Blue Rubber Gloves

Before talking about the installation for a hid lights on your car, we better talk about what’s included in a HID conversion Kits. There are 4 common hid kits on the market.
Single Beam Conversion Kits — H1, H3, H4-1, H7, 9004-1, 9005, 9006, 9007-1, with 2 ballasts and installation clamps.
Hi-lo Beam : H4-2, 9004-2. 9007-2 hid for low beam and halogen bulb for high beam, with 2 ballasts and installation clamps.
Telescope Kit : H4-3, 9004-3, 9007-3, single HID can switch between high beam and low beam, with 2 ballasts and installation clamps.
Bi-xenon Kit : H4-4, 9004-4, 9007-4, 2 HID bulbs on each bulb, which works for high and low beam, with 4 ballasts and installation clamps.

These kits are designed to produce more light and last longer than any other lighting kits out there. HID kits are a complete replacement to your existing headlight bulb, yet they are extremely easy to install. That starter takes the signal from the vehicle and quickly sends it to the ballast. The ballast then amplifies the signal to a high current signal and sends it to the bulb. The plug in HID bulb receives the signal and creates the light. The bulb is filled with a mixture of gases and salts. When the bulb receives the amplified power from the ballast, it energizes the gases in the bulb creating a white/blue light output. The color varies, depending on the Kelvin (K)/color temperature of the kit.

We like these kits because of the functionality and visual appeal they offer. The really do add class to your car, as well as give you a little bit more confidence behind the wheel in less than perfect conditions such as fog, rain, or night time driving. These kits are easy to install. First, layout the components and find a good mounting spot for both the ballast and starter. Be sure the wiring from the both of them, including the bulb, reach without being too snug. Once you find a mounting spot, mount them securely into place. Be sure to fasten them well to the vehicle. Now, remove the stock halogen bulb from the headlight housing using latex gloves and unplug the plug from it. Now take that plug and plug it into the starter you just mounted. Plug the starter into the ballast, then carefully plug the new bulb into the headlight housing. Use latex gloves to do this because you don’t want to touch the bulbs with your fingers. It should go in the same way the old one came out. Once it is securely fastened into place with all rubber garments reconnected, plug the ballast into the bulb. You may find that you need to adjust the headlights. You can find information on how to do this by checking your owners manual.

And the price for a full kit of HID lights, it’s getting cheaper and cheaper, it’s around USD 109 shipped, and most vendor offer 1 year warranty for your kits. So it’s not a bad idea to upgrade your halogen bulbs to HID bulbs. Please make sure that you know what kits you need to install your hid light

Originally published here.

In order to mark the 100th birthday of Yacques-Yves Cousteau, the legendary personality who has significantly promoted and influenced research of the world’s oceans in the 20th century, Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen, partner and sponsor of the Cousteau Society for many years, is proud to dedicate a fifth special edition to “le Commandant” on this historic anniversary: the IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

New IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Jacques-Yves Cousteau, commemorates the illustrious researcher and filmmaker on the occasion of his 100th birthday, which is celebrated on 11 June 2010. The 44mm stainless steel case is pressure-resistant to 12 bar and, with a slatecoloured dial bearing Cousteau’s signature, highcontrast white indices and blue totalisers, transforms the watch into an unmistakable statement on the wearer’s wrist. The chunky external rotating bezel can be turned(only anticlockwise for safety reasons) even when wearing gloves. The 4mm wide sapphire glass ring has six coatings of luminescent Super-LumiNova, guaranteeing optimum legibility and luminosity in any kind of visibility, even when night-diving. Engraved on the back of the case is a portrait of the ever-popular Frenchman, encircled by the words “Tribute to J.Y. Cousteau 1910-2010″. The IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Jacques-Yves Cousteau is secured to the wearer’s wrist by a black rubber strap.

Technical Data

IWC Aquatimer Chronograph Edition Jacques-Yves Cousteau Ref. IW376706

Features

Diver’s watch in stainless-steel case with external rotating bezel, mechanical chronograph movement, day and date display, small hacking seconds and bracelet quickchange system, engraving of portrait of Jacques-Yves Cousteau on the case back.

Movement

Calibre 79320

Beats 28,800/h

Jewels 25

Power reserve 44h

Winding automatic

Case

Materials watch in stainless steel with slate-coloured dial and rubber strap
Crystal sapphire, convex, antireflective coating on both sides

Crown screw-in

Water-resistant 12 bar

Diameter 44mm

Height 15mm

Originally published here.

Retro 1970’s Interior Design: What you need to know to create the look

The space age interiors of the 1960’s gave way to the textures of shag pile carpets, cork tiles, wood paneling and hessian cladding. Brown, cream and orange, vinyl wallpapers in large overall patterns and inspiration from the twenties and thirties were mixed with new innovations to create 1970’s style.

