and that represent your unique taste for handcrafted goods. Our first model is called Titan, which has a built in 60 watt amp and Bluetooth aptX connection.

View the full project here

Bro Tip: the FLEXR Folding Pullup Bar

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You know a product has been missing from the market when it goes up on Kickstarter and receives 10 times the amount of funding it requested. Recently, that product turns out to be the FLEXR pull up bar, very surprisingly from our research one of the first of its kind. 

Frequent any house occupying swarms of college dudes and you're likely to see a typical pull up bar awkwardly stored behind their Papasan chair or by their towers of protein powder. Founders Derek Pankaew and Eric LaFleche appear to have designed the FLEXR for one to elevate the status of the pull bar as a legitimate design object, but also to solve a problem that frankly should not be that difficult to solve. Considering the company has already raised over $46,000 dollars on a $5,000 goal with 28 days to go, looks like it was high time a designer came up with even a simple solution to this glaring problem.

According to their Kickstarter page, the almost 3 feet by 10 inch equipment folds down to about a quarter of its size at 2 feet by 1 feet. As you can see from the animation above, it isn't the tiniest object you'll ever lug around, although it's considerably better than a standard pull up bar. FLEXR does seem to sacrifice size for the sake of easy foldability and taking away the need for disassembly, which lessens the possibility of losing essential equipment hardware. 

We should also note that the founders of this company are not designers but instead entrepreneurs who hired on designers to help discover a new solution—this inevitably means there is more room for improvement. However, creating something that can at least be easily folded into a duffel bag and stuffed away is a good start. 

Designers, how would you redesign the pull up bar? Is there any way to guarantee more compactness without the risk of losing parts through disassembly? Let us know in the comments below.

FLEXR is currently running a funding campaign on Kickstarter, which you can find here

Interacting with Technology More than Five Hours a Day? This Pillow's for You

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Balance collaborated with startup Enduring Wellness, LLC, to develop a line of wellness products to help people eat more healthily, get more exercise, feel less stressed, and most importantly, get better sleep. As something we spend a third of our lives doing, we understand sleep as being a crucial part of our lives that is often overlooked in the design world. Because of this, we knew we could design a product to help millions of people get better sleep.

View the full content here

We Lightened These Shots from "Game of Thrones" So You Can Actually Appreciate the Interiors

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[WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead.]

If I have one complaint about "Game of Thrones," it's that it's too dark. Not in terms of tone; whatever I've seen on the show is still not worse than what we do to each other in the Core77 offices each week. I mean that the production designers slave over interior sets that we viewers do not get to appreciate in full, because the DP either forgot to bring more than one light or the art director is trying to make us go blind.

So we've taken some screengrabs from last night's premiere and tweaked the levels to give you all a better look.

First off in the Citadel library shot, we can see what they didn't show us last year: That there is a clerestory oculus dead center in the ceiling.

This, along with the other clerestory windows, provides the light that illuminates the room after it's bounced around on that crazy Alexander-Calder-meets-Sherlock-Holmes contraption.

What do you reckon these chains on the books are for? I see lots of chains but no locks. It's almost like they want to add extra weight just to try to break the bookshelves, which must be damned sturdy. Ikea Billys these ain't.

At the Citadel we also get to see what a public men's room looks like. Notice there's no toilet paper anywhere. Gross.

Who's got the better Throne Room? Here's the one in the Red Keep in King's Landing, where Cersei has cemented her ascension to the throne. The floors look to be marble but the pattern isn't particularly attractive, it's like the contractor ran out of white and just filled the rest in with some ochre and black cut-offs he had lying around.

The circular flame pits ringing the columns seem like an odd design choice. Coupled with the pointy fence encircling them, it almost seems like they're there to keep punk kids from trying to climb the columns.

The Throne Room Daenarys has inherited (or is squatting in) at Dragonstone has a very different design aesthetic. You can see that the architect had a thing for triangles and has also specified hexagonal floor tiles, which had to be a real bitch to cut assuming they don't have tile saws in Westeros.

Here we can also see what happens when you design the space before buying the furniture. When you sit in a throne, basic design sense says that you put a window behind you, so that the light from it will blind your subjects as they address you. It's a classic power move.

However, the rather monstrous throne with the 45-degree-angle motif selected by the interior decorator is so damn big that it blocks most of the window, nullifying the effect. I'm calling this a design fail.

