Current manufacturing processes not only require machines but also the personnel and trained technicians to ensure the proper operation of the equipment. Manufacturing a simple device requires a lot of preparation.

Of course, there is a lot behind the scenes, like the people who assembled the production line, trainers, standard operating procedures, etc. Little by little, this approach is being changed by a fast growing technology called additive manufacturing or 3D printing.

Charles Hull, an inventor, first described this process in 1981. Since then, the technology has been substantially improved as well as its cost. Today, these 3D printers are being used in-house to fabricate both simple and complex designs without the whole infrastructure that a manufacturing company requires.

The way these 3D printers work is by adding consecutive layers of additive material to form complex shapes. Currently, 3D printing can bring to life designs that where impossible to manufacture. The typical manufacturing methods subtract material from a raw piece of wood, plastic or metal, this creates waste and scrap. With the additive manufacturing nothing of the raw material is wasted.

What can be done using a 3D Printer?

Today’s 3D printers can build simple and isolated shapes as well as complex and functional designs such as, moving prototypes for presentations with clients or customers. Even a small printer can create components of a bigger design for later assembly – one of the coolest things is that they do not require painting as the additive material already includes the color.

One of the companies really pushing to get 3D printers in people’s hands is a company called Cubify – they manufacture some of the simplest yet powerful 3D printers on the planet. The prices of these devices are very affordable considering what they do as well as the innovative technology that they use – and best of all, you don’t need any training or experience to use these printers. They are totally safe and made for home use.

The future of 3D printing

3D printing is already changing the way the world is manufactured and in the coming years it will change some of the biggest manufacturing industries around the world. Just the fact that these machines do not generate scrap means huge savings for any manufacturing company, the other great thing about it is that production lines could be redesigned or reduced as these stations can fabricate a whole piece in a matter of minutes. What do you think about 3D printing? Are you ready to get yours? Share your thoughts and opinions and leave a comment.

About the author: Jose Lozano feels passion for technology; he enjoys learning about new gadgets available on the market and sharing his opinions with other people. Jose is also passionate about RC flying toys and he likes to share tips about the best stabilization system for flying toys like RC airplanes and helicopters.

The post Discover 3D Printing and how it will change the world appeared first on Colocation America.

A few months back Colocation America’s blog featured an article about a cool gadget called the Leap Motion Controller.

This device offers a different user experience. Not so long ago, a gesture control called MYO appeared on the market allowing users to control not just a computer but also anything with an iOS or Windows operative system.

Motion Control

Gesture recognition devices are not new at all; in 2010 the first commercial gadget able to detect body movements was the X-Box Kinect. The success of the X-Box Kinect proved that there was a market available for such devices. The difference with the MYO is that this armband detects the muscle movement of the arm and transmits the signals via Bluetooth 4.0 low energy to communicate with a device.

What to expect from the MYO armband?

As mentioned earlier, the MYO armband works with iOS and Windows powered devices. It has rechargeable lithium-Ion batteries and an arm processor. It also has muscle activity sensors (property of Thalmic Labs) as an outfit and a 6 axis inertial measurement unit, which is what allows the arm processor to track a certain position and interpret a command.

The developers of the MYO say that accidental input is also covered; this is achieved with a unique on/off gesture to enable and disable the control. The MYO uses something called haptic feedback to let the user know when it is activated using the sense of touch. A good way to understand haptic feedback is to think about the PS3 vibrating controllers; that vibration is the result of something happening in the video game, like a crash or a hit – that is a form of haptic feedback.

How can I get my own MYO?

Currently, Thalmic Labs is taking pre-orders for the second batch of MYOs. Expect shipping to commence early 2014. The cost is $149 USD and they ship everywhere on the planet for 10 USD (before taxes and duties). Thalmic Labs expects people to have an amazing experience when they receive their one-size-fits-all MYO device.

MYO promises precision and speed to detect the arms movements. In fact, sometimes the commands occur before moving the arm because the muscles are activated slightly before the movement actually occurs. Are you ready for this? I personally can’t wait to have mine!

About the author: Jose Lozano is a gadget lover who is constantly researching the world of technology. He enjoys sharing his findings and opinions with others as to contribute and spread the message. Jose also enjoys writing RC helicopter reviews for his website rchobbiesonair.com.

The post MYO Armband: a new generation of gesture control appeared first on Colocation America.

Computer programming is an underestimated skill that is perceived as a very hard thing to do. Yet not many of us are aware of its simplicity and overlook the opportunity to learn. The reality about coding is that it is very simple.

Coding can be learnt, taught, practiced, and mastered. People like Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs followed that exact same path and ended up creating empires around them. If you are interested in learning there is a fast and free source of knowledge available to us all.

Learning to Code

Not so long ago I started an online website and after adding some content I noticed that I wanted to make it better, so I started to look for ways for doing that.

I found the Codecademy website, which is an amazing place to learn everything about computer programming. They offer courses starting with the very basics to the most advanced levels, as well as the training programs that keep track of your progress.

What The Codeacademy Offers?

Free source of knowledge: It is as simple as creating an email account and you are in. The resource is free to use and all the programs are available once the account is created.

Ease of use: Once a course is started, very detailed information will be displayed so the student can apply it when programming. The way to do it is very simple; on the left side of the screen are instructions with useful information to do the job. On the right side of the screen a code editor is available where this information can be translated into code. The results can be seen instantly and there is a button to execute the code you just wrote.

