CG-33 Portable Coilgun

For anyone who doesn't know what a coilgun is, it's a gun that fires a projectile with magnetic force instead of gunpowder. The projectile from this gun won't kill a person, but the electrical energy stored in the capacitors is 78 times the lethal amount for human beings so this is no toy.

Some technical data:

- Action: single stage, bolt
- Weight: 7.75lbs or 3.52kg
- Power supply: 12V NiMH battery (needs recharge after ~15 shots)
- Charging: 40 watt regulated ZVS flyback driver (charge time ~30s)
- Capacitor bank: 4x 3900uF @ 400VDC
- Stored electrical energy: ~1.25kJ
- Switch: SCR
- Body: lightweight ABS plastic pipe and sheets




Performance Data:

- Muzzle velocity: 39.2m/s
- Projectile mass: 32.8g
- Kinetic Energy: 25.20 J
- Output efficiency: 2.02%

Crazyiness. Them engineers!

story of my life. 

True Passion

There are a lot of things we choose to do in life, but sometimes, unfortunate events occur that not only physically kill our passions, but limit the possibilities.

After watching this video, I not only feel more obligated to follow my dreams, but I'm encouraged to know that if you have a strong desire, you will succeed.

Meet indy car driver Michael Johnson. The 20 year old lost the use of his legs 8 years ago due to a motorcycle accident.

My favourite video of 2013. Truly amazing. Michael Johnson is my hero. Hope to see him do big things for the future in Indy 500!





Never give up



~Hacknik

Blackberry Z10 Video Review

A quick video review on the newly announced Blackberry Z10 and Blackberry 10 software.

More info soon.

A Joke For Guys

Only guys will get this one..

Almost ALL of that is true.

Fresh Off The Boat With Eddie Huang: Back In Taiwan

Eddie Huang is pretty legit, I should really start posting more of his stuff lol. 

I'm so hungry. 

Blackberry Z10 and N10 Renders

There is no word on the hardware specifications yet, but my oh my, do these things look ever sexy.

Blackberry 10 info here

Z10

N10

N10 vs Z10

Now that I've actually gotten a chance to see some "rendered" comparison photo's, I can clearly say that if Blackberry10 runs well, I will most definitely be picking up one of these bad boys in white.

Now... touchscreen... or keyboard? hmm

Check back tomorrow for more information on the specs and info on both devices after the 10am launch.

Blackberry 10 Official Launch Event

That's right, at exactly 10am, RIM has announced they will broadcast to multiple countries, the unveiling of the new Blackberry 10 OS and two new Blackberry smartphones.

BlackBerry 10 Launch Event to be Held on January 30th, 2013

WATERLOO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Nov. 12, 2012) - Research In Motion (RIM) (NASDAQ:RIMM)(TSX:RIM) announced today that it will hold its BlackBerry 10 launch event on January 30th, 2013. The event will happen simultaneously in multiple countries around the world. This day will mark the official launch of its new platform - BlackBerry 10, as well as the unveiling of the first two BlackBerry 10 smartphones. Details on the smartphones and their availability will be announced at the event.

"In building BlackBerry 10, we set out to create a truly unique mobile computing experience that constantly adapts to your needs. Our team has been working tirelessly to bring our customers innovative features combined with a best in class browser, a rich application ecosystem, and cutting-edge multimedia capabilities. All of this will be integrated into a user experience - the BlackBerry Flow - that is unlike any smartphone on the market today," said Thorsten Heins, President and CEO of Research In Motion. "Thanks to our strong partnerships with global carriers and a growing ecosystem of developers, we believe our customers will have the best experience possible with BlackBerry 10. We are looking forward to getting BlackBerry 10 in the hands of our customers around the world."

BlackBerry 10 will offer a large catalog of the leading applications from across the globe and across all categories, including Games, Productivity, Social, Lifestyle and Leisure, Multimedia and Published Content, as well as applications designed for business and enterprise use.

The BlackBerry 10 platform has recently achieved FIPS 140-2 certification, which means that government agencies will be able to deploy BlackBerry 10 smartphones and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 as soon as it is available. This marks the first time BlackBerry products have been certified ahead of their launch. In addition, RIM recently announced that BlackBerry 10 smartphones have now entered more than 50 carrier labs with many more entries expected in the coming weeks.

Some key features of the new BlackBerry 10 devices already unveiled recently include:


BlackBerry Flow and BlackBerry Hub

BB10 Hub

BB Flow

BlackBerry Flow is a new user experience that allows seamless navigation across open applications and the BlackBerry Hub. All messages, notifications, feeds, and calendar events come into the BlackBerry Hub and no matter what the user is doing with the device, with a simple gesture, they can peek into the Hub at any time.


BlackBerry Keyboard

The BlackBerry Keyboard learns how you write and adapts to how you type so you can write faster and more accurately, giving you the kind of legendary typing experience that only BlackBerry can deliver.


