mow

A new tabletop cutting device promises to make at-home fabrication as easy as Ikea. Microfactory MOW is a portable tabletop cutter that can cut patterns from thin sheet materials, including cardboard, wood, and polypropylene. Even better, designers can share their patterns online and also upload new designs to MOW via Bluetooth.

Car engines have been governed by computers for years, but Honda’s iGX440 (honda.com) is the first power-equipment engine with a microchip. The electronically regulated iGX440which will show up in lawn mowers, water pumps and pressure washers later this yearruns at a constant engine speed even under changing loads. Thick grass usually causes mower engines to slow, bogging down whomever's pushing the machine, but the iGX440 maintains speed, and thus power, by giving the engine more gas and manipulating ignition timing.