If ever there was a product designed to bring joy but ultimately destined to frustrate, it is these smiley face screws. They look beautiful, adorable, fun even. But you will shout and swear and stamp your feet every time you need to tighten them up.
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What is art? Well—it’s subjective, that’s for sure, and context can have a heck of an impact on how we think about what we see. Marcelo Pena Costa decided to have a bit of unauthorized fun following the ArtRio fair earlier this year: once the show had closed down and shipped out, the Brazilian creative director snuck in and nabbed some of the forgotten screws used to hold up works that themselves were worth a fortune.
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Not content with Sony’s official teardown of the PlayStation 4, iFixit has started work on its own thorough analysis of the console’s internals. The dissection isn’t complete yet, but early evidence shows that Sony is using standard measures to deter modders and tinkerers, including security screws and lengthy passages in the user guide about how “analysis” of the PS4’s components is “not authorized.” (With the replaceable hard drive being an awkward exception.) Now, this happens to be exactly the sort of language that gets up iFixit‘s nose, and it could well hurt the PS4’s score for repairability and recyclability. The site also reports a potential issue with the HDMI port, spotted earlier by Kotaku, in which a small metal obstruction in front of the port on some units could potentially stop video output if you’re not careful when you first plug in your cable (although the HDMI pins can apparently be bent back into position). In any case, we’ll update this post as soon as the experts have splayed everything out and come to a verdict.
Update: Though you might expect a low repairability score from a gaming console — especially in a smallish case like Sony’s Playstation 4 — iFixit gave it eight out of 10. All things considered, that’s an excellent mark, which the teardown site chalked up to the absence of adhesives and a non-proprietary, user-replaceable hard drive. Security screws and tamper seals put a slight damper on things, but the biggest markdown came from a sharp mid-plane which resulted in a cut finger. Naturally, the site included a pic of said wound, adding that “we wear our repair scars with pride.”
The most annoying part of any DIY project is trying to keep a handle on all the little screws. If you’ve found yourself fishing under the couch for errant parts one too many times, this Magnetic Project Mat might be just what you need. More »
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