"You IDIOT."

In contrast you can see that over in the Red Keep, the bottom of the window behind Cersei handily clears the top of the Iron Throne. This is what happens when the designers communicate with each other, people.

We don't get to see the Throne Room at Winterfell, but here we see the Great Hall, where the floors appear to be stone or very poor-quality tile. And that has got to be the worst grouting job I've ever seen.

Designing a Great Hall can be tricky. You want it to be small enough that your instructions can be heard from the other end of the room, but large enough that if you have a bastard son you can alienate him by seating him at the far end, as Jon Snow described in the last season.

Speaking of Great Halls, here's the one at The Twins, where Arya Stark has just served up some of her tasty two-buck chuck. This shot reveals what would have been the most promising vocation to pursue in Westeros: Candlestick maker.

Back at King's Landing we see that Cersei is, after all, a typical rich woman. Here she's commissioned a bit of cartographic whimsy for her courtyard, and she doesn't even have the decency to wait until the contractor's finished before she steps on it. You know he's just dying to scream "That's NOT DRY YET! …Milady."

Also interesting to see that A-frame ladders exist in Westeros.

We knew that staircases existed in Westeros, of course. And when Daenarys finally reaches Dragonstone and the gates are opened…

…you see that only people with supreme cardio are ever going to make it to the building entrance. This is one of those staircases where if you reach the top, then realize you left your phone in your fanny pack down at the bottom, you think "Hell with it, I'll buy a new phone."

"I need to consume more carbs if I'm going to make it to the top of that thing."

Lastly, the most egregious Designer's Curse moment I had while watching the premiere: On the timbers at Winterfell, you can see the milling marks. During this whole scene I wanted to go over all of them with a random orbital sander.

"You're talking madness, Sansa. 40-grit is overkill; 80-grit will do."


Why You Should Not Get a Patent

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People design because they are creative, not because they are experts in patent law. Still, to prevent your ideas from being ripped off it's necessary to know something about patents, copyright, and trademarks. 

In the video below, John Sanders of Sanders Machine Works discusses intellectual property (IP) law with Ty Kendrick, an Ohio attorney who specializes in patents and trademarks. Sanders' interest in IP springs from his experience as a designer whose products have been copied by others.

The conversation begins with Sanders expressing his belief that as a small business person, he lacks the resources to sue all of the people who might copy his products—and given that constraint, it's more important to "crush it" when executing his product and business plan than it is to patent his ideas.

Kendrick says there's some logic to what Sanders is saying but points out that it's not a black and white issue; there are things you can do to protect your IP that fall short of a patent. They go on to discuss design and utility patents, how trademarks (and their subcategory—trade dress) can be used to fend off counterfeiters, and the importance of timing in protecting your ideas. 

It's a wide ranging conversation and there's likely to be something in it you haven't heard before.

A List of CAD Software Programs, Both Paid and Free

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[Thumbnail image credit: By Freeformer - Created and originally uploaded to the English Wikipedia by Freeformer, CC BY-SA 3.0]

Designing 3D parts is tough, but with good software it become easier. Everyone has their favorite tool, and below we outline some of the most popular CAD programs. And if you're prototyping on a budget, or have a quick fix to make, there's lots of great free tools out there for creating and editing 3D models too.

Paid CAD Software Programs

3D Studio Max (3DS Max) was developed by Autodesk, is one of the gold standard programs for 3D modeling, animation, and graphical rendering. It is used frequently in the movie industry and in the creation of video games, and is especially useful for creating lifelike representations of living things and environments. Its tools are arguably more robust than necessary for modeling engineering parts; that is, its tool-set may be better suited for figure modeling and artistic projects - while a program like Rhino, Pro-E, or Inventor is better suited for machine components - especially when scale matters.

3DS Max comes equipped with a wide range of tools capable of adding impressive textures and skins to 3D models. When it comes to 3D printing, these tools are much less useful than in the world of rendering and computer graphics / simulation. An exported 3D printing file will rarely, if ever, maintain visually-relevant surface data.

The considerable cost for a 3DS Max license can be seen as a relatively high barrier for entry. A single license costs 3,675 USD in 2014. A short-run free trial is also available. It should also be noted, however, that a free 3-year license is available for students.