Italian Modernists and Anti Modernists

Italian designers were the leaders. Two major streams developed the ‘Modernists’ who saw function and rationalism as most important and the ‘Anti-Modernists’ they tended to mock elitism. The designers used plastics in an innovation way for seating. This was impacted by the Oil Crisis in 1973. The designs were created in small runs and limited additions.

Chromed tubular steel Brillo stool, Zanotta bean bag

The ‘Brillo’ bar stool was designed in 1970 by Joe Colombo for Zanotta a Milanese firm. The stool was made up of vinyl (with a leather look) and a chromed tubular steel frame. Colombo also used a fiberglass base to conceal four castors. This chair is a sought after item due to the early death of Joe in 1971. The bean-bag was also created for Zanotta.

Mendini armchair and Marilyn lip sofa

Alessandro Mendini gave the famous Victorian masterpiece Thonet bentwood chair a makeover in 1978. A palette of colour with balls was added to the back of the bentwood frame. In the same year Mendini used one of the Pointillist paintings of Paul Signac to create a Baroque style armchair.  Studio 65 produced the Marilyn sofa named after Marilyn Monroe’s lips. The design was a rework of the Salvador Dali’s pink satin Mae West sofa.

Polyurethane foam seat and boxing glove leather chair

The studio also designed the Attica seat and table. The seat was made from polyurethane foam in the style of a Parthenon column. The Swiss design company DeSede created a modern chaise lounge in the form of a boxing glove in leather. This chair is still made today.

Recycled drum Pop Art stool

Any Warhol’s art work and the values of Pop Art influenced Gavina a Bologna firm’s creation of the ‘Omaggio ad Andy Warhol’ stool. The aim to show designer furniture should not be elitist. The stool was made from a recycled drum screen printed with a Campbell’s classic soup label. The Sedil-Sasso designed by Piero Gilardi caused a sensation at the ‘Eurodomus 3′ exhibition in 1970 Milan. The seat has a stone like appearance rough and solid. But it is made from moulded polyurethane and is flexible and smooth.

Modular seating cardboard Wiggle stool

The German designer Burkhard Vogdherr created a modular seating system in 1971. The seating was designed in sections and covered with fabric in shades of brown. In the same year the Danish designer Verner Panton created a curvaceous seating system in chromed steel and wire. Corrugated cardboard was used by the Canadian designer Frank Gehry to create his Easy Edges series of furniture including a chair and a ‘wiggle’ stool.

If you visit the Creative Buzzing blog http://creativebuzzing.blogspot.com you will find some examples of retro 1970 style and some links.

Fire optic, track, finger-tip lighting

Lighting in the 70’s included the innovation of the dimmer switch as well as fibre optics, track lighting and low wattage lamps. The lighting was decorative as well as functional. The Colleoni lamp designed for Knoll by Vico Magistretti had the appearance of a street light with smoked-glass spheres. The Danish designer created the Panthella lamp with a mushroom shaped shade and stem like base. This lamp inspired similar designs still made today by Louis Poulsen. The acrylic like plastic Perspex could be moulded to appear crystal clear and was successfully used during this era to create sculptural geometric lighting.

Cubed lamps

The Corning Glass manufacturer developed hair like thin pure glass fibres carrying 65,000 times more information than copper wire; this lead to the craze for fibre optic lamps. During the 1980’s a copy of these lamps were made in plastic not glass fibres.  Clear glass was a popular material used to form glass cubed like lamps in the 1970’s.

Videosphere and the Walkman

Moulded plastic cases housed television sets in a range of decorator colours during this era. An example of this style is the Videosphere space helmet television created by The Japanese firm JVC in the 1970’s. Tiny transistor radios in colourful plastics designed by companies like Panasonic became the rage. Sony also created the first personal stereo the Walkman.

Fondue, Magimix, La Boule

To the dining room and kitchen the Fondue and Magimix was introduced. Also popular items were the electric knife and whisk. The German firm Villeroy & Bosh launched the La Boule dinner service designed by Helen von Bosh in 1971. The nineteen piece service formed a sculpture like ball for storage. The British firm W.R. Winter created the popular Stonehenge range in 1972 and the Sun Moon and Earth plates in 1973. Martin Hunt and Colin Rawson created a range of tableware called Hornsea Pottery with a streamline design similar to 1930 design.

The colours of the 70’s

Babara Hulaniciki created clothing influenced by styles from the 1930’s in peach, beige, and chocolate brown crepes and satins. Also popular Barbara and Laura Ashley’s carpets, fabrics, wallpapers and paints in the colours and styles of clothing fashions.

Avocado and old gold continued to be popular the main trend for interiors during the 70’s; brown and cream. Chrome and polished steel were teamed with grey, brown, red, yellow and blue.

During the 1970’s timber floors once again became popular. Old floors were restored and a new range of improved timber flooring systems was released. Other sorts of flooring such as rubber in the past only used in industrial situations added to the high tech style of the 1970’s home interior.

Some Art Deco wallpaper designs were revived during the 70’s. Shiny or dull metallic wallpapers papers in incandescent and muted colours were also popular.

Originally published here.