This week end I repaired my own macbook air power cable ! I ordered just the broken lead from an ebay seller and it arrived just fine in a jiffy pack able to go through the letterbox so was awaiting my arrival. The most tricky thing was getting the white power pack open and using pliers in the unnatural way (outside edge of the square tips start closed then open to force apart the case) to open the thing . Noticing that there is little room in there once open I decided like you should to splice the new power cable to the old wires instead of trying to get to the PCB Printed circuit board instead.

Why do this ?

Well a new power pack is 69 pounds and this is throwing away a perfectly working pack it’s the wire that is at fault. The cable was 6 pounds and fitted perfectly both ends ie in my macbook air and the power pack. I was going to epoxy the power pack back together but decided that black electricians tape was a better option at least initially. Warning : Don’t use normal non electrical tape as power packs get warm and only electrical tape is valid. Tips:

Try to use a correctly cut piece of heat shrink tube to neaten the soldering joint. Use flux to get a better soldering joint. Most solders come with flux or buy separate it make sure the imputiues don’t cause a bad joint. Test the joint using your needle nose pliers. I also used pike disgorger that is a great tool as you can grip and fix the nose on the subject very handy in holding these wires.

Should you do this ?

The phantom 3 from dji brings quite a lot of new features and improvments across but from my own phantom 2 experience I want to tell you what I need and see if the phantom 3 delivers on that.

Indoor Aerial filming

The phantom 2 would be incredibly hard to get steady meaningful indoor shots as the motion of the drone is going to be more random due to there being no GPS available indors - doh of course not !
The phantom 3 has the same underside camera/sensor recognition system so that it can feedback motion from the floor detail into the brain of the drone and correct - I would be keen to know if this also works outside to augment the GPS or if that is then just ignored.

Camera Control - the biggie for me

A big issue for me is not having access to any video camera controls while in the air - we do have tilt control for the gimbal in the phantom 2 of course but now the phatom 3 brings in start and stop recording (how many times I have landed to realise that I wasnt recording I am ebarassed to say !) and there are some exposure contros I believe too. The software allows some further custom Tx (Transmitter) inputs for you to assign in the software. I am not quite sure what you would use these for yet.

For businesses involved in dressmaking, couture or alterations, a good dressmaker's dummy is an essential piece of kit for designing, modelling, sizing and altering clothes. But with so many different types on the market, how do you choose the right one? Our handy guide will help.

To pick the right dummy model for your business, it helps to know what your needs are. Those who sow for one customer, or a particular standard size, may be happy to use a standard dress form with a single set of sizes. Those who need to use a dressmaker's dummy for a range of clients will prefer to have an adjustable model, which allows adjustment for height as well as girth. Most good models will be adjustable for the dress form and have a minimum of eight sections.

Most professionals will also need an adjustable dressmakers dummy that is sturdy and easy to adjust. Twelve adjustable sections are the most common for those sewing exacting garments. A deluxe trouser form is also very useful for those making trousers.

The K&L, available from Morplan, is the industry's best-selling standard model. Its dimensions are modelled on the female form, according to the UK's sizing definition and the dummy is made with a polyester body, reinforced with long lasting glass. The highest standards of production have been applied to ensure accuracy when pattern cutting and the dummy can be adjusted using the tubular steel base.The K&L is also available in miniature scaled-down sizes, which saves money for dressmakers and designers, by allowing them to produce smaller-size samples and toiles. The dummy has a linen cover, with accurate seams and lines which are based on the UK's standard measurements. Again, the dummy is supplied on a wooden stand. These smaller size dummies are also popular with shop windows and exhibitions, for demonstrating techniques and work in progress.For top quality dressmaker's dummies, the Morplan Tailor's bust forms are an excellent choice and manufactured using traditional techniques. The form is made from high-quality fibreglass with a linen cover. It is hand made to ensure perfect quality and stitch lines and will be serviceable for many years to come, with a robust wooden stand.The Adjust-a-Bust is an excellent resource for dressmakers working from sizes 12 to 20 in the UK and the model can be adjusted to independently set sizes for hips and waist, allowing total customisation of the client's measurements by adding wadding, the belly plate or rolled fabric pieces. Sleeves can be checked with the hinged arm and the chrome stand is adjustable, with an elastic cover. The bust, neck, hips, waist, height and nape to waist are all adjustable and the dummy is easy to adjust, with graduations provided in imperial and metric measures. The body is lightweight and made of plastic, with a felt cover that is ideal for pinning. Additionally, female models are provided with in integrated chalk hem marker.Hem markers can also be bought as standalone products and these blow a fine chalk line at the desired hem length, removing any need to pin. They work for any kind of material and can be adjusted in centimetres, with refills available.Regardless of your needs, you will find the adjustable dressmakers dummy that you need from Morplan, at a price to suit. Having a good tailors dummy is just part of the equipment to make your designs a sucess, get the best portable sewing machine for your studio.Main Image : Credit the Tailors Dummy.