Adobe Suite harnesses the power of Photoshop in the Creative Cloud to enable editing and creating 3D models. This relatively new set of features may seem lacking to advanced modelers who are more familiar with other premium software, however it is comparatively easy to use and easy to learn for those who are already experienced with Photoshop and the Adobe Suite. Adobe's effort to enable quick export of 3D printable files should not be overlooked. Expect them to add additional functionality and features in the future.

Autodesk Inventor was created with mechanical design in mind, is an incredibly robust piece of software capable of 3D mechanical design, documentation, and product simulation. Digital prototyping of the highest quality can be achieved with Autodesk Inventor. It is especially suited for mechanical engineering applications.

The program has two flavors: Autodesk Inventor and Autodesk Inventor Professional. The vanilla version allows users to created detailed drawings, assemblies, and CAD models. The professional version adds simulation, routed systems, and tooling capabilities. A full professional license costs $7,295 USD. A free 3-year license is available for students.

CATIA was created by the same company as SolidWorks, purports to be "the World's Leading Solution for Product Design and Innovation". Beyond mere 3D modeling, CATIA offers tools for clear design, mechanical engineering, electrical and fluid systems design, as well as systems engineering. After producing models, CATIA enables developers to piece together parts and view models interacting in realistic simulations with impressive quality. These almost-real digital constructions are of such high quality that they are often used in advertising or for display purposes on their own.

Beyond its surface-level offerings, CATIA is capable of advanced surface modeling, industrial design concept engineering, reverse engineering and surface reuse, systems simulation, embedded systems modeling, systems safety analysis, tooling design, electronics engineering, electrical design, structural part and assembly design, style-to-surface comparative modeling, mechanical systems design, and more. As with other software of its kind, CATIA is used in almost every major industry where it can be used - including aerospace, automotive, shipping, energy, medical, and high-tech electronics.

CATIA has the highest barrier to entry for any 3D modeling program in the world. Like elite enterprises themselves, CATIA is a broad, deep ocean of capabilities and knowledge. An unprepared user could easily drown. Nonetheless, CATIA is behind some of the most advanced engineering projects on the planet and for some enterprises, the high cost is justified.

Although CATIA representatives will discourage people from posting the real price of the software suite, information posted by designers seeking quotes has tagged the price for a recent release (as of 2012-2013) at anywhere between 9,000 and 65,000 USD per unit, depending upon the number of modules included. An annual maintenance fee of 18% is also levied on the buyer, which can easily bring the lifetime cost of the product over 100,000 USD.

PTC Creo (formerly known as Pro/Engineer or Pro-E) features productivity tools that can be used in a number of industries. It is a scalable, interoperable suite of design software that enables concept development, prototype modeling, advanced 3D rendering, and dozens of additional functionalities. For 3D CAD modeling, PTC Creo Parametric is the go-to part of the suite. Like SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor, its interface will be familiar to those familiar with engineering-focused 3D modeling programs. Producing 2D sketches and 3D extrusions helps build objects in a virtual environment. The novel part of PTC Creo comes from the sheer number of extendable, interactive add-ons that can work together with the core programs and share files easily. Bright, colorful models come to life quickly on the screen - giving a more intuitive sense of models and more intuitive editing tools than some comparatively priced software.

PTC Creo provides in-depth control of complex geometries and parametric objects. Crucially, it enables the generation of complete digital representations of products or parts being designed - something that few similar programs profess to offer. Its capabilities can generally be split into three sections: engineering design, analysis, and manufacturing. Data can be represented as renderings or as 2D drawings.

Free 30 day trials and a free academic edition are available. The full version and its elements have a pricing structure that is difficult to find without requesting a quote; however, Creo Parametric is reported to cost 3,500 USD.

Rhinoceros (Rhino) and its associated products (named after other animals) are relatively enduring tools in the 3D modeling space. Development of the initial version occurred more than two decades ago. Rhino is currently in its fifth version.

More focused than 3DS Max, Rhino offers a broad range of tools for modeling, editing, drafting, 3D capture, analysis, and rendering. The suite is used mainly for modeling mechanical designs and managing engineering projects, although it can be used for virtually any 3D task. The interface is relatively simple, setting the barrier for entry comparatively low. While not as robust as Autodesk Inventor, a full license for Rhino 5 costs only 995 USD. Multi-month free trials are also available.

