Tech-lovers beware: you’re making a massive mistake. When it comes to the car in your life, there is always the urge to go with a brand spanking new model. After all, they have the best gadgets and gizmos, the things that keep you awake at night with excitement. Who cares if they’re expensive? They’re worth every penny! At least, that’s how you feel now. Usually, tech-lovers change their minds when the realisation hits – used cars are as appropriate as new motors, and they’re cheaper.
Here are the reasons you should start looking at the second-hand market the next time you need a whip.
Used Doesn’t Mean Old
Sure, it might be older than something that came out this year, but it’s not ancient. Looking 4 Car Finance has lots of models on their lot at affordable prices, and most of them aren’t as dated as 2012. Anything that came out post-2010 is fair game because all cars come with cool tech gadget these days. Whether it’s a 69 plate or a 60 plate, you’ll get everything from an ABS to an in-car sat nav with Bluetooth sync capabilities. And, because the registrations are almost a decade old, the cost will be significantly lower.
You Only Need Certain Tools
Car manufacturers have us in a tailspin with the way they market their products and services. As a result, it’s not uncommon to think you need everything they have and to fob the base model off as insufficient. Of course, the reality is different. There is only a handful of equipment you need, and you can find a list of our very own on this How To Kill An Hour post. The things that make a difference to the driving experience, such as dash cams and auto energy braking, should be on your list and everything else can go.
They’re Installable
Okay, you’re a tech-lover so the idea of only using the necessary car tech is laughable. That’s fair. Still, there’s no need to fork out a fortune for a vehicle that’s overpriced when there is an affordable base model. Once you have a chassis, you can add to the skeleton of the car by installing the stuff you love. New brakes and a better suspension aren’t cheap, yet they’re more affordable when you do it yourself. And, the electricals are easy to get hold of and to install in the car’s interior. Essentially, you can do an Xzibit and pimp your ride!
Sometimes, Basic Is Good
Remember that pimped out cars make bad drivers. The next time you get behind the wheel of one without parking sensors, you should note how many times you back up without looking. It’s crazy. Plus, you might be a tech nerd but you’re also a car-lover and that counts for something. It means, deep down, that you love the sound of an engine and hitting the open road without any mod cons because it takes you back to a simpler time.
Used cars focus on the basics, and they get petrolheads’ hearts racing.
We sit at a desk on an average day up to 19.5hrs. That’s just an average day too! This seems like a lot, but when you break it up, it shows how easy time can add up! All this time you’re usually sitting down too! The Vari can help with this!
This is how an average day looks like for the average worker:
As you can see it can seem quite sedentary. Leaving most of us with only 4.5hrs each day of potential movement. This isn’t great for your health! Your working day is often strict and structured in routine. Therefore the only way to gain movement is through changing work habits.
You could change meetings to be held standing only. This means it’ll be quicker and you’ll feel more focused due to increased blood flow. Amplified circulation to your brain will make you feel sharper!
Another easy change would be to incorporate standing desks. Rotating time between sitting and standing all throughout your working day. Standing for 4hrs per day has a number of benefits such as burning 50 calories extra per hour. Consequently this equates to 200 per day or 1,000 per week. Which is 48,000 calories per year! (48 wk’s per year)
48,000 calories = running 18.71 marathons.
Using a standing desk has many more benefits including:
Vari are at the top of their game, with a choice of desks for every set-up. Such as sit-stand converters such as the Pro Plus 30, 36 and 48.
What is a sit-stand converter, I hear you ask. Well it’s simply a device that sits atop of your existing desk and will make a regular desk a standing desk. Simple! No need to buy big expensive standing desks when you can already use your own. Now you have no excuses!
The Vari Pro Plus 30, 36 & 48 range from £275 to £425 by clicking here!
No space because you’re in a corner? No Problem!
Vari also offer corner desks, such as the Cube Corner 36. Again just simply sit atop of your current desk. Then you’ll have a standing desk!
The Cube Corner 36 costs £425 is available by clicking here!
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Well, looks like Steph Curry better watch out! A record breaking basketball playing robot named CUE3, has been birthed by a team of Toyota Engineers. How good is it? Well it can land a free shot, perfectly hitting the target, more than 2,000 times in a row.
It originally was a spare time project, designed to demonstrate the potential of robotics and artificial intelligence. It may display some incredible sporting ability and accuracy. However, the same technical innovation is being applied to Toyota to create robots which help. Helping the injured and disabled rehab in their day to day lives at home.