Well you may not catch me taking a ride in this just yet as I dont think for a moment that the multirotor is proven in flight as much as a helicopter but this is a fantastic stepping stone from concept to reality. Thanks to the fastcodesign guys for inspiring me to write this early in the week. Here is the full suite of images

This image found on the google group Aerial Photography and Videography [as we love this kind of good press for drones] and now the coming reality showcased already at the german air show AERO Friedrichshafen 2014 seen here..I count around 14 motos and no doubt you can fly on fewer. So long as there is quite a bit of redundancy then this should be as safe as a helicopter both share the same principals of aeronautics.I think personal transport systems are one of the more exciting things to come. Get me off the darn roads.

Thanks to Johannes Eickhold for use of the image - please credit the owner with comments and a follow.

Also see below for the answer to the Question : What is the gopro hero 4 black 4k video like ?

I run a Phantom 2 from DJI FPV system which is capable of full 4k professional aerial footage both photographs and video. This inspire takes things to a different level in areas that you may or may not need. I shall explore the inspire further but for now the phantom 2 has everything I need and travels well also.What is the big advantage to the inspire ? Well for me it is the almost full control of the camera while flying. So you can tune the exposure for example or frame rate or resolution, yes it does support 4k up to 25fps so seems to be on a par with the hero 4 black from gopro. But this is adding a lot of cost to the hobbyist and I feel pushes this into the company realm. We will have to see how the production inspires turn out and maybe see what a second generation inspire brings. But in closing it is what dji do best they marry the apps and peripheral stuff to the multirotor model - its how they weave it altogether its what apple would be making if they did quad copters. I am very very happy with mine.

Answering the question on how good is the video of the gopro 4 black edition shooting at 4k in reality? Here is a still made from 4k video with the gopro hero 4 black edition. (the image seen needs to be downloaded or inspected at the full file size it has been reduced in size to fit this blog post.)

In fact its not true 4k but UHDTV with a slightly smaller resolution of 3840 x 2160 (this was my first shock)- you may need to right click to get the image in a new browser tab to see the full size version - or download it and inspect it more closely. I do have to say that you can zoom in and take a crop at a quarter and still see a sharp image. I might be with a lot of people saying that technology has gone beyond what we can natively appreciate ! I think the value of the slow motion 1080p for action sports is worth looking at otherwise 4k might be of use for projecting a large image perhaps. Not sure..

My research has led me to the following:

The original discussion on dji forums: http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?mod=viewthread&tid=1514&page=1#pid11247

Here is saying that the Phantom 2 is hard to beat, the all up package is around a thousand. But the flamewheels maybe will date less quickly than the Phantom. But the flamewheel needs to be packaged up and these guys offer this..

http://www.marionvillemodels.com/rc-shop/dji-f450-flamewheel-naza-light-readytofly-package.html

So I will look to see what the flameweel vs phantom 2 bundle could work out at.

I am looking at finding a budget laptop this year for Christmas and so I am doing my usual thing of scanning and reading through the marketing hype and finding out what is best value. It will take me a good while to get to this list and while it is not exhaustive this is a great place to start your research. If at the end you feel that I have missed a particular laptop model then please let me know by commenting.

At the price of £339.00 this is going to do the basic computing tasks at a decent speed but to get gaming you need a different machine. Its a no for me then but worth exploring otherwise. Its well built and has an ok screen. if you want a surfing tool and run some software then consider this machine. There is no optical drive so you will need to get a USB external one if you want to read DVD's for example. That is a bit of a big blocker for most. This is getting into crossover territory with chromebooks, but this machine has its own drive 320GB which is just about enough.