It is known that only 1 out of 10 schools teach computer programming today, which is by the way a very low number. In the next 10 years 1.4 million jobs will be opened for computer programmers and coders, but with the low supply of trained people only 400,000 positions will be filled. That leaves 1 million positions opened. The importance of learning computer programming these days is huge.

No more excuses – Learn to Code

Coding is essential if you wish to implement some great ideas. The only way to communicate with a computer is through the use of code.

With a little hard work the learning experience can be very interactive since Codeacademy is very little and practical theory. If you give it a chance, what you learn from The Codeacademy will benefit you in a number of ways.

Codecademy Key Features

–Free source of knowledge: It is as simple as creating an email account and you are in.

–Ease of use: Once a course is started, very detailed information will be displayed for the student. On the left side of the screen are instructions with useful information to do the job.

–Guided examples: Each section of a course will have a very detailed guide for you to work with.

–Simple explanations: Every lesson is clearly explained so you won’t be left behind during the learning process.

–Expert level courses: Codecademy offers a variety of trainings for all kinds of programmers; they are able to take you from knowing absolutely nothing about coding to creating a beautiful app ready to go on the App Store and Android Market.

–Progress tracking: This is extremely helpful because a specific amount of time can be invested on a course, and the next day it is possible to start at the exact step where you left the course. This saves a bunch of time and also helps you to stay motivated to keep going until the end.

About the author: Jose Lozano is a blogger and successful online entrepreneur who started RC Hobbies On Air, a website that provides information on the best RC helicopter for newbies.

The post Computer Programming made Easy with Code Academy appeared first on Colocation America.

If something distinguishes Apple from other companies it is their ability to create stylish designs and innovative products that excel in performance.

Many would say that Apple has the Midas touch for any product that they decide to launch, and the brand is so iconic that some people are not just customers, but fans and followers.

This is the same reason why Apple’s new MacBook Pro with Retina display caught my attention just two weeks ago. Since I am a busy blogger, programmer, designer and creative artist I decided to test out the new Macbook Pro and write a little review about its features.

Optical Drive Not Offered

I was not disappointed; the new MacBook Pro with Retina display seemed to be the answer to what I was looking for. My current computer won’t be able to handle all the work I’ll be doing this year, so I decided to pull my credit card and buy a new toy. Almost by accident, I scrolled down the page to where the two sided photos of this computer were and found something that seemed to be an error; None of the photos showed an optical drive. After that I had to do some more investigating as I wanted to know if the optical drive was missing or someone added a wrong picture of the computer. Thirty minutes later the truth was becoming obvious; the new MacBook Pro with Retina display didn’t have an optical drive.

Digging through customer comments and reviews I found many other Apple fans disappointed. Yet the missing optical drive was perceived as a major hit to most people because this computer is so powerful to begin with.

The new MacBook Pro with Retina display is a great tool for creative people. It has enough capacity to create and edit websites, music, photos, video, software and whatever task that you can think of. The possibilities are endless with this machine and any computer programmer or artist is going to like using it to create things.

I feel the new Mac is worth every penny. Even when I don’t have my own yet, I headed over to an Apple store and decided to test it out in person. Needless to say I was amazed by the experience.

MacBook Pro Features Two Fans

I wanted to know why Apple did not include a built-in super drive in their latest and greatest design. Upon further research I finally ended with two major reasons for this:

Performance:

The new MacBook Pro with Retina display features two fans designed to improve the machine’s performance. This was possible thanks to the freed space from the optical drive. The whole circuitry in the notebook is arranged in such way that it required that space to work well and provide the machine with sufficient cooling.

Apple’s Vision:

As I mentioned earlier, one of the things that Apple does pretty well is to help us to move forward. Apple bet on this design because they know that USB flash drives are more popular, portable and more useful than CDs and DVDs. Even Blue-Rays for that matter. This same resistance was seen when the computer developers decided to move forward and remove the floppy drive from their designs. In the end we all survived and more reliable options started to grow. This may not be the first time Apple moves to create a whole new market.  It is arguable to say that all smart-phones started because of the iPhone.

You can see that the most powerful reason is the vision, Apple supplies some if not the best consumer computers around.

In my humble opinion they could have gone the safe way and installed the super drive without affecting performance.

The thing I love about Apple is that they really push things by providing a lot more value to the end user. The lack of an optical drive may be perceived as an error, but once you realize the reasoning behind it the answer is obvious.

MacBook Pro with Retina Display Worth It?

Apple does recognize their vision isn’t shared with everyone, and pushing the optical drives may be a daunting task. That is why they offer the Apple USB Super Drive which will solve the basic needs of CDs and DVDs. This drive is sold separately and as of today you can get it from the Apple Store at a 79.99 USD price. It is small, portable and very functional.

Other choices are also available for less than 30 USD. In the end it all comes down to the intention for having this new machine. The MacBook Pro with Retina display seems to be the perfect choice creative types like myself. What do you think about this notebook? Do you still use the optical drive? Will it be hard for the market to transition from optical drives to portable USB flash drives? Let us know your thoughts and leave a comment.

About the author:

Jose Lozano is an enthusiastic online entrepreneur, he is always looking for the best tools to get the job done, and the MacBook Pro with Retina display seems to be the perfect choice for Jose’s work.

Not too long ago he started an online website dedicated to RC flying toys where the full potential of this notebook could be used on. This website’s intention is to show hobbyists the best RC helicopter as well as the reasons why an electric helicopter is great for newbies. The project requires a lot of graphics design and software, so the idea is to use the new MacBook Pro to do the job.

The post New MacBook Pro with Retina Display Reviewed appeared first on Colocation America.