Maya is another advanced offering from Autodesk, including tools for 3D animation, modeling, simulation, rendering, and compositing. The program is immensely capable, able to easily integrate 3D motion, 3D modeling, and cinematic-quality interactions. It is arguably more capable than necessary for 3D modeling of components to print with 3D printers, but the functionality is all present at its core.

A single license costs 3,675 USD, while a free 3-year license is available for students. Short-run free trials are also available.

SolidWorks is built from the ground up for mechanical design. It has a broad and robust feature set perfect for 3D CAD, product data management and consolidation, simulation, technical communication, and electrical design. Solidworks is used in virtually every industry that could have need for custom-designed parts, including but not limited to: aerospace, automotive, construction, energy, manufacturing, medical, industrial equipment, and high-tech electronics.

Along with dedicated archives, live support, forums, blogs, user groups, individualized programs, extensive documentation, and a host of other resources, SolidWorks is equipped to deal with enterprise-level institutions and individuals alike.

The software itself is complex, but very responsive. Interfaces in Autodesk Inventor and extremely similar and users familiar with one will find picking up the other takes only moments.

A single-user license for SolidWorks costs 3,995 USD, while a professional license costs 5490 USD. Free trials are not guaranteed and must be requested. They are not available for students at any time.

Free CAD Software Programs

123D is a suite of software developed by AutoDesk. Including tools for sculpting, modeling, drawing, creating circuit projects, 3D file manipulation, and much more, the suite is geared for beginning users and enables them to produce compelling models with relatively simple tools. TinkerCAD, although hosted separately, was added to the suite in 2013.

Programs within the suite can be downloaded to computers and mobile devices, or launched live on the web on supported browsers. Simple design and responsive tools enable users of any skill level to produce quality 3D models which can then be exported for 3D printing. As with most freeware, 123D suite programs lack robust tools and detailed attention given to units - making them inadequate for complex mechanical assemblies or printed parts whose accuracy is crucial to their operation.

Blender is a free and open source 3D animation and modeling program. It supports a broad array of 3D processes, including: modeling, rigging, animation, simulation, rendering, compositing, and motion tracking. It even enables video editing and video game creation. Open scripts enable further customization. Since the entire project is community-driven and free, frequent updates and changes to the original source code are released - giving Blender more responsiveness than some larger, more tightly-controlled programs.

Even with its fully-featured 3D environment, Blender lacks some of the more robust and powerful tools present in paid/premium software - such as those specifically designed for prototyping and mechanical engineering reducing the number or severity of sharp intersections between surfaces.

FreeCAD is a parametric 3D modeler. Parametric modeling allows you to easily modify your design by going back into your model history and changing its parameters. FreeCAD is open source (LGPL license) and completely modular, allowing for very advanced extension and customization. It also lends itself very well for scripting since nearly every feature can be accessed through its Python API.

OpenSCAD is free software for creating solid 3D models. Unlike Blender or TinkerCAD, OpenSCAD focuses specifically on the mechanical dimensions and properties of CAD models instead of their artistic properties. It is ideal for creating machine parts and detailed mechanical models. It is not, however, useful for creating animated movies or graphical renderings.

OpenSCAD enables a user to build models from 2D outlines or by compositing solid geometry, as in many premium programs. It enables export in common file formats and supports STLs for 3D printing.

SketchUp is a free 3D design program curated by Trimble. It includes a library full of free 3D models which anyone can use and to which anyone can contribute. Its Layout feature enables 3D models to be converted into realistic drawings easily - these can then be exported in a variety of file types, in addition to the ordinary export options afforded to its 3D modeling suite.

A Sketchup Pro License costs many hundreds of USD and adds additional features and functionalities. Its low barrier to entry and the ease with which a user can create or import models makes SketchUp an appealing tool for beginning 3D modelers. As with other free software, it lacks the robust features and complex assembly features that premium programs often contain. Advanced users may find its simple interfaces lacking, but this is precisely why it appeals to beginner users.

TinkerCAD Unlike standalone 3D modeling software, exists only online and functions on a variety of browsers (although Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox are recommended). TinkerCAD has a low barrier to entry and is free to use. Beginning users are guided through the 3D design process with lessons, teaching basics before allowing users to move on to more advanced techniques. Founded in 2011, the software package was acquired by AutoDesk in 2013 and was rolled into the 123D family of products.

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This post is provided by Fictiv, the most efficient manufacturing platform for fabricating parts. Powered by a distributed network of highly vetted vendors, the online interface makes it easy for customers to get instant quotes, review manufacturing feedback, and manage orders—all through a single service.



