What Can You Do With A Slide Rule? Peter Alfeld, --- Department of Mathematics, --- College of Science --- University of Utah There was a time when electronic calculators did not yet exist. This did not stop us from doing complicated things, like going to the moon, figuring out the double helix, or designing the Boeing 747. In those days, when we needed to compute things, we used slide rules which are marvelous and beautiful instruments! There are many pages about slide rules on the web, and you can still buy brand new slide rules (40 years old but never used, and still in their factory supplied box) in various places. The purpose of this particular and quite idiosyncratic slide rule page is to describe common scales used on slide rules, and the kind of mathematical expressions that could be evaluated with those scales. The two images on this page show the two sides of a particular slide rule in my collection. German made slide rules of that time (the late 1960s) usually come with an accessory plastic ruler. Why? . .
Secrets to Creating Low Poly Illustrations in Blender Low poly style illustrations are a hot trend these days and we see them everywhere – books, animations, music videos, apps, etc. and today you'll learn how to create one in Blender. This tutorial will focus more on how to achieve the style, rather than learning illustration theory or modeling anything in particular. We will create one example illustration and learn the steps to achieve the desired result. One of the main requirements to achieve this style, is that the models must be flat shaded. Another prerequisite for this style is that the models must be low poly (obviously!). For better results, it's sometimes good to triangulate the mesh. Lighting is the most important part of producing a good render. Now we will create a scene and learn how to apply the above points to achieve the desired style. First draw a rough sketch of the illustration. In a new file press Shift-A and add a Plane. Press TAB on the keyboard to enter into Edit mode. Do this several times. Press .
Microbial Slime Run your tongue over your teeth. If it's been a while since you last brushed, you may feel a filmy or fuzzy coating on your teeth. What's there is similar to the slimy coating you might feel if you stuck your finger down into a sink drain or that you might see coating the sides and bottom of a swimming pool that hasn't been kept clean. These are all examples of biofilms. Biofilms are communities of microbes. In this activity, you'll explore whether biofilms can form on all possible surfaces and which they grow best on. Print out these pages and follow the directions to do this activity at home. Note: This is a long-term activity that will stretch over a several days. You’ll Need: Note: Be careful handling sharp scissors. What To Do: 1. 2. The remaining part of the bottle looks like a cylinder. Flatten the piece and then cut into 5 equal strips. Punch a hole into each end of each strip. 3. 4. Continue to thread the strips onto the string, keeping them 3 cm apart. 5. 6. 7. Questions
Slowing 198.27.81.81&c=1&t=42173.03009375 This page details the use of Epson^ InkJet printers with pigment based inks to feed and directly print resist patterns to copper clad printed circuit board stock, ready for etching. Once you can feed the PCB through the printer for etch resist, you can then feed it back through the printer for solder mask (yes! Several people report that it works quite well!) and for a component "silk-screen". Toner transfer is probably easier to set up for and may be as fast, but direct ink is more precise, allows solder mask and component printing in the appropriate color, and most importantly, finer traces and spaces! The secret (discovered by Volkan) is that certain pigment based inks, such as MISPRO Inks^ (#MISPRO42-SET-MK) can be cured with heat to form a very strong resist. Barry Cooper^ reports^ that Epson ultra chrome k3 ink in his Epson R2400 printer also resists etchant if fully cured. Printer Modifications: "I am currently using 1/16" [PCB stock]. CD/DVD printing trays. Process PCB Preparation
How to get the low-poly look You may have noticed a common look in many images, not only in graphics and animations online, but also in magazines, and in television motion graphics, featuring low-detailed, faceted models, highly rendered, often with soft lighting effects. It’s at once a reference to the early days of computer modeling and animation, but given a modern twist. This is the low-poly look. In this article I’ll explore what the low-poly look is, some examples, and how you can create low-poly images. A reaction to photo-realistic 3D modelling All 3D models are made up of polygons. The low-poly look is a conscious decision to use fewer polygons in the modelling stage, to create a simpler, more abstract model. However, this does not mean that low-poly modeling is low-resolution. Some of the best examples of the low-poly look are the works of Timothy J. In this work by Kristina Macurova, you can see that by using a shallow depth of field, the sense that these are physical models is enhanced. Getting started
Bacteria Can Make Zero-Viscosity Superfluids Bacteria can thin liquids to make them flow more easily. Astonishingly, they can do this to the point where the liquid they are swimming in becomes a superfluid, something with zero viscosity – a phenomenon previously only witnessed under extreme conditions, such as temperatures close to absolute zero. For the study, Dr. Harold Auradou of the University of Paris-Sud added E. coli to liquids in different concentrations. To make sure the bacteria focused on swimming, he put in enough nutrients to keep them alive, but not enough to tempt them to reproduce. Each solution was then spun in a rheometer to measure how the concentration of bacteria affected the ability of the liquid to flow. The effect was something like what physicists see as they test electrical resistance when cooling metals and certain ceramics. “If you use dead bacteria, nothing changes,” Auradou told Nature, which demonstrates the effect is a function of the swimming behavior, rather than the bacteria’s shape.