CUE3, is as the name suggests, the teams third iteration of the concept. It was revealed at a pro-basketball match in Japan earlier this year. It stands 6ft 10″ tall and wears the #93 vest. A simple video of the robot landing a centre line, took the web by storm. As it was so popular online, the team bidded to set a Guinness World Record. A record for the most consecutive basketball free throws by a humanoid robot.
Earlier versions of CUE3 were unsuitable for such record attempts. Mainly due to the fact it took up to 3mins to reset the machine after each shot. The team got to work and 5months later CUE3 made the record bid a realistic possibility.
Not settling for 5 successive shots that were needed to set the record, the team wanted more! However, they were a little unsure of how much repeated movement would affect the robot. Plus the air pressure in the balls and the angle of the hoop also needed to be accounted for. Plus they also had to retrieve the ball and place it accurately in CUE3’s hands for the robot to be able to pot successfully.
CUE3 landed 5 shots with easy. Then 200. 3 hours later that number was set at 1,000. That’s 1 every 12 seconds. The team stopped at 2,020 shots. The same number of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics date. It accomplished this feat in 6hrs and 35mins.
“For the record attempt, we remained members of Toyota, but also collaborated with a professional sports team to embark on a challenge no one else had undertaken. We would be delighted if as many people as possible developed an interest in basketball, robots and manufacturing as a result of watching our efforts.” – Project leader Tomohiro Nomi
The CUE team are now looking to take part in an all-stars match in January 2020, which could see CUE3 evolving yet again.
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Car buff or not, there’s something so exciting about buying a new car and investigating all of the technology that’s packed inside it, not to mention opening up the engine and seeing how powerful your new motor is. This is especially exciting when you’ve bought your car either outright or on finance through a company such as Motor Mill because you just know that the technology is going to blow your mind. However, when your car is a little outdated, the technology simply isn’t going to be as good. Luckily, there are a plethora of ways that you can turn your drab car into a fab technology-packed car! Check it out!
There’s something so exhilarating about turning up the radio station and belting out your favourite tunes, especially on a long journey. However, many older cars don’t come with speakers that can handle loud volumes, thus sacrificing your listening quality. Why not install a speaker system into your car so that you can enjoy music, whether it’s a quick trip to the store or a long road trip, your journeys will be much more enjoyable! Your local car part retailer will stock speaker systems, and may be able to install them for you for a small fee!
One of the biggest problems with older cars is not being able to plug in your own music and enjoy some advert-free listening and most importantly, be able to pick all of the songs you listen to. The easiest way of doing this is through an auxiliary cable, but if your car doesn’t cater to think, what’s the solution? If your car has a cigarette lighter (and let’s face it, most cars do), then you can simply buy an FM transmitter for your car, match it with an unused radio station, and you’ll be able to plug your phone into the transmitter either via aux cable or Bluetooth! They’re super cheap to buy and last for many years!
Being safe on the road is imperative, and so is building up your no claims. As you’re aware, the more years you have without claiming on your car insurance policy, the cheaper it’s going to be with each renewal. However, no matter how safely you drive there’s one thing you can’t count on – other drivers! One thing you learn quickly when you start driving is that the only person you can trust on the road is yourself. Do yourself a favour and buy a dash and rear camera for your car so that if you’re ever in an incident, you can prove that you were driving safely. This can also help bring the cost of your insurance down too, so it’s a win-win situation!
Finally, technology doesn’t always have to do something spectacular to impress, it simply needs to look good! Why not jazz up the interior of your car with some LED footwell lighting? Many taxi services do this to entertain and invite customers back time and time again, and it’s a great way of turning your motor from drab to fab.
If you’re the proud owner (or proud owner to be) of a 4WD, then you’ll likely know that these beauties generally aren’t so cheap to own or to purchase in the first place. With this in mind, it’s practical to make the best efforts you can at maintaining your four-wheeled pride and joy. Of course, you’ll want to get the most use out of it that you can, for all those adventures off-road and otherwise. Here are a few things you may want to consider to get the best out of your purchase.
Remember your pre-start checks
Underestimating the importance of pre-start checks can be quite the error when it comes to the 4WD; it’s about spotting those little issues before they turn into big ones. Ensure you take a good look over your vehicle to find any signs of damage; this could be your lights, mirrors, wheels or tyres- check it all. Also, make sure that you inspect each tyre carefully for inflation, it’s handy to always have a tyre pressure gauge close by. While you down there, take a look at the wheels so you can find out if the wheel nuts are properly secure (and make sure that you haven’t lost any)!