The ShapeScale: Personal 3D Bodyscanning Device Shows You How Your Body has Changed Over Time

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After several weekends of too much beer and barbecue and not enough exercise, I go with the Bill Burr body image motivational system: I take my shirt off, look at myself in the mirror and start fat-shaming myself.

This method isn't for everyone, of course, and die-hard fitness nuts might prefer a more data-based assessment of how their body has changed given recent exercise and diet changes. Stepping on a scale can tell you you've gained weight, but can't tell you precisely where. Thus a company called ShapeScale has developed a personal 3D scanning machine that provides greater detail about your body:

As depicted, the machine seems it would be useful (or depressing, in my case) for displaying that kind of data and changes over time. But as we all know, a concept video is one thing and real-world reviews are another. As the ShapeScale will not be released until this fall, it's impossible to say whether the machine is worth the price.

The price, by the way, is $299--or $599, or somewhere in between, depending on what option you go with. What's not mentioned in the video is that the software that generates the scans will not be with you, but will be up in ShapeScale's cloud, and available on a subscription basis of $9.99 or $12.99 depending on whether you want to be billed annually or monthly. That's assuming you've paid $299 for the machine. If you spend $599, there's no subscription required and you get lifetime access to the app.

Lastly, those are pre-order prices. That $299 and $599 jump to $499 and $899, respectively, if you order after the ShapeScale has hit the market.

I can't help but think that $899 buys a lot of barbecued chicken and IPA's, but admittedly I'm not the target market.

Fitness nuts among you, what say you?

Design Job: Jam Out as inMusic's Senior Industrial Designer in Cumberland, RI

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inMusic is seeking a seasoned Senior Industrial Designer to join our accomplished design team. inMusic consists of 14 brands including 11 hardware brands; ION (Consumer Audio and Lighting), Denon DJ (Premium DJ equipment), Alesis (Digital Piano and Electronic Drum), Numark (DJ Equipment), Akai Pro (Music Production and Performance), Alto Pro (Live Sound), Denon Pro (Pro Audio/Video Recording & Playback), Marantz Pro (Pro Audio Recording & Playback), M-Audio (Studio & Live Equipment)

View the full design job here

Red Dot Award Winning Tools: Leatherman Skeletool RX

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Leatherman recently received a 2017 Red Dot Award for the Skeletool RX introduced last year. It's the 4th iteration of the original Skeletool that came out in 2007. 

Aimed at first responders, it differs from earlier models in that it comes with a carbide tip for breaking glass and a heavily serrated blade for cutting seat belts.

The RX model includes seven tools: needle nose pliers, regular pliers, hard-wire cutters, wire cutters, carabiner/bottle opener, locking knife blade, and a large bit driver. 

The Glass breaker is held in the bit driver and can be swapped for a screwdriver bit that stores in a slot in the opposite handle. The second bit is slotted one end and Phillips the other.

The blade is made from 154CM stainless steel, a very high carbon alloy that has better edge retention than the 420HC steel used in standard blades, like the one in the original Skeletool. 

Heavily serrated, it's designed to quickly cut through tough material such as rope and seat belt webbing. I own a Skeletool CX and it has a smooth blade, which is easier to sharpen but does not cut thick material as well as one that is serrated.


The curved opening in the jaws can be used to grasp smaller nuts and bolts. It's difficult to see when the jaws are closed, but there is a notch between the wire cutters and pivot point. That notch is for cutting hard wire.

The Red Dot Awards jury summed the tool up as follows:

The individual components of the Leatherman Skeletool RX are clearly visible and sensibly arranged. Thus, the right tool is always at one's fingertips.

I can't argue with anything the jury said, though they failed to mention that the Skeletool RX is a beautiful object. This particular model comes in orange only; other models are available in bare metal and/or multiple colors. 

I love the overall shape of the tool and the circular holes through the frame, which look good while serving to reduce weight. The ovoid hole through the handle is not there for looks; it's so you can flick the blade open with the tip of your thumb.

Incredible Overhead Photography by Gabriel Scanu

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Australia-based Gabriel Scanu learned to use a DSLR at the age of 12, taught by his cinematographer father. Now just 20, Scanu has also learned to use a drone and has mastered Lightroom presets, and the results are stunning:

Scanu dropped out of school to pursue shooting full-time. On his Instagram page he plugs the custom Lightroom presets he sells for $39, and I have never not minded being advertised to so much!

