I recently got the helping hands soldering iron to assist me when soldering circuit boards. Overall I am pretty impressed with what I got for so cheap. It feels sturdy, the light and magnifying glass makes it easy to see what I am doing, and the alligator clips help hold the board in position fairly well. The soldering iron holder would not work with mine, if I were to set my solder down it in it, it would burn the base of the helping hands lamp. This is alright for me because my soldering came with a similar wire stand that also has a sponge for cleaning the tip.

The arms do move a little too easily, this can be adjusted to some extent by tightening the screws, however not to the extent that I would like. It does a reasonable job holding things in place if you don't use too much pressure. This is perfect for holding things in a weird position so you can free up your hand to hold a component in place. For how cheap it is, I recommend it you will get your moneys worth out of it pretty quickly.

  

Do note that this product is very small 

It takes 3 AAA batteries and will run the LEDs for 10 hours according to the manufacturer. 

When it comes some very minor assembly is required. It can be a little tricky to hold the bracket in place while tightening the screws so you may want to ask a friend for help, but it is possible to do on your own.

 There are a variety of these types of products available, I imagine they all work just as well. 

 

I compiled a list of fun commands to enter into the terminal. For a list of useful commands please see my previous post.

1. Matrix effect. 

Install:

sudo apt-get install cmatrix 

Run with bold and green option:

cmatrix -BC green

 For all options:

cmatrix -h

2. Steam Locomotive (sl)- ls is a common command, if you install sl and when you type ls backwards you get a steam locomotive.

Install:

sudo apt-get install sl

Run:

sl

Options 

long:

sl-h

People screaming for help:

sl -a

3. Star Wars, what else do I need to say.

telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

4. Cowsay: A classic

Install:

sudo apt-get install cowsay

Run:

cowsay your text here

5. Fortune Teller 

Install:

sudo apt-get install fortune-mod

Run:

fortune

6. bb... a movie thing

Install:

sudo apt-get install bb

Run:

bb

7. Text to voice (requires speakers)

Install:

sudo apt-get install espeak

Run:

espeak "your text here"

8. Make a banner

Install:

sudo apt-get install figlet

Run:

figlet your text here

9. A cat who will chase the mouse.

Install:

sudo apt-get install oneko

Run:

oneko

10. Web Browser

sudo apt-get install links2

Run:

links2

Run with GUI

links2 -g