MDF Newsletter: 7th November 2010 Been doing a bit of housekeeping I've been trying to spend more time over at our LinkedIn group. My apologies for letting it go off the rails recently! Basically I took my eye off the place for a few weeks and a horde of recruiters threw a spam party! They're under control now (I even had to ban one particularly naughty one ) I'm seriously going to have to be very strict about keeping the forum spam-free (both here and over at LinkedIn). I.E. No more job postings in the wrong place, no more "for more info read my blog/email me" kind of posts etc etc - you get the idea. Oh - and no definitely no people posting details of their "handy" webinars. Anyhow - rant over! If you're not already a member please do check out the LinkedIn group. There's a good bunch over there too, and it's gradually turning into one of the larger mechanical design groups - which is nice - expecially as all the big ones are all run by recruiters. "Similar Topics" - a nice new forum feature I've implemented a rather funky new feature on the forum that makes finding useful information much easier! Basically scroll to the bottom of any topic and you'll see the top 5 listed similar topics there. Here's an example: Look at this topic: "motor calculation". If you scroll to the bottom of the page you'll see the top 5 relevant listing right after the last post - and yes it's stuff about motors! It's so easy for useful info to get "lost" in internet forums. I think this should help prevent that happening with this forum, and ensure that members get easy access to all the good stuff we've got on this site. Knowledge Base Please do check out the KNOWLEDGE BASE! There's a link to it in the navigation bar at the top of each page, and you'll also see banners here & there announcing its presence. Anyone can contribute an article - just publish it there at your leisure. Some members have already requested articles. Click here to see them. You can choose to take one on if you like. Prize draw winner: Congrats to DesignTechnologist and thanks once again to those wonderful chaps at 3Dconnexion for the fantastic prize. Yaaay! Lots of members Hi to crossjohn98 - our 700th member! Won't be long until the forum is hitting the magic 1000 members!! IN DISCUSSION Hot Topics :arrow: Wind powered washing machine I have a broken front loading washing machine with all the electrical bits stripped out but otherwise in first class mechanical condition... :arrow: Wheelchair mechanism I am trying to add some linkage bar or gear mechanism to a wheelchair... :arrow: Injection Moulding Thermosets Just added a request in the knowledge base for an article on the differences in component design from Thermoplastic to Thermoset, and thought i'd put a little shout out here as well... :arrow: Editing other peoples CAD data! I'm currently trawling through some CAD data that got sent to us by a consultancy. Since we've had the work done, we need to change the size of.... :arrow: POLL: Metric or imperial? Does metric drive you mad or does imperial drive you insane? If you ruled the engineering world which system would you enforce? For more hot topics click here Unanswered questions... :?: Wind-up Charger I'm trying to source the internal parts of a wind-up charger (gears/circuit board) for my project.... :?: Coolant Heater Installation I'm considering a coolant loop heater for a low pressure hydraulic tank which is mounted... :?: Laser / Punch Combination machines So the problem I have is that since joining my current employer nearlly nine years ago.... :?: Ultrasound to create and destroy polymer shell Has anyone got an experience in producing and destroying polymer microcapluseles?... :?: High Pressure Hydraulic Pipe Work Industry Standards I am doing some research into the standards to which hydraulic pipe lines are tested... For more unanswered questions click here From the Leisure Lounge :geek: iPhone gripe..... Ok I bit the bullet and bought an iPhone 3G. Cool lil gadget. Love the bluetooth streaming music! And all the lil apps... :geek: Autotune the news Discovered these guys the other day... probably old news by now but I seem to discover new things months after everyone else lol :geek: Another monster sinkhole: 40 metre hole appears in GermanyOver the last 6 months I've heard about several huge sinkholes appearing in the middle of towns, just wondered if anyone is curious about them too... :geek: Armchair engineering For fans of TV shows that demonstrate how "stuff" is made and show people making "stuff" here are a few handy links... :geek: POLL: Would you volunteer for a one-way mission to Mars?Nasa is planning an audacious mission to send a manned spacecraft on a one-way trip to permanently settle on other planets... :geek: Telenoid - the creepiest robot ever!Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro has unveiled his latest creation, and it's a far cry from the ultra-lifelike robot clones he has produced in the past... :geek: Grand Designs Anyone see Grand Designs on Channel 4 last night? What a great bit of design and engineering! For more off-topic Leisure Lounge nonsense click here
