How To Master Your Office Chair

Today, office chairs are complex pieces of machinery designed to help keep us comfortable and focused in the workplace. However, using an office chair properly requires a know-how all it's own. Many people often end up reporting faulty products where there are none when they can't figure it out. If you can't seem to get full benefits out of your office chair, check out these tricks to mastering your chair!

Do Your Own Assembly

Rather than relying on a construction-saavy friend or a handyman to assemble your chair for you, try to see if you can do it yourself. Have your buddy look over the instructions to correct you if you make mistakes, but taking 30 minutes to assemble those new task chairs with ergonomic features yourself has many benefits. Knowing your chair often requires knowing it's inner workings, and if you've put the pieces together yourself, it's more likely you'll know what the chair is meant to do and how it's supposed to do it. This will help develop a familiarity with your chair you may need to make repairs in the future.

Read The Instructions

As simple as it sounds, reading the instructions and double-checking as you put the chair together can save lots of headache in the future. Faulty assembly jobs are often the main culprit of why consumers report bad products, when really the product would work fine if the assembler hadn't tossed the instructions in the recycle bin. Putting together high tech adjustable desk chairs requires as much focus as the office itself. Do yourself a favor by reading the instructions and storing them in a safe place. (You never know when your chair will need repairs.)

Learn Your Adjustments

Now that you've got your office seating put together, it's time to test it out! The great thing about popular ergonomic chairs with versatile applications and features is that they are super adjustable. Users can mold their chair to fit them personally, adjusting tilt, back angle, height, arms, and other key components. Learn your chair's features by checking the adjustments on a regular basis, even after you've had the chair for a while. If you've got a really fancy chair, it's probably designed to heal. As the body changes, more adjustments will need to be made for maximum comfort.

Practice Basic Maintenance

Once per quarter, users should perform a periodic maintenance check on their office chair. This is when that old instruction manual will come in handy again. Take a few minutes to look things over, check adjustments, tighten screws, and oil the pneumatic cylinder that adjust the chair's height. You can also check the chair's casters (wheels) for fodder and debris it may have picked up rolling around the last few months. Finish up by cleaning the fabric, leather, or mesh with a wet wipe or leather conditioner. While you've got the tool box out, go ahead and do a routine check on your desk and helpful must have office accessories to ensure they last!

Consult With Your Physician

Heading to your doc for a checkup can help you identify potential problem areas with your health. It may sound surprising, but certain high end ergonomic chairs such as the cool Chakra Chair by Eurotech are designed to do more than relax. Many chairs are equipped with features designed to heal specific ailments. For example, articulating backs and chairs with a "shoulders-back" shape relieve back pain by improving posture, and waterfall seats help improve blood circulation through the legs. Go ahead and tell doc about your new chair and it's ergonomic benefits to hear how certain features can benefit you. You'd be surprised how many physicians are big believers in ergonomic design!

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Porsche to Develop Plug-in hybrid Cayenne Coupé

Porsche are planning to expand their Cayenne SUV line-up with a uniquely styled coupé model. Design proposals for the new five-door liftback are described as already being at an advanced phase.

The Cayenne coupé will be positioned as a more sporting alternative to the regular Cayenne with a possible resemblanece to BMW's X6 coupe. It will receive a range of petrol and diesel engines, together with plug-in petrol-electric and diesel-electric hybrid powertrains.

It is one of up to seven new SUVs set to be developed on a new version of the VW Group’s MLB platform currently being engineered by Audi.

Source: Autocar

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LaFerrari - HY-KERS Electric Hybrid Powertrain Explained [VIDEO]

Following the official launch of the LaFerrari last week we thought it was an appropriate time to re-run a CGI tour of the LaFerrari 950 hp 900 Nm Electric assisted powertrain.

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Jeremy Clarkson a racist? No chance

THERE are, I’ve worked out, only three certainties in life. Death, taxes, and controversies involving Jeremy Clarkson.

That’s why I’m sure I can’t be the only person in Britain who felt strangely blasé when they saw THAT headline the other day. CLARKSON’S N-WORD SHAME. It just makes you want to release all that pent-up Clarkson hatred The Daily Mirror bet you’ve been bottling up for months, doesn’t it?

Or rather it would, but these days Top Gear controversies and scandals occur with such cloying regularity that they might as well be episodes of Friends. Was it The One With The Mexican Jokes which offended most? Or perhaps The One With The Staged Caravan Inferno? The One With The Lorry Driver Insults?

