T3 - UK (2022-03)

26 T3 MARCH 2022

Horizon

Some guides are written by

people who want you to fill

your 3.5mm socket with glue,

the cads. Don’t do it

NOW PLAYING

A

Guru can absolutely tell you

what to avoid. Cold-

soldering gadgets, which

use electricity to fuse solder points,

are usually quite true to their name,

leaving you with cold joints. Go for

the heat, then, and make sure you

buy something that is adjustable so

you can find the perfect sweet spot

for your task. Draper’s 61478 (£18)

will do, though Weller’s WE 1010

(£179) is a far more pro setup.

If you need to go portable, Guru

would steer you clear of traditional

butane solutions since battery tech

has now truly caught up. Perhaps

avoid the fancy Kickstarter vape

pen-alikes, too, and go for something

more established, like Sealey’s 30W

SDL11 kit (around £68).

Can you get my

dog to talk to me?

Can you

recommend a

soldering iron?

A

As stupid as this idea

sounds – we do not live in

the world of Up, as Guru

learned after attempting to launch

his neighbour’s shed into the air

with helium balloons – the

Fluentpet Connect (from around

£60) exists. It’s a device which

links together hex shaped tiles

containing buttons your dog can

stomp on to presumably harass

you for more treats.

It can even send you text

messages from your dog while

you’re out. As is so often the case,

the fact that this is a real thing does

not make it any less stupid in the

end – but Guru would be excited to

hear if you’ve had any good results.

RON     TOWST,

MANCHESTER

I snapped off my

headphone jack

in my iPad.

W hat now?

A

Many guides online will

suggest you try hot glue to

attach something to the

remaining bit of the tip before

yanking it out. Those guides are

written by people who want you to

fill your 3.5mm socket with glue,

the cads. Don’t do it. Instead, try

jamming the end of a Bic pen’s ink

tube in there, which should be just

the right size to put over the centre

pole and allow you to pull it out.

If that doesn’t work, time for a

specialist tool. You could throw £22

at iFixit’s Gripstick, but similar thin

metal tubes are available for far less.

KELLY   REYNOLDS,

EAST    GRINSTEAD

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MIKE    BURNS,  GREAT

YARMOUTH

DON’T LOOK UP

Many critics say it’s rubbish,

but Guru quite enjoyed the

silliness of this star-studded

Adam McKay Netflix comedy

propagandathon. Eyes on the

skies, folks.

TETR.IO

GaGu has struggled to do much

this month, not only because of

his usual laziness, but because

he has rekindled his love of

legally distinct free-to-play

Tetris-adjacent games.

A•Z

This album of masterful

nu-disco keyboard-slinging

and track-chopping tunes

from Applzaft has only one

track with over 1,000 plays.

Ridiculous. Get it in your ears.

NEW MEDIA

Guru finds the finest

media you need on

your various devices

ABOVE

Using the phrase

‘dog and bone’

inevitably led to

a bit of a mixup