Model Airplanes

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An unmanned drone, little bigger than a model airplane or helicopter, could be flying over your home before long, carrying a camera to inspect your roof and the condition of the chimney flue.

Your Realtor will hire a drone-controlling camera crew to create an aerial video showing your home in all its glory — from a perspective of 200 to 400 feet in the air, presenting a digital journey from the curved driveway and street set-back to the backyard deck and azaleas in purple-pink bloom. Local and national newspapers and TV stations are considering drone use to help cover news.

Some of this is not stuff of the distant future. Small photo studios and video companies, construction and utility firms and mining contractors are doing it already. Media companies including the owners of the Toledo Blade and the Northeast Ohio Media Group are considering the technology or participating in experiments to see whether it could be useful for newsgathering.

Companies such as Amazon.com must await new federal regulations if they are to ever use drones as delivery vehicles. That’s because current Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, rules require keeping all commercial drones within sight of an operating crew, even though drone makers and operators say GPS and “fail-safe” technology has made the requirement obsolete. Drones can be programmed to return home automatically.

But even with current limitations, thousands of people or companies say they are ready to get going now — and 746 such companies or individuals have been granted permission to

Article source: http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2015/07/drones_are_coming_to_your_neig.html

Worshippers at the world-renowned Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi are getting respite from soaring temperatures during this month’s Ramadan thanks to a company in East Texas.

The mosque’s palatial inner courtyard, where pilgrims gather for outdoor prayer during this holy season, is encircled by 110 large evaporative cooling units made by Portacool LLC in the small town of Center near the Louisiana border.

Ben Wulf, the 36-year-old CEO of Portacool, says the portable coolers are dropping ambient temps of 110-plus there by 20 to 30 degrees.

Wulf, the son of one of Portacool’s founders, says the company is becoming a world beater when it comes to cooling air through water evaporation. Also called swamp coolers, these systems operate on a science similar to sweat.

“We’ve become a very globally minded company even though we’re situated in Center, Texas, population 5,200,” says Wulf, who was promoted to his leadership role 19 months ago. “We have an ambitious plan to more than double the size of the company in the next five years.”

The company is targeting Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Southeast Asia and anywhere else where temperatures climb to the unbearable. Portacool sells internationally through distributors.

This year, Wulf expects sales to be $80 million, up 14 percent from 2014. Of that, about $20 million will come from international sales. Ten years ago, global customers accounted for less than $200,000.

Every day a fleet of 18-wheelers heads west from Center to Portacool’s new distribution center in Wilmer. The 300,000-square-foot facility that opened in January

Article source: http://www.dallasnews.com/business/columnists/cheryl-hall/20150711-east-texas-town-sees-the-world-as-a-hot-prospect-thechillfactor.ece

Investment Analysts’ downgrades for Tuesday, July 14th:

EMC (NYSE:EMC) was downgraded by analysts at Summit Research from a buy rating to a hold rating. The firm currently has $26.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $34.00.

EQT (NYSE:EQT) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks from a buy rating to a hold rating. According to Zacks, “EQT Corporation expects double digit growth in production volumes in 2015, supported by attractive Appalachian resource potential and an extensive drilling program. The company’s first-quarter earnings and revenue beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate, buoyed by higher production volumes, gathering transmission volumes and prices. However, given our cautious outlook for natural gas prices in the near to medium term, we believe all these positives may be drowned out. Additionally, the company’s capital budget relies heavily on future cash flows, which is subject to a number of variables.”

Itv Plc Unsp (OTCMKTS:ITVPY) was downgraded by analysts at Deutsche Bank to a sell rating.

Ladbrokes PLC (OTCMKTS:LDBKY) was downgraded by analysts at Credit Suisse to an underperform rating.

Mercadolibre (NASDAQ:MELI) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks from a hold rating to a sell rating. According to Zacks, “MercadoLibre is the largest online trading platform in Latin America. We are market leaders in e-commerce in each of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela, based on unique visitors and page views. Additionally, we have recently launched online trading platforms in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Panama. With

Article source: http://sleekmoney.com/investment-analysts-downgrades-for-july-14th-emc-eqt-itvpy-ldbky-meli-memp-merc-mgln-modn-mplx/345283/

It’s hard to imagine why getting smaller than your opponent is a useful super power, but shrinking has been a staple in comics since 1939. I can’t explain why, but with the advent of “Ant-Man” the movie (premiering Friday), a look at the biggest heroes who are tiny seems useful.

The top 10 tiny heroes in comics

10 Leonard “Doc” Samson (created 1971): “Incredible Hulk” supporting character Leonard Samson doesn’t shrink physically, but he is a psychiatrist for superheroes. Get it? He’s a “shrink”! Ha ha!

OK, that was lame. But honestly, the competition for this 10th slot is immense, because there are so many terrible shrinky characters in comics history to choose from. In the 1940s alone you had, among others, the original Atom from All-American/DC (who didn’t shrink at all, but was just short), Harvey’s Fly-Man (not be confused with the later Archie character of the same name, who didn’t shrink) and Midgetman (who rode a pet rabbit named Bucky).

9 Micronauts (1979): The toys on which these characters were based only lasted from 1976 to 1980, but the Marvel Comics adventures of this merry band of guerrillas lasted considerably longer.

“Micronauts” was set in a subatomic world called the Microverse, which consists of varying habitats connected like a drawing of molecules. It had been conquered by Baron Karza, a Darth Vader-like bad guy, and the rebels who rose to oppose him were the Micronauts, consisting of Commander Arcturus Rann (based on the “Time Traveler” toy), Princess Mari (“Marionette”), Acroyear, Bug (an insect-like

Article source: https://www.indianagazette.com/news/entertainment/captain-comics-a-look-at-characters-who-lived-large-as-tiny-creatures,22361614/

3D Data Storage

3D Design

3D Designers

3D Scanning

3D Software 

3D Systems 

3D Technology 

3D Printing Applications 

3D Printing Apps 

3D Printing Events 

3D Printing Materials

3D Printing Service 

3D Printing Technology 

3D Printers

3D Printer Accessories

3D Printer Companies

3D Printer Resellers

Fablab

Fun with 3D Printing 

Hackerspaces 

Interviews 

Printing Technology

Price Comparison

Rapid Prototyping

Statistics 

Videos 

Article source: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150710-bastion-cycles-gears-up-to-launch-custom-3d-printed-road-bikes-later-this-year.html

The transportation industry has gone through significant changes over the past few years, however most of them affected rides on the ground. Uber, Lyft and BlaBlaCar, as well as newcomers like GoOpti, make it easier and cheaper for customers to get from the point A to point B.

What’s even more exciting is that the changes can also be seen in the air transportation industry, however the disruption there is developing way slower, facing more obstacles than down on the ground. One of the most interesting niches here is on-demand air travel, most often achieved with private jets.

Unlike some 10 years ago, booking a private air journey today using one of the available services can prove not much more expensive than flying first class — at least in California. This makes it an attractive option for corporate executives and business people whose job requires a lot of travelling around.

We took a look at the different models that can be implemented by the disruptive private air transportation services operating in the US and talked to three companies of different age working in the field: BlackJet, SurfAir, and JetMe.

To own or not to own

Arguably the most important choice that companies operating in the private aviation industry have to make is whether to operate a fleet of their own or work as an interface between the plane and the customer, much like Uber does. SurfAir, a two-year-old startup from California, operates a fleet of nine Pilatus PC-12 turboprop planes (pictured on the

Article source: http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/07/11/blackjet-jetme-surfair-uberify-private-aviation/