It’s been a very long, hard week getting the site up and ready. Or, however long it’s been. But, we’re nearly there! A quick editing pass, validation of the PayPal integration, and some last bits and pieces here and there. And then, we can go live and announce! Amazing! Cheers to all Rando
Author: Force Link
3D printing: perfect solution to everything?
3D printing is a relatively new way to mass-produce parts, and that comes with a slight learning curve on the part of both industry (how to make the machines reliable) and you, the buyer. The issue comes down to this: I have heard that a single strand of dental floss will probably not work well pulling a car up a hill. Now, I know what you’re going to say: “crappy dental floss!”, or even “get a smaller car!” But in reality, the floss wasn’t designed to pull a car, any more than the 4CELNK-YR clips are intended to handle all …
Design Requirements Round-up
As I went fast through the design process, there were many notes jotted down on sticky-notes, in my normal notebook, the backs of old printouts, in the OneNote pages, and any other place I had at hand when the idea struck me. Going back, I found these items spread throughout, telling me exactly what was wrong with tie-wraps, and exactly what needed to be right about these. Hopefully you’re with me in agreeing that I’ve nailed it. (No mic-dropping; it hurts the mic) In addition to “Cool AND Useful”, they have to… Fit over the tube easily and snugly, without …
4CELNK-YR OR3V makes that rig look SHARP
You Obutto oZone and R3volution users know you live for the gaming! You know it’s awesome to have the rig set up just right. All the wires and cables…just….right. Messy cables are for inferior dweebs, duh! E’rebody knows that. But then, no matter what, eventually, it happens. The pure joy and the ongoing agony of a new toy. A better set of pedals. A righteous backlit gaming keyboard. A new A-10 Thrust controller. Another new screen. Those sweet LFEs you’ve been holding out for. A DRINK COOLER. Yeah, that required period of self-inflicted “character building” delayed-gratification BS is finally over! …
Blog’s lookin’ a bit sparse there!
Getting this WordPress site up and running has been both fun and puzzling. For example, you’re probably marveling at the wonderfully uncluttered, even spartan look of this post. Um, yeah, only partially intentional. While I do love clean and tidy, in truth, there’s some not-yet-configured things making it all look unloved. Soon, it will all be better ;-). Cheers! Rando
Cables Heavy? Really? Are they?
Since I am definitely getting into the business of supplying people with devices to hold their wire-type thangs, I was wondering: just how much is much? Just how much SHOULD a clip like this expect to hold? Hmmmm…. Okay, I’ve got it. I think normally, if it was a bunch of Cat5 cables, say for a surveillance system, I’d put tie-wraps about every two feet. More than that and the wires start to droop and look not-reall-attached. More, and they often seem over-clamped. So, let’s go with clips spaced every two feet, and those should hold nominally 8 Cat-5e cables. …
Wow! Talk about Whirlwind….
Fastest and Fullest yet so far! What on earth are you on about, Rando? This launch! Of 4CELNK.com? Yes! Well, unlike most other products that take a year or more, this one has come together with surprising speed. It’s as if the pieces of this puzzle were there all along, just waiting to fall together in thought. When I say fast, I mean idea to in-Market in under two months. Yes, MONTHS. This one is 2018-027, the 27th design-start so far this year. Yeah, it’s been a busy year for new designs. This one, though, is special. I can tell. …
flatBack Sticky Stuff!
Anyone remember that Devo song “Freedom From Choice”? Where the song lyrics go something along the lines of “Freedom of choice / Is what we got / Freedom from choice / Is what we want.” That is somewhat the situation we find ourselves in at the moment. Just what should be put between our flatBacks and the places we wish them to stay? “Something sticky!” is the rallying cry from the crowd. Ah, were it so simple. Turns out, we all have a whole bunch of different surfaces. LOTS of surfaces. Hard ones, rubberized one, flat ones, textured ones, painted …
Stock Becomes Inventory!
Well, the day finally arrived, and I started putting together parts stock into packaged units, ready for shipping. Cool! Cheers! Rando
Engineering is primarily a Communications role
TL/DR: Engineering is a communications role, not a smart-calculator role. Communicating completely, accurately and traceably how a vision is to be produced at-scale is the primary role of Engineering, at any level. If a project does not give attention to Engineering artifact collection/generation, it will fail. Apropos of nothing, I suppose….. It has become apparent to me that today’s graduates believe that “Engineering” is the process of solving the math problems, of making the right “design decisions.” How big should this bolt be, how thick does this plate need to be. It is not. That stuff, the solving of cute …