The 'D' means this is the cheaper AMD version and the one that should be on your budget list. Its mostly good or ok for entertainment with one of the better screens at this price point. Again gaming isnt great - indeed I wonder if gaming is going to be any good with any at this price. Might have to get into 400 pound models. Its quite slow to boot windows 8 and to then load apps like word.

This laptop is available at Tescos and therefore will be very tempting as you are easily distracted from that chore called shopping ! Never buy a laptop on impulse. This one might be ok for standard tasks but again isnt great for gaming and at thisi price if you can go a bit more go for the Lenovo G580. This Packard Bell laptop has a decent spec but one of the cheaper processors limits it and gaming isn't great again. The extra RAM in this machine is held back by the celleron processor.

We may have found a sub 400 pound laptop that can do some limited casual gaming. It has an annoying trackpad but a decent screen. 1TB of hard disk space (STORAGE) is a lot compared to the 320GB in the Asus above. it has 6GB RAM  (working memory) to handle having a few windows open at once. With a dual core i3 (intel) processor it has a decent heart for crunching the stuff that computers do.

Do all phone deals include a free SIM card?

Your Subscriber Identity Module, otherwise known as your 'SIM', is used to identify you as the carrier of your phone. Everyone have their own SIM card, and this will carry their phone number, data plan, and other details within it. It can be treated as a digital identity card. As such, when you purchase a new package or a new phone, you can continue to use your same SIM card and data plan. 

Neat, functional and fashionable; the BlackBerry Z10 Smartphone

On older phone models, your SIM card carried your contacts and text messages as well. Nowadays, however, modern smartphones will carry these details on the actual device itself. The specific purpose of the SIM, therefore, is purely to link you to your data plan and phone number. When you use your specific SIM in different phones, you will still be able to access your pre-paid plan, or phone contract, without any trouble. 

However, you need to be aware that SIM cards come in different sizes. Different SIMs will fit into different types of phones and card modules. So, for example, if you have a BlackBerry, and you lose it, you will need to get a new SIM card if you start using a different type of phone as a replacement. This SIM will be 'programmed' to still carry your data, but will be specific to the type of phone it is used in.

The growth in home entertainment has reflected the pressure of modern day life; it may be that both parents are working but also the time taken in commuting to and from work has increased. An eight hour working day may be a ten or eleven hour day from front door to return.  In these circumstances there is little time or energy for socialising other than at the weekend.

Alternatives to television

Television is an obvious source of entertainment but the mundane ordinary schedules were a reason for the popularity of video and DVD releases of the latest films once the distributors thought they had maximised box office potential. It was another revenue source to augment the takings at the box office. There is a third source of revenue for the movie studios and that is the deal negotiated between the film companies and satellite broadcasters to show premiere films much quicker now than television would previously have provided access.

Satellite television has made major inroads into the traditional terrestrial companies and its owners have explored every way to market themselves to reach income levels via subscription and advertising.

The Internet has provided a new opportunity and that is for consumers to buy access to their products through the Internet. These on demand services provide users access to an online interactive library of movies that can be accessed anytime. A good example is NOW TV. All that is required to watch Now TV movies online is a good broadband connection.

This link --> http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57562201/how-to-design-breakthrough-inventions/ came highly recommended and I am half way through but as a postgraduate in Industrial Product Design I thought I should share it.Its about IDEO the company that came to life through many innovative products like the first apple computer mouse ! David Kelley founded IDEO in Silicon Valley - I suggest you jump over on the link above and find out more.

Paper and bags has always been a good match – like love and marriage if you are one of those people who sees romance everywhere you look. Seriously, a bag made of paper is an environmentally friendly receptacle. It can be used over and over again and is a great advertising billboard for a business. Do you send your customers on their way with an environmentally friendly, advertising billboard?

So after the frenzy of The Oscars with the dresses, speeches, and inevitable tears of joy, it's back to reality.  This week, amongst other things, I'm going to kick off a regular look at consumer and prosumer camcorders, starting with the Sony CX730E Full HD Flash Memory camcorder  It's a powerful beast that I've used extensively, so I'll be providing a hands-on impression.

What if…..?