There's an in-depth interview with Scanu where he goes into detail about his equipment and such here

Machine Shop Tour: How to Keep Track of Your Stuff

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It's never too late to organize your stuff. Last year I put my tools and machines in storage while remodeling my shop. When I brought them back, I reorganized the way they were stored. My only regret is that I didn't consult John Sanders' videos before organizing the contents of my mechanics tool box.

The owner of Sanders Machine Works in Zanesville, Ohio, Sanders moved from NYC a few years back—which is why his YouTube channel is called NYC CNC.

The video below is a shop tour that focused on storage. You don't have to be a machinist to appreciate the level of organization in his shop; the principles he espouses can be applied to any craft or trade.

They include putting like items together and keeping things close to where they will be used. If at all possible, keep the most frequently used items out where you can see them—preferably in shadow boards (Sanders uses Kaizen Foam). If you store things in containers or drawers, be sure to label them so you know what's inside. And get rid of the stuff you never use.

That last piece of advice is the hardest to follow. I found it difficult to get rid of things before remodeling my shop. But it felt good once I got going. I sold a machine and gave away a bunch of tools—it helped that a friend had retired and was taking up woodworking. Eight months on there have been only a handful of times when I wished I'd hung onto something I'd gotten rid of.

There's a lot to be learned from watching the video tour of Sanders' shop. Don't be disheartened if your gear is nowhere as organized as his. Mine is not. But it will be better when I incorporate some of the things I've seen in this video.


Reader Submitted: This Transforming Chair has More Parts than Meets the Eye

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GVAL is a product that brings surprising and playful use to an object as ordinary as an everyday chair. The form of the chair is a careful balance of many requirements: ergonomic demands to fit the human body in a variety of positions, modularity of pieces that can fit together like a puzzle in a variety of ways, and intention to create an abstract form that radiates sense of lightness, familiarity and invitation to touch, use and play.

View the full project here

"Nomadic Furniture:" DIY Designs from the 1970s

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In 1971 Victor Papanek wrote his seminal Design for the Real World, a book I'm hoping is still required reading for modern-day design students. (Sample quote: "Much recent design has satisfied only evanescent wants and desires, while the genuine needs of man have often been neglected by the designer." Still valid today, yeah?)

View the full content here

A Glass Pool Table (With a Catch)

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As I've mentioned here before, when I was studying ID one of my (famous) design professors hated when people redesigned an existing object to be made from a different material. He'd surely hate this table, but I'd like to hear what you think.

Australian company Elite Innovations is selling, in very limited quantities, this "X1 Everest Ultra Modern Pool Table" by Nottage Design.

As you can see it's made of glass, and the billiards players among you are probably wondering how that's possible; felt-over-slate it ain't. Well, EI has patented a proprietary finish called Vitrik, "a coating and mesh multi-layer combination, fixed to the glass, which allows the balls to roll silently at a near identical rate to a standard cloth table, plus spin (English) can be applied," they write. "It's highly durable, completely non-toxic and is 96% transparent."

Here's what the balls look like rolling on said surface:

So, here's the thing. Not mentioned in the product copy, but buried in the FAQ is the fact that "Only balls supplied by Elite Innovations can be used on the Vitrik surface," as they are coated in a corresponding finish that will not mar the surface of the table. The company has apparently not done a good job of making this clear: Five years ago a California man purchased the $73,000 G1, a predecessor to the X1 that's also made of glass and coated in Vitrik, and began shooting pool on it with regular billiards. The result?

"[He] discovered to his horror that this left the table 'scuffed, scratched, damaged—essentially destroyed,'" the man's lawyer told ABC News, in describing the man's subsequent $219,000 lawsuit against Nottage Design.

The X1 is pretty to look at and surely a status symbol as only five will be produced annually. But changing the material to glass and Vitrik does not confer any functional advantage, just novelty. And novelty eventually wears off. My purist professor would have lambasted this in crit; however, what's your take on it?

FoamCore Basics, Modeling Tips & Tricks for Designers, Part 2: Making Clean, Curved Shapes

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Here in Part 2 of this series, pro industrial designer Eric Strebel shows you how to go beyond flat/straight shapes when working with FoamCore. Follow Strebel's tips to get a variety of different radii while keeping your piece clean-looking and professional:

Missed Part 1? Check it out here.

