I think you could decrease the costs a lot. I don't see the value in using aluminium extrusions to stand it off from the wall. You could use softwood for that, and glue, and negate the need for expensive custom connectors.
For sure.
My mental model when starting this project was "panels attached to a frame", and originally, that paneling was meant to be purely Plexiglas. When I pivoted to the bedroom lamp, I switched to wooden panels but the mental model stuck. The upside of not using glue is that it can be taken apart easily for transporting.
But yes, do not build it this way if cost efficiency is a factor.
Not sure on the first. Apparently almost all alumninum is recycled, and reused, as its melting point is super low compared to most metals, so its not quite as wasteful as it seems at the first glance.
iPhones are iPads have a milled CNC “unibody” as well… Being able to dictate where to have more thickness helps a ton on the luxury feel. Most of the chips are recycled anyway into new billets.
Unibody is a very appropriate technique for a small portable device that needs to be strong from force in many directions. It is overkill for a keyboard.
Overkill is the point. Same thing for iPads and iPhones. It gives a luxury feeling. That and Chinese manufacturing have made milling a very cost effective manufacturing method.
Other thick boxes like this are not made from a single block, for that specific reason. That's a manufacturing method most suitable for something relatively thin, like a phone/tablet/laptop chassis. This thing is a hulking monster compared to those.
And being smart on its own really should not be seen as any kind of good thing.
Being smart _can_, however, be an enabler to achieving certain positive qualities (helping people, being considerate, being kind). But being smart can also enable negative qualities (exploiting people, being manipulative etc).
I used to think of myself as "smart" (top marks in high school, Oxbridge degree, PhD), but actually now I think I'm probably fairly average in objective intelligence, but I just try and think hard, and work hard.
I'm now surrounded by people that I think are smarter than me, but that doesn't mean I just give up thinking. Sure, it might take me longer to think of something, but that doesn't mean I still can't contribute.
I have a PhD, because at the time I wanted a career in academia, and I enjoyed research. I did a short post-doc, because I still wanted a career in academia, and enjoyed research. I quit academia because I no longer wanted a career in academia, and I didn't enjoy the research (or my boss).
I don't regret my wasted years. Sure, I would have likely earned more money, but it was fun, and made me who I am.
I do find it a bit of a shame that my current and previous employers couldn't give two hoots that I have a PhD etc, but oh well.
EDIT: I have a PhD and post-doc experience in Cell Biology, and now work as a software engineer at a fairly large hardware company.
I trained and qualified as an Industrial Electrician (not on the same scale as a PhD academically but not a trivial amount of work to do either) and decided I loved the theory and hated the practical.
I'm a software engineer and none of that training has ever been directly applicable (though some of the engineering and planning aspects generalised have).
I have found it a bit frustrating that I am more junior on the company scale than most people my age. In some respects, I have lots more experience with people my pay grade, but in others, not so much.
I've used an INOGON entering a marina in the UK, and it really did have a very narrow dredged channel, not a wider safe area.
One problem with lights or marks is that they can be very hard to see. At night, there are lots of other lights to confuse things, and it can be easy to mistake on light for another.
Good on you for creating something fun, but vibing something up and then trying to charge for it, when anyone else could produce the same product for less, is poor taste.
> You know those really annoying shower controls in fancy hotels when you need to adjust two separate knobs for the pressure and temperature separately? That's clunky.
I like being able to control those two variables separately.
I'm glad this worked for your family, but in my kids' experience this is too heavy to use as balance bike. By the time they were comfortable hoisting their de-pedaled 12" / 5.4kg bike off the ground, they'd nearly outgrown it. They preferred a cheap hand-me-down balance bike which was half the weight (the upscale ones with brakes and pneumatic tires are self-defeatingly heavier).
reply