On each and every occasion, a tabloid newspaper demands at least one of the Top Gear trio be sacked. Then, a fortnight later, everyone’s forgotten about it and the juggernaut that is the world’s most widely watched motoring show thunders a little further up the Beeb’s ratings.

This time, however, Jeremy has apparently been given a final warning. A final warning about a word which was never actually broadcast and which only appears in a clip which the tabloids have dug up to prompt your sense of disgust. A clip which – even if you listen to it repeatedly on YouTube – features Clarkson mumbling in an outtake so slurred it wouldn’t have been useable in the final cut anyway. Anyone who actually watches Top Gear – whether they love or loathe it – will know the idea of Jeremy Clarkson being a racist is absurd.

I watched that original N-word clip when it was broadcast, heard absolutely nothing of offence whatsoever, and absorbed it with no emotion other than a slight sense of smugness through learning that TV’s Jeremy Clarkson agreed with me on how brilliant the Toyota GT-86 is. I also watched the supposedly notorious bit of the Burma special, observed that the bridge the team had cobbled together was leaning one side, and only learned how outrageously offended I should have been by reading about it on The Daily Mail’s website the following morning.

I’m not asking you to like Jeremy Clarkson – that’s a bit like asking you to vote Nigel Farage – but I am suggesting that most of the people moaning about Top Gear have no interest in it. I have no interest in The Only Way Is Essex, but I don’t spend every night watching it, looking out for things to be upset about.

Happily, there’s someone out there who’s happy to stick their head above the parapet and tell it like it is. To paraphrase the direct quote from Twitter in a way that’s printable in a family newspaper, Jeremy Clarkson is many things, including a monumental pillock, but he definitely isn’t a racist.

Thank you for being the voice of reason, James May.

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Flexible Nano Nickel-fluoride Battery Doubles as a Supercapacitor

A Rice University laboratory has flexible, portable and wearable electronics in its sights with the creation of a thin film for energy storage.

Rice chemist James Tour and his colleagues have developed a flexible material with nanoporous nickel-fluoride electrodes layered around a solid electrolyte to deliver battery-like supercapacitor performance that combines the best qualities of a high-energy battery and a high-powered supercapacitor without the lithium found in commercial batteries today.

The new work by the Rice lab of chemist James Tour is detailed in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Their electrochemical capacitor is about a hundredth of an inch thick but can be scaled up for devices either by increasing the size or adding layers, said Rice postdoctoral researcher Yang Yang, co-lead author of the paper with graduate student Gedeng Ruan. They expect that standard manufacturing techniques may allow the battery to be even thinner.

In tests, the students found their square-inch device held 76 percent of its capacity over 10,000 charge-discharge cycles and 1,000 bending cycles.

Tour said the team set out to find a material that has the flexible qualities of graphene, carbon nanotubes and conducting polymers while possessing much higher electrical storage capacity typically found in inorganic metal compounds. Inorganic compounds have, until recently, lacked flexibility, he said.

“This is not easy to do, because materials with such high capacity are usually brittle,” he said. “And we’ve had really good, flexible carbon storage systems in the past, but carbon as a material has never hit the theoretical value that can be found in inorganic systems, and nickel fluoride in particular.”

“Compared with a lithium-ion device, the structure is quite simple and safe,” Yang said. “It behaves like a battery but the structure is that of a supercapacitor. If we use it as a supercapacitor, we can charge quickly at a high current rate and discharge it in a very short time. But for other applications, we find we can set it up to charge more slowly and to discharge slowly like a battery.”

To create the battery/supercapacitor, the team deposited a nickel layer on a backing. They etched it to create 5-nanometer pores within the 900-nanometer-thick nickel fluoride layer, giving it high surface area for storage. Once they removed the backing, they sandwiched the electrodes around an electrolyte of potassium hydroxide in polyvinyl alcohol. Testing found no degradation of the pore structure even after 10,000 charge/recharge cycles. The researchers also found no significant degradation to the electrode-electrolyte interface.

“The numbers are exceedingly high in the power that it can deliver, and it’s a very simple method to make high-powered systems,” Tour said, adding that the technique shows promise for the manufacture of other 3-D nanoporous materials. “We’re already talking with companies interested in commercializing this.”

Rice graduate student Changsheng Xiang and postdoctoral researcher Gunuk Wang are co-authors of the paper.

The Peter M. and Ruth L. Nicholas Postdoctoral Fellowship of the Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research’s Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative supported the research.