Design Job: Branding Bullseye! Arrow Media is Seeking a Production Designer in Austin, TX

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You’re looking to work for an agency that values Design with a capital D, and want to work with people that care for their craft. As a production designer with an eye for detail, you can take concepts and art direction and turn them into a final product. Solid typography,

View the full design job here

Fit Shear Pliers #15

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I stumbled across this unusual product on the website of a vendor that specializes in German hand tools. It was completely unfamiliar, and I was surprised to discover that the original model was patented in 1950. How did I miss seeing these before?

It didn't help that Fit Pliers are made by Dürholt Zangen Gmbh, an obscure German tool company with only one product. The company once made a full line of hand tools, but after the initial success of the Shear Pliers it decided to stop making anything else. They're still at it 67 years later.

There's nothing unusual about the gripping portion of the Fit Shear Pliers' jaws; they're grooved near the tip with a serrated notch farther in—a configuration similar to that of standard slip-joint pliers.

Here's where it gets weird. The wire cutters are located on the handle side of the pivot instead of the side with the jaws. 

Why? Because the space where the wire cutter would normally be is occupied by scissor-like blades that function as shears. This is the added feature that makes Fit Pliers unique.

According to the manufacturer, the shears can be used to cut materials such as sheet metal, copper cable, and thin steel wire.

The nippers are better for harder wire because nippers work differently than shears. Shears cut cleanly while nippers "pinch" their way through.

Model #14 has cellulose acetate grips.

There are a couple of models of Fit Pliers currently available. The #14 has old-school cellulose acetate grips. Cellulose acetate is a "natural" plastic. It was invented in 1865 and is still used today—frequently for screwdriver handles (if they're clear or translucent they're probably cellulose acetate or the related material cellulose butyrate).

Model #15 has TPE grips.

The #15 has overmolded TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) grips, which are no doubt softer and more comfortable than those made from cellulose acetate.

There are some Fit Plier knock-offs kicking around. If you are interested in the real thing, look for the Made in Germany label.

Amazon Patents the High-Rise Urban Drone-Port

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Amazon's vision for the future includes multi-story automated distribution centers sprinkled throughout urban areas. Goods will arrive by truck and be delivered to customers by fleets of drones issuing forth from ports or doors in the building. 

Few humans will work there because robots will perform much of the picking and warehousing work. At least that's what is presented in a recently published patent application.

The building on the left looks like a giant birdhouse, which seems appropriate given the number of drones in the air around it.

The patent documents describe these buildings as "multi-level fulfillment centers for unmanned aerial vehicles"—what we refer to as drones.

The building on the left is shaped like the Star of David. The one on the right resembles a bee hive or Jules Verne's idea of a space ship.

The reason for these buildings and why they need to be located in urban areas is described as follows:

Fulfillment centers are typically large-volume single-floor warehouse buildings used to temporarily store items prior to shipment to customers. Often, due to their large footprint, these buildings are located on the outskirts of cities where space is available to accommodate these large buildings. These locations are not convenient for deliveries into cities where an ever-increasing number of people live. Thus, there is a growing need and desire to locate fulfillment centers within cities, such as in downtown districts and densely populated parts of the cities.

Amazon currently uses its own vehicles to deliver some packages but most are delivered by UPS, the USPS, and others. The patent documents refer to deliveries being made with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and "short-term hired ground vehicles". The last part probably refers to Amazon Flex, an Uber-like delivery service that is being quietly rolled out.

Here's a view of what might happen inside the building. Note the presence of human workers.

As for who or what will interact with the drone when it's in the building the patent documents say:

…the UAV may be serviced, inspected, powered, undergo a battery replacement, be coupled to a package for deliver, and/or otherwise interacted with prior to the next flight. In some embodiments at least some of the operations may be performed by one or more robots.

A different vision of what happens inside: drones dropping down vertical shafts like the air shafts in 19th century tenements. There are virtually no humans shown here; the work is presumably performed by robots.

This is not the first seemingly crazy idea from Amazon. It wasn't long ago that people thought drone delivery was nuts, and yet the U.S. Army and emergency service providers are on the verge of instituting it. One of the last big ideas from Amazon was a zeppelin-like flying distribution center from which drones could make deliveries—like the Hindenburg but hopefully without the fire.

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