Modder Master Ben Heck Channels Masterpiece Theatre Persona to Answer Fan Questions and Collaborate on New Builds in Latest Episode of element14's "The Ben Heck Show"

CHICAGO, April 18, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- element14, a collaborative social community and electronics store for design engineers and electronics enthusiasts, and modding guru Benjamin J. Heckendorn, a.k.a. Ben Heck, spotlight intriguing questions and comments from the community in a new episode of "The Ben Heck Show" airing today. Channeling his "Masterpiece Theatre" persona, Ben dons a pipe and his best British accent, offering viewers a combination of witty advice and thoughtful responses on ideas and suggestions.

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"We're really lucky to have such amazing fans who are curious to learn more about the projects created on the show, and who are also willing to offer their knowledge and expertise to build more cool things," said Ben. "I enjoyed the opportunity to connect with the element14 community members and address their questions and comments in the latest episode. It's nice to know people are engaged and excited to learn about engineering and modding."

Questions and comments submitted on the element14 community and "The Ben Heck Show" YouTube page ranged from ideas for finishing Ben's can crusher mod featured in one of the first shows, to questions about the differences between CNC routers to future build suggestions. In the second half of the episode, Ben revisits his pinball machine build, working on the lighting, graphics, audio, and the geometry of the pinball playfield to ensure everything works in perfect "heck" harmony.

"This episode captures the essence of what the element14 community is all about – engineering professionals and enthusiasts collaborating with peers and experts," said Kevin Yapp, chief marketing officer, Premier Farnell. "As always, Ben offers knowledgeable insight along with his infamous humor, making the show both informative and enjoyable to watch."  

Viewers of the latest episode are invited to join the discussion online at element14 to answer a few questions about the segment for the opportunity to win Atari's recently released Yars' Revenge for download or to throw Ben a challenge for a future episode.  

About "The Ben Heck Show"

"The Ben Heck Show" is a bi-weekly online television series aired in English that's dedicated to the science and art of system and hardware modding with a global audience of design engineers, students and electronic enthusiasts. Sponsored exclusively by element14, each episode spotlights Ben's mods of popular electronic devices while educating viewers on the underlying technology powering each project.  

About element14

Launched in June 2009, element14 is the first, innovative information portal and eCommunity specifically built for electronic design engineers. It provides product data, design tools and technology information, while incorporating Web 2.0 functionality to facilitate communication, interaction, collaboration and information sharing between colleagues around the world. element14 is an innovative offering from Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), FTSE 250, a leader in multi-channel electronics distribution trading throughout Europe (Farnell), the Americas (Newark) and Asia Pacific (element14).  The company had group sales of pounds Sterling 990.8m and underlying profits of pounds 93.3m last year.

SOURCE element14