BlackBerry Balance

BlackBerry Balance offers the most elegant way to satisfy both customer and corporate needs without compromising on either. With BlackBerry Balance, personal apps and information are kept separate from work data, and the customer can switch from their personal to work profile with a simple gesture. The work profile is fully encrypted and secure, enabling organizations to protect their content and applications, while at the same time letting customers get the most out of their smartphone for their personal use.

Details about BlackBerry 10 can be found at: Blackberry10.com

Check out more regarding RIM's Super Bowl commercial in one of my previous posts Here

Coolbeans

Summer, I MISS YOU. Please hurry and come back so I can go sideways with the windows down.

For the time being, Ryan Tuerck and his Hooning will hold me over.

Ya'll crazy.

Higher Road

The Millau Viaduct bridge, is a cable-stayed road bridge which spans over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains near Millau in southern France.

Designed by the French structural engineer Michael Virlogeux and British architect Norman Foster, it is the tallest bridge in the world with one mast's summit being taller than the Eiffile tower at 343m (1,125ft) above the base of the structure.

Deck

The metallic deck, which appears very light despite its total mass of around 36,000 tonnes, is 2,460m (8,070ft) long and 32m (105ft) wide. It comprises eight spans. The six central spans measure 342m (1,122ft), and the outer spans are 204 meters (669ft) Theses are composed of 173 central box beams, the spinal column of the construction, onto which the lateral floors and the lateral box beams were welded. The central box beams have a 4m (13ft) cross-section and a length of 15-22m (49-72ft) for a total weight of 90 metric tons.

The deck has an inverse Airfoil shape, providing negative lift in strong wind conditions. 

Masts 

The seven masts, each 87m (285ft) high are weighing around 700 tonnes, are set on top of the pylons. Between each of them, eleven stays (metal cables) are anchored, providing support for the road deck.

Construction of one of the mast's.

Stays

Each mast of the viaduct is equipped with a monoaxial layer of eleven pairs of stays laid face to face. Depending on their length, the stays were made of 55 to 91 high tensile steel cables, or strands, themselves formed of seven strands of steel (a central strand with six intertwined strands). Each strand has triple protection against corrosion (galvanisation, a coating of petroleum wax and an extruded polyethylene sheath). The exterior envelope of the stays is itself coated along its entire length with a double helical weatherstrip. The idea is to avoid running water which, in high winds, could cause vibration in the stays and compromise the stability of the viaduct.

Mast with multiple stays consisting of 55-91 high tensile steel cables. 

Surface

To allow for deformations of the metal deck under traffic, a special surface of modified bitumen was installed by research teams from Appia. The surface is somewhat flexible to adapt to deformations in the steel deck without cracking, but it must nevertheless have sufficient strength to withstand motorway conditions (fatigue, density, texture, adherence, anti-rutting etc.) The "ideal formula" was found only after two years of research.

Asphalt compation

 
The viaduct is part of the autoroute axis from Paris to Montpellier, and construction cost was approximately 400 million Euros (540 million CAD)

It was built to reduce traffic on the route from Paris to Spain along the stretch passing through the valley near the town of Millau, especially during the summer when roads became jammed with holiday traffic.

The Millau bridge.What an incredible sight to see both on and off of the levitated motorway.

Of course it had to have been featured in an episode of Top Gear on BBC. 

Skip to 4:32

Good stuff.

Tires23

Showing the local shop some support.

My camerphone photography skills are legit, no? 

Check out more via Tires23.com for information on pricing, specials and plethora of products to suit your automotive needs.

Race of Champions

The Race of Champions is an international motorsport event held at the end of each year, featuring some of the world's best racing and rally drivers.

The 2012 R.O.C was the 25th running of the event and took place at the Rajamangala Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand, December 14-16th.

Rajamangala Stadium. A 697 tarmac track with the outer and inner lane connect in an '8' shape.

All the races were 2 laps (1.1394 km).

Champions from numerous series were invited, including Formula One (Sebastian Vettel and Michael Schumacher), MotoGP (Jorge Lorenzo and Mick Doohan), WTCC (Andy Priaulx), V8 Supercars (Jamie Whincup), PWRC (Benito Guerra), IndyCar (Ryan Hunter-Reay), eight-time 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Tom Kristensen and GP2 (Romain Grosjean).

A ton of stunts + smoke to excite the guests in stands and suffocate them with the scent of burnt rubber

The 2012 edition marked the first in the history of ROC for drivers from India, Thailand and Mexico to compete. Sebastien Ogier was the only former 'Champion of Champions' in attendance.

Audi R8 LMS getting some air

Seven cars were used throughout the event. They include;

• Audi R8 LMS
• VW Scirocco 
• KTM X-Bow
• Euro Racecar 
• ROC car 
• Toyota GT86 
• Lamborghini Gallardo Trofeo 

KTM X-Bow

Something cool like this needs to happen in Toronto.