After this, you can open up the bonnet and make sure all is well with the engine bay. If you’re not clued up on where (and what) everything is inside your car then grab your owners manual to help you to see what’s what. You’ll want to see if the windscreen fluid and the coolant is full plus the clutch and brake fluid. Have a look at your engine oil levels and the tension of your belts to ensure all is good here. Don’t forget to inspect underneath your vehicle for any signs of leaks too.
Tyre pressure is key
It’s important not to overlook the quantity of air that you run in your 4WD tyres. This is because if you are using incorrect tyre pressure, this means that your tyres are going to wear much faster (and we don’t want that)! You’re also going to wind up with poor traction if this is the case. The key is to pick the right pressure dependent on the different types of terrain that you are going to be driving on. If you are simply driving on the road then you can just follow the recommended tyre pressures that can be found on your tyre placard (This should generally be between 32 and 38psi depending on your vehicle.)
If you are driving on sand, you will most likely have heard that you will need to drop the air pressure in your tyres- you can drop it to around to between 18 and 26psi. By lowering the pressure, you will be improving your flotation while also giving yourself momentum to stay on top and not get stuck! Sand can end up building up a lot of heat in your tyres so you might find that you need to give your vehicle a few driving breaks. If you are driving on rocks, you can also reduce your tyre pressure and ensure that you’re not going at too much of a speed.
Perhaps you find yourself driving through mud? In this case, if the foundation of the mud is quite firm then it’s okay to stick with higher air pressures, yet if it’s deep and sinking mud then low air pressures are a better bet! Although driving through mud can be frankly- a lot of fun, it’s actually pretty bad for your 4WD. This is because it gets stuck inside everything and is hard to get rid of! It can block your radiators and is also corrosive. (If you can resist- back away from the mud!)
Don’t skip on the service
You’ll know that getting your vehicle serviced is a must, yet not all services are the same, and you’ll want to find one that’s both quality and suited to your needs. If you have a look at your 4WD manual, you should be able to find the info you need that is going to help you to know which is the right kind of servicing and schedule for your vehicle. You can consider what your service interval is and go with that. However, you might want to think about more frequent services if you know that you have been working your 4WD pretty hard overall, driving on lots of challenging terrains or perhaps towing? You’ll want to know that your precious wheels are in good hands with your 4WD servicing so make sure that you choose a reputable source to give you the standards you need.
Upkeep on the differentials
Your differentials are the sets of gears that enable the wheels of your 4WD to operate at different speeds. The differentials aim engine power at the vehicle wheels and also act as the final gear reductions, slowing up the transmission speed once more before it meets the wheels. You need to make sure all of the different components of your differentials are lubricated to keep it in good working order. You can have a mechanic change your differential oil approximately every 30,000 to 60,000 miles.
Ditch the rust
Your 4WD adventures (though fun) may have already exposed your vehicle to some damage. If you find and apply a good rust prevention treatment that’s one less thing for you to worry about! You can use, for instance, underbody rust proofing sprays which can stop rust from forming to begin with. You could also choose to opt for electronic rust prevention. These work by using systems that aim to replace lost electrons in steel, with a negative charge, and thus decreasing the rate of corrosion.
Your servicing needs will depend on the type of 4WD vehicle you have and the type of driving you’re doing, so it’s just all about assessing what your needs are. While you’ll want to leisurely take those off-road jaunts and have a blast; it’s definitely worth your time to give your vehicle a little TLC!
We’re a big proponent of personal transport devices and have fallen in love with electronic skateboards. It’s getting around to that time of year where it’s great to just go out and enjoy the sun on a board too! This week we are testing the Flex E-Board from Slick Revolution!
The Flex E-Board comes in two choices, either Bamboo or the Carbon and they come with 110mm “Rough Stuff” wheels as standard. Which are perfect for bumpy uk roads, pavements, and rough terrains! There’s also an ability to change to the slick wheels if you wish, quickly and easily.
The battery within the Flex E-Board is revolutionary too as it has a ‘bolt-on’ style. Therefore you can have a more grounded ride and you can easily swap it out if you were to change the deck in the future!
The board comes with a great range of 10miles and can easily get up hills with a 20% incline. Plus the 2400W dual motor will get you hitting speeds of 25mph in no time at all! Furthermore you can select 3 different modes for this board, to help even the most experienced of riders ride safely. Practice, fun and expert! Further to that there are also 3 different braking modes which you can customise to your own needs. Feel comfortable going at the speed you like!
1 each of the following:
Slick Revolution.co.uk
Slick Revolution.co.uk
The controller for the Flex E-Board is one of the best we’ve seen here at How To Kill An Hour, the controller is easy in the hand and has a great throttle wheel and trigger. It’s almost like there’s nothing there! You can control the breaking and speed modes on the controller too. Easy stuff! What we like the most about the controller is there’s an LCD Display helping to provide all the important information such as live speed and battery readings!