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Budget Interiors: Cost Effective Furniture for the Executive Office

Looking to redesign your office space on a budget? Well, you're in luck! In today's post, we'll be highlighting some excellent cost effective furniture with enough style to make your executive office pop. Here you'll find desks, chairs, storage solutions, and great brand names to add to your interior design project. Enjoy!

Amber Collection by Cherryman

If the industrial look is what you're going for, the discount Amber collection by Cherryman is definitely the way to go! An appealing modern desk is the focal point of almost every executive office, and Cherryman has long been an expert at achieving eye-catching executive appeal. This line tends to make use of the popular dark wood look. The showcase finishes tend to be either a rich black cherry or mahogany, but if lighter woods are what you're going for, maple and cherry finishes are available too. Desks like the AM-407N U Shaped Wall Desk by Cherryman are incredibly cost effective when compared to other brands, and just about every workstation is modular for convenience and productivity. Perfect for interior design, the Amber collection also features reception desks, storage, guest furniture and conference tables to unite the look of the whole workplace!

Mayline Brighton Collection

The pretty Brighton Furniture Collection by Mayline is a lot like the Amber collection in many ways. Despite being from two different brands, both lines boast superior modern style for executive office everywhere. However, the Brighton collection boasts a bit of a homier touch, making it ideal for home and business offices alike. This series fits perfectly with other mid-century modern furniture. It offers a wide array of desk styles, from small single units, to large modular workstations. Most items are featured in either a soft mocha or cherry finish. Reception desks, cabinets and wood bookcases for storage, conference tables, lecterns, and presentation boards are all offered with this line. There is even a line of affordable Mayline task chairs and seating to compliment this look. Decorate your office under the Brighton style, and it will have all the head-turning charm a business owner could ask for.

Offices To Go Superior Laminate Casegoods Series

And finally, for a slightly more traditional style, nothing says "classic" like Superior Laminate Casegoods by OTG in the office. Vintage styling with a touch of contemporary appeal, the Superior Laminate line offers excellent desks of all shapes and sizes. While most products are single unit desks, there are also reception stations and modular workstations available for sale. Items are featured in plenty of finish options, including cherry, dark cherry, espresso, and mahogany. Conference tables, meeting tables, bookcases, and furniture sets complete the look for a low, low price that's simply unfair to competitors - but we aren't complaining! Superior Laminate Furniture offers perfectly blended style, bringing past and future together to make any executive space into a budget interior worth bragging about!

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Modern Lobby Essentials: 5 Stylish Accent Tables with Wow Factor

When creating a professional guest waiting area for your business, it's important to remember the details. In order to accent your space to perfection, adding unique accent tables is a must. In today's article we'll showcase 5 awesome coffee and end table solutions that are sure to wow your guests while simultaneously enhancing your corporate appeal. Enjoy!

First up, the 7889 Citi Series Glass Top Coffee Table by Global Total Office. Nothing says wow factor more than a stunning glass table with modern appeal and the 7889 model does just that. Available in a wide variety of laminate options, this versatile table can be used to perfection to highlight a variety of wood tones used in your waiting area. Pair this awesome product with your current furniture or with Citi series lounge seating by Global for a super impressive look!

The NTRGCH Golden Cherry Coffee Table from the Mayline Napoli series offers the perfect combination of modern and traditional appeal. The sophisticated lines are highlighted by a silver table surface risers that really make this unit pop. Priced at $392.99, these professional reception area tables are also an excellent value. Matching end table pairs from the Napoli line are also available to compliment your seating.

The third item on the our list of stylish accent tables for modern lobby applications is the VL-865 Verde Series End Table. At first glance you'll notice the impressive brushed silver leg design. The table surface is available in a choice of espresso or latte laminate finish options that coordinate well with Verde series receptionist stations. Rest assured, you'll be hard pressed to find a better value for your space.

The industrial appeal achieved through the use of metal accents in guest waiting areas is trending big time in 2014. Interior design teams and office furniture specialists are recommending cool products like this 3356 Wind series end table from Global Total Office. The simple yet sophisticated design makes an impressive statement without overpowering your focal point furnishings. A choice of charcoal or white table surface is available to blend with the silver metal table legs.

Last on our list of tables is the OFM 2012 Modern Cocktail Table from the popular new Profile series. Always on the forefront of innovative office designs, OFM has really outdone themselves with this cutting edge product collection. The 2012 table features a single laminate side and top complimented by silver post legs. Three cool color options are available that blend well with a wide variety of fabric upholstery and leather options. Use this table and it's counter parts from the Profile series along side OFM beam seating and lounge chairs to take your space over the top.

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