Electronics Tech Tips When working with SMT components, a solder-paste silk screen method plus a good baking in a special oven to make the paste flow works best. But for most of us working on small projects with a limited budget, angel hair solder and a fine tip iron that is ESD safely grounded is the way to go. Those new to SMD components may struggle with "tomb stoning," which happens when one end of the component is soldered and the other end pops up in the air. Here's an easy solution. You will need to use both hands (assuming they do not shake too much) one to hold the Iron and solder and the other to hold down the passive component with a small tool or tooth pick until the iron is removed and the solder has solidified. Bruce Weidner Columbus, Ohio Alternative PCB Etchant I thought I would share my experiences with creating quality circuit boards using household supplies as an etchant. I set out to create an etchant that, by my calculation, would be roughly 8 times cheaper than ferric chloride. Supplies:
How to Create a Polygonal Vector Mosaic in Illustrator Final Image Preview You can download the source vector file for this tutorial In this tutorial we will create a mosaic consisting of polygons. Free Scriptographer plug-in and our imagination will help us in this unsophisticated task. Have fun and enjoy our new Adobe Illustrator tutorial! Creating vector polygons Step 1 To create a polygonal mosaic, we need a reference image. Lock the image in the Layers panel, in order to make sure we do not move it in the further work. Step 2 Begin to create polygons. For further work set the following settings. This will allow us to create new polygons with the same opacity as the first polygon or last selected one. This will allow combining points of adjacent polygons exactly. Step 3 Create new polygons, so that there are no gaps in between. It is difficult to give advice on the shape and size of the polygons. Anyway, you can edit the achieved result. Step 4 Now create polygons over the shapes of a leaf and an apple stalk. Coloring polygons Step 5 Step 6 Step 7
Schematic Publisher Beta 1.0 RJWSoft Schematic Publisher is a complete schematic capture and publishing system. Schematic Publisher is perfect for students, hobbyists, and professionals. by Ray Wilson RJWSoft Schematic Publisher is a complete schematic capture and publishing system. Schematic Publisher is perfect for students, hobbyists, and professionals. Courtesy/Thanks to: Ray Wilson Description: By Ray Wilson: RJWSoft Schematic Publisher is a complete schematic capture and publishing system. What do I ask in return you say...? Easy to use functionality featuring: Schematic Capture, Edit & Print Schematic Publisher lets you create and edit schematic components and use them to create electronic schematic diagrams. Easily compose, edit and print schematic components, multi-page schematics, and panel diagrams. Zoom in for easy editing and component placement. Preview you schematics or lists prior to printing. Create, edit and save new schematic components in seconds for use in your diagrams. there is no limit to the type of components you can create from ICs to tubes. Wire List Generation Once your schematic is complete a wiring net list is just a mouse click away. Part List Generation
20 Beautiful UI & UX Designer Portfolios For Inspiration A modern world requires new rules and you just can’t be a successful graphic designer without a personal portfolio website. Even when it comes to mobile user interface or user experience, without the ability to showcase your skills, you will have a hard time acquiring clients. In that thought, we have collected a showcase of breathtaking UI & UX portfolios by a few talented designers and carefully chosen a few work examples that bring out their true genius. Make sure to not only check out the samples of their work here, but also to check out their original sites for more of their work. Recommended Reading: 8 Places To Build And Showcase Your Designer Portfolio CreativeDash Design Studio Cosmin Capitanu Mariusz Cieśla Flamy Miro Hristov Vitor Pinho Aleks Faure Jordan Flaig Dave Keller Cody Sielawa Leo Drapeau Jeff Broderick Jackie Tran Anh Ramotion Nacho Guilherme Bento Julien Renvoye Anthony Anderson Érik Guittière
Front End Turns PC Sound Card into High-Speed Sampling Oscilloscope. Part 1 - End, Clock Generator By Doug Mercer, Analog Devices Various software packages enable the stereo sound card found in a personal computer (PC) to provide oscilloscope-like displays, but the low-sample-rate, high-resolution analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) and ac-coupled front end are optimized for 20 kHz or less of usable bandwidth. This limited bandwidth can be extended – for repetitive waveforms – by using a sampling front end ahead of the sound card inputs. Subsampling the input waveform with a high-speed sample-and-hold amplifier (SHA) – followed by a low-pass filter to reconstruct and smooth the waveform – effectively stretches the time axis, allowing the PC to be used as a high-speed sampling oscilloscope. Figure 1 shows a schematic for a plug-in attachment that can be used for sampling with typical PC sound cards. The AD783 SHA provides a usable large-signal bandwidth up to a few megahertz. Another screen shot was taken of a Gaussian sine pulse with a 1-MHz repetition rate (Figure 3). analog.com