Guys,

Here is a handy site for calculating your Country's Import Duty / Taxes.

http://www.dutycalculator.com/country-guides/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-Brazil/

Mike

These personal drones are getting better by the day and more importantly, the prices are becoming far more affordable.

The latest I've come across is the Micro Drone 3.0 that really offers a lot for $150!

Some of the features,

Flight
Auto-Leveling
Inverted Flying
Sensor Assisted Flying
Fly in 45mph winds
Range 300feet

Video
Live-Streaming Video
First-Person View Headset Display
World’s Smallest Gimbal
Editing Suite
720x1280 HD at 30 FPS
Social Media Integration

Design
Expansion Packs
Modular Design Technology
Multiple Device Controls
3D Printed Customisation

The only downside I can pick up on is the 8 minute flight time but imagine they will in time offer a better battery to bring this up to hopefully to something in the region of 15 minutes, more than enough for most jobs. Then again, covering ground at 45 mph, the drone would cover approx. 31,680 feet of travel within a radius of 300 feet which is not bad I feel.

@tig said:

Rotring is like using AutoCAD, while a pencil is like SketchUp, a spreadsheet is like Revit... you choose

Well said TIG.

When I was on the drawing board I did most of the drafting using a clutch pencil and only used a pen to 'heavy up' the outlines, external walls etc.

Just came across the Leg&Go kids push bike, cycle bike, cycle trike, rocking horse, sled, etc. I thought its a really well designed and eco friendly kids bike. I've put my grandson's name on one hopefully for his birthday in January when he will be two. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1112924950/legandgo-everything-a-first-bike-should-be

One way of making a curved seat might be with the use of something like the X-Carve.

Curved laptop stand with keyboard and mouse pockets.

500mm and 1000mm X-Carves
https://www.inventables.com

@pbacot said:

@krisidious said:

McDonalds is now accepting phone payments at the drive through. Just wave your phone? or hit an app or something. but supposed to be fast and simple.

Before you have a chance to think about what you're doing (or eating)!

McDonald's is one of my guilty pleasures! I can't resist a big juicy quarter pounder with loads of chips and a can of coke!

@mike amos said:

Perhaps there should be an end to the tie between oil and the dollar, allow nations to buy oil in their own currency at a price fair to all. The dollar has allowed the US to become a secure global power and when oil is seen to be impartial, they will have to adapt to a new reality. Perhaps it will even reshape US global policy vis a vis their manipulation of nation state laws and policies. Would Monsanto be able to walk all over the rights of people outside the US without this global 'reach and manipulation'?

I can't see the dollar / oil link being removed anytime soon. It was a clever move by Nixon / Kissinger and one that will be possibly protected at all costs.

As far as Monsanto and their like goes, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) particularly and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreements being set up behind closed doors will secure their dominance until 'We the People' look behind the curtain to see who is really pulling the levers.

@srx said:

Just type it in the system. Who will have the control?".

And I think it is not so far in the future. The only problem will be the consequences of $ fall...But that's where cashless economy come in as a replacement...I wonder does Chine and Russia has their own cashless network. What do you think?

Who will have control? The .001% will try hard via puppet Governments. This is their dream setup, one where they can flip the switch and you are no longer able to exist. The only way to survive will be to totally conform or have an alternative tried and tested system to hand.

I notice that there are some big names moving into the Bitcoin arena possibly with the intention of controlling it but this will be very difficult, however I have no doubts this will be tried.

Silver and particularly Gold will always be a problem for the .001% and again I have no doubt confiscation will rear its ugly head once again.

I think there will be reasonable financial security alternatives as long as the Internet remains fully open but we have to keep a vigilant eye on those that would like to fully control it. I would also like to see the BRICS set up an alternative Internet arteries to the current main arteries and I believe this is under way as part of their alternative SWIFT system which they need to get out from under the current system.

@krisidious said:

Also, I've noticed no one here has mentioned the prevalence of the American Dollar in the world market and how it can be used in many markets without conversion. In some places it's even preferred to the local currency.

The $US is the global reserve currency backed, some say, by ten aircraft carriers and soon to be twelve. Although officially its the tie to oil prices that maintains its position. The BRICS would appear to be working on an alternative but I don't see this happening anytime soon. Then again the World seems to be looking for financial stability and there are even suggesting from many quarters for a return to some sort of a Gold Standard. China, Russia and India have been accumulating an awful lot of gold over the past few years so one never knows!

I read this morning that Texas is in the process of setting up its own Gold Depository. That should cause some twitching in Washington and New York. Do the Texans know something that we don't?

A gold rush in Texas? Texas Bullion Depository could become reality
http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/texas/2015/05/31/a-gold-rush-in-texas-texas-bullion-depository-could-become-reality/28256929/

The FOVE tracks subtle eye movements to allow more precise control in video games and a more immersive VR experience.