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While many of us are enjoying the speeds of 4G and soon to be 5G there is many parts of the UK that don’t even have access to 4G. If they do have access to 4G it’ll be incredibly slow too. Analysis that has been undertaken by comparemymobile.com, a mobile comparison and recycling website have revealed that Yorkshire and Humber have the lowest download speeds. However, it is still one of the best perfoming regions for 4G availability!
Their research has discovered that Yorkshire and Humber have an average 4G download speed of 20.28Mbps. Furthermore the region comes 3rd on the leaderboard for how often users can access 4G. With an availability rate of 86%. This is according to data reports by OpenSignal. While no regions, at present, even meet the recommended download speeds of 25Mbps for watching 4K content on Netflix!
Each regions averages are based on the 4 big network providers in the UK. That’s EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three. There has been some improvements in the download speed of 4G networks, as the North West of the UK has an average of 23.05Mpbs. Yet this is still below Netflix’s recommended speeds of 25Mbps for 4K viewing content.
Futhermore there’s been little improvement on the availability of 4G. 95% 4G mobile coverage target in the UK was set by the government for Ofcom by the end of 2022. The region closest to this target is 87.09% is London. While many rural communities struggle to get a good connection at home or at work.
Please see a table below of the best/worst performing regions:
| Best Performing | Worst Performing |
| North West (23.05 Mbps) | Northern Ireland (19.13 Mbps) |
| London (22.89 Mbps) | Yorkshire and Humber (20.28 Mbps) |
| West Midlands (21.87 Mbps) | South East (20.54 Mbps) |
When looking at availability the best and worst performing regions are:
| Best Performing | Worst Performing |
| London (87.09%) | South West (79.06%) |
| North East (86.99%) | Wales (80.17%) |
| Yorkshire and Humber (86.01%) | Eastern (81.42%) |
Availability wise,Yorkshire and Humber are doing really well. Yet they sit at the bottom of the table for download speeds. Which indicates there is a long way to go before everyone can get the best connection available.
With plans to roll out 5G later this year, it’s unsurprising that many rural areas are growing frustrated at the lack of 4G signal in their area, let alone the promise of a faster network. Despite this, the UK does remain one of the leading countries in the world for 4G adoption. This is largely due to there being such fierce competition between the four big network providers, EE, O2, Three and Vodafone as well as heavy private investment.
However, there is still a long way to go to ensure that people in rural areas have good access to 4G networks, both in terms of high download speeds and availability. Ofcom’s plans to sell new mobile airwaves in 2020, with coverage obligations attached in its bid to achieve 95% 4G coverage in the UK by 2022 is promising, but it does mean that those with little or no coverage still have a while to wait until they have reliable 4G network access.” Rob Baillie, Mobile Expert at Compare My Mobile
More information available here.
The analysis uses Opensignal’s data to compare 4G download speeds and availability in each UK region
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Evolve Skateboards are built for power, performance and versatility and the Evolve Carbon GT Series are no different. We got our hands on one that’s a little different to what we are used to. An ALL TERRAIN version!
The GT All-Terrain takes performance that it’s known for and moves it into off road! The GT Carbon Fiber deck has built in electrics to keep it down low to the ground, allowing perfect manoeuvrability and stability. Just what you need when riding in rough terrain!
It comes with a HUGE 3000 Watt Twin Brushless Sensored Motor. HUGE 7″ All Terrain Hubs and Tyres. This thing was born off road! The battery will give you a range of 18miles of range per charge. Perfect for an afternoons scurrying around off road! The huge wheels are great for the grassy hills of the UK and the treacherous woods that skatter (?) the uk countryside. You’ll be surfing on this board in no time, carving up and down the fields.
The Evovle GT All Terrain is a lot of fun, but we are always mindful of doing it safely. There is a “slow” mode for easy control and a safe top speed. This mode is perfect for the first time rider and the beginner. Then once you’ve mastered that you can go on to a mode called “eco” which makes things a little more faster, but at the same time relaxed. Before you become an perfect on it, like you are riding a bike and move into “fast” mode. Then if you really want to push the boat out, head into “GT” mode. This gives you full power and the ability to go up hills of a 25% gradient!
The remote is great too, it gives you an LCD screen which displays important things like mode, range, speed and battery level. This controller is great to hold in the hand too and is very ergonomic and never gets too “heavy” or uncomfortable, just what you need in a controller!
This board is perfect for those long summer afternoons, just head out and have some fun! You’ll definitely enjoy yourself!
(Evolve)
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