I woke up this morning to find that my wife was already down stairs with my six week old son. As I lifted myself from my king size bed I thought, What if I could install the machine out of Wallace and Gromit. You all know the device I’m talking about, the machine that tilts you out of bed, showers you and brushes your teeth for you. I know this sounds lazy but just imagine how awesome this would be if you could buy something like this on the market. Or what if a large suction tube descended upon you just after you get out of bed that washes you, dry’s you and dresses you. We live in the 21st century, we can send out unmanned drones to strategically fire missiles right up the back side of anyone unfortunate enough to be on our naughty list. So why can’t I have a device that carries out the tedious tasks of personal hygiene?

Once I’ve grunted, groaned and stretched off, I wrap myself in my dressing gown and head towards the toilet, and then once again I had another crazy machination. What if, instead of wasting time on the toilet, wasting toilet paper and baby wipes, imagine there was a device that can digitally remove your bodily waste as and when requested? I mean, our bowel movements aren’t exactly a pleasant experience for all, not to mention we could save money on toilet cleaner, and air freshener. I saw an episode of Family Guy, this particular story encompassed the possibly of the multi verse theory. The theory states that there are millions of universes all parallel to each other in different dimensions. Well in this particular episode one universe is so advanced that all bowel movements can be requested at will and are digitally removed and sent to another universe. Also AIDS is a curable disease, by simply taking a pill and it is obliterated immediately, also another what if question to think about.

When it comes to computers I think I may have searched everywhere online for the best deals. However I believe that I have narrowed down a few sources where you can make the best budget purchase that you can. If you feel that you can beat my comparisons then please feel free to comment afterwards.

Now my first desktop tower I’m going to look at is from Tech Inventory, the Lenovo Think Centre Edge 72 Desktop. This appears to be a nice cheap all rounder, a fairly basic exterior with the as per standard disk drive. The Lenovo retails for just under £300, however it doesn’t come with a monitor, but does have built in speakers. The desktop comes with a dual core Pentium processor, 64 – bit resolution, 500GB HDD and Intel HD graphics card. Accessories include a keyboard, optical mouse and comes with Microsoft Windows 8 Pro installed.  

Infantastic is a German online store that specialises in, well you guessed it, products for infants. I recently purchased a travel cot via Amazon, and I must say, I am well and truly impressed. Although it has no formal name, the travel cot from which I bought from this company is simply a fantastic and very practical product. I have been informed that the NHS doesn’t endorse the use of the travel cot as permanent bedding for an infant, however I beg to differ and I really want to emphasize the practicality, the value for money and quality of this particular product.

I am led to believe that the health services advise against the use of the travel cot on a daily basis purely for the supposed facts that it doesn’t do your Childs back any good. The removable mattress provided with this particular product is very sturdy and although has “trenches” every few inches generally feels comfy. Even if this puts you off there is a solution to the issue, simply place a thick quilt over the top of the mattress so your infant can’t feel the trenches.

Ok, let’s get to the product itself. The travel cot that I now have in my possession arrived after four working days from Germany via a private delivery company. Once signed for I eagerly opened up the packaging and pulled out the already packed cot. The cot itself can be folded down, placed into a grey nylon carrier bag and transported around with great ease. I then proceeded to open the zipped up carrier bag and began assembling the item. The main body of the cot was incredibly simple to erect, and acts much like an umbrella once a little bit of weight in pressed into the centre of the body. The outer wall locks into place just by giving a sharp tug, pulling upwards and there you have it the travel cot is pretty much there.

On one side the cot has static legs that are sturdy and mirroring on the other side there are two lockable wheels, much like a push chair has. I would imagine this is there to lift up and push the very light bed around whatever room you happen to have your cot based in. Just above the static legs you have a semi circle, zip door which I believe is a fun way for your toddler to climb into bed at night. The other side has a very convenient elastic storage pouch from which you may place anything you desire, although the attachable changing mat is supposed to go at this end of the cot so I would imagine it’s for nappies, wipes etc...

Infantastic have added some very handy attachments to this brilliantly put together product. These include the attachable/ detachable changing mat, which your baby will sink into and is strengthened by four metal bars all round, probably to stop your infant from falling off. There is also an attachable hammock like attachment which is ideal for those of us who have bad backs and can’t lean all the way into the bed; according to the manufacturer the inlay has two settings for medium height. The hammock inlay is also strengthened by metal bars which are forced into place by tucking them into the slots provided. Another great add on is the mobile which can be removed and put back on at your own leisure and also can be manipulated to either lean into or lean out of the cot.