*“FOVE could correct one of the key problems faced by VR users: when using a normal VR headset, you control the direction of your gaze with your head, not your eyes.” -Stuff.tv

“Not only does [foveated rendering] mimic human vision in the real world by blurring the areas that the user isn't looking at directly, but it also allows computing resources responsible for rendering a scene to be allocated more efficiently.” - Gizmag*

These two features make the FOVE stand out head and shoulders above currently available devices. It lends itself to a far more natural way of looking around a scene (by moving your eyes) and the system only renders what needs to be rendered.

Further details may be found on Kickstarter, here, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fove/fove-the-worlds-first-eye-tracking-virtual-reality?ref=recommended

This could be a parents dream! 'Room in the Box' a very clever suite of cardboard furniture for students that they can easily move from area to area!

Room in a Box- The 30 Minute Move

An entire room. Assembles in Minutes, No Tools or Glue, Water Resistant, Strong, Recyclable/R | Check out 'Room in a Box- The 30 Minute Move' on Indiegogo.

Indiegogo (www.indiegogo.com)

I've been looking around at the selection of smart watches on offer and am not that impressed. I was expecting much more from Apple. The Apple Watch is a big disapointment, a crude shape that is not even waterproof.

However there is one option on the horizon that ticks all the right boxes, The Pomegranate boxes!
http://www.pomegranatephone.com/

@krisidious said:

Why only Non-Us? Fox watchers love gold... they're always talking about the system going down and gold being it.

Kris, It must be bloody annoying when you come up against this kind of thing particularly when in Canadian company of what appears to be good and solid standing.

I don't know why the US is excluded, probably because of some financial restrictions when it comes to purchase of gold or trading in a gold account. Could it date back to the Nixon days? I'll see if I can find out more.

@jql said:

Looks good but in this sort of stuff most of it has to do with cost/efficiency, unfortunately.

It seems that the Vortex is ahead of prop wind turbines in both cost and efficiency. The units have less parts and are much cheaper to make than the prop turbines also their footprint is much smaller and more can be fitted in.

@juju said:

what impact will the continuous vibrations have on sub-surface fauna?

From what I can see the vibrations don't go into the ground. In any case they have to be much safer for birds. I have visited a local wind farm here in my county and saw evidence of bird kills .... not a nice sight

Just read about the Vortex bladeless turbines that wobble to generate energy, like reeds swaying in the wind. Standard wind turbines on the landscape look bloody awful, are noisy and detrimentally effect birds and other wildlife.

The Vortex is a relatively compact unit, it relies on the oscillation of its reed-like mast in reaction to air vortices to move a series of magnets located in the joint near its base to generate electricity.

When I first viewed the image the East Islands came to mind with their curious but beautiful stone heads.

Vortex advises,

The first model to be made available commercially will be known as the Mini: a 4 kW, 12.5 meter (41 ft) high unit intended for residential and small-scale commercial application. A larger model, dubbed the Gran, is also being designed and is a unit with a greater than one-megawatt output intended for use in large-scale power generation for industry and electricity companies.

Vortex is a Spanish company based in Madrid and I see that they will be crowd funding the project. Hopefully they will raise suffient funds to get the project off the ground. I will update this thread as I learn more.

Anyone fancy an iPad Pro 13 OS X?

DesignSpark is interesting Pilou but i imagine there would be a steepish learning curve involved.

The Quick Reference Card is what I steer newbies toward but its a very old fashioned way of learning.

The plugin I was talking about / looking for was Crysis, mentioned here, [Plugin] Crysis plugin - dynamic toolbox
http://sketchucation.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=43257

The Win version is still available but it looks like the developer, Fatihbarut, never got around to porting to Mac. I have emailed and asked him if he ever managed to produce a Mac version and will update on anything I hear from him.

I think this way of getting to functions is ideal for the Newbie as his / her eyes remain on screen rather than moving to a Quick Reference Card.

Does anyone remember the plugin that produced a disk shaped floating menu containing the main SU icons along with pop out sub menus. I've tried searching but have had no luck.

This will only be of interest to non US citizens currently.

I came across BitGold today and am intrigued with what I see so far. In essence its a way to buy gold for a 1% levy, have it stored / insured for free, fully own it at all times, send and receive gold value payments and even have solid gold (10g Cubes or 1Kg bars) delivered to your door for a small cost. BitGold advise they they are launching a BitGold debit card (MasterCard) that will facilitate ATM cash withdrawals and other card payments.

Here is a link, https://bitgold.com/r/mWPVjY to get some free gold, 0.25g worth €8.61 currently ....... next year it could be worth a lot more if the financial system goes belly up

Mike

@aureus said:

How do you pan with your mouse?
What kind of mouse do you use?

I only learned recently that I can pan by pressing forward my scroll wheel on my Elecom Scope Node mouse. It was available on Amazon but any longer, here, http://www.amazon.com/Elecom-Wireless-Sensor-3-button-M-sn2dlsv2/dp/B00B08P934/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_opt?ie=UTF8

It might be possible to get one here, Special order anything from Japan.
http://whiterabbitexpress.com/scope-node-mouse-elecom/

Mike