MAKE Magazine: MAKE Podcast

Reuse a crashed hard drive or two for a set of wind chimes. Easy to make and sound great. Thanks go to Thomas Arey for the original article in Make Magazine.To download Hard Drive Wind Chimes MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Hard Drive Wind Chimes article MAKE 12 "Hard Drive Wind Chimes" & You can see that in our digital edition. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Weekend Projects | Digg this!

Get surprisingly good sound from disposable picnicware with this easy to make and inexpensive Styrofoam Plate Speaker. Thanks go to José Pino for the original article in Make Magazine.To download Styrofoam Plate Speaker MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Styrofoam Plate Speaker article MAKE 12 "Styrofoam Plate Speaker" & You can see that in our digital edition. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Weekend Projects | Digg this!

One of my favorites artists just had an opening at NYC's 3LD (Three legged dog) - Scott Draves a.k.a. Spot is best known as the creator of the Electric Sheep, a continually evolving abstract animation with over 60,000 daily participants. Dreams in High Fidelity is a painting that evolves. The artwork was designed and rendered with the Electric Sheep, a cyborg mind composed of 60,000 computers and people mediated by a genetic algorithm. It's one of the few acceptable uses of "crowd sourcing" I can think of :) Physically it consists of a small computer driving a large high definition display. The computer creates a continuously morphing, non-repeating, abstract animation. It is not software that you can download, but a custom configured computer preloaded with a large database. The animations are rendered by the Electric Sheep, but at triple the resolution and with more stately motion. The image quality is striking on a large display. It requires 20x the computation to make a high fidelity sheep, and it shows. The artist selects his favorite sheep from the archives and public flock, and sends them back to be re-rendered at high fidelity: heaven for an electric sheep. This new flock has grown to 100GB, totaling 18 hours if played end-to-end, and requiring over 200 years to render on a single computer. A version of Dreams in High Fidelity is at 3LD for the next two weeks - July 11 - July 26, if you're in the area it's worth checking out (night time-ish is best). Scott's work is "open source" the tools and software can be downloaded by anyone, the "creatures" created are in Creative Commons. Similar to open source hardware Scott makes his living by selling a physical version of the art, an installation, this is one of the reasons it's most interesting to me and I think a glimpse of what's to come for digital artists. Here's my interview / video with Spot (above). HD version is available on Vimeo and a Quicktime (M4V) is available here. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Arts | Digg this!

Create a nightime chorus of crickets that sing through the night by modifying an ordinary solar powered yard light. Original project by Michael F. Zbyszynski. To download Electronic Crickets MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Electronic Crickets article MAKE 11 "Electronic Crickets" & You can see that in our digital edition. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Weekend Projects | Digg this!

With a few empty soda bottles and some PVC pipe, you can build a high-performance water rocket. Original project by Steve Lodefink. The basis for this project's launcher design is the Martinet LauncherTo download Soda Bottle Rocket MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Soda Bottle Rocket article MAKE 05 "Soda Bottle Rocket" & You can see that in our digital edition. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Weekend Projects | Digg this!

Download the MP4 Video or HD Version | Subscribe to CRAFT in iTunes We are excited to announce a new book from CRAFT -- Fashioning Technology: A DIY Intro into Smart Crafting by Syuzi Pakhchyan, is available starting today. Learn how to take your craft projects to the next level with "smart" materials where you can create accessories, housewares, and toys that light up, make sounds, or do even more. Fashioning Technology offers jargon-free primers and lots of how-to projects that will have you making -- and even wearing -- functional works of art. Watch this special CRAFT Video Podcast and get a preview with Syuzi herself as she takes you through some of the fun projects! Buy Fashioning Technology by Syuzi Pakhchyan in the Maker Shed today! This book demonstrates how to blend sewing and assembly techniques with traditional electronics to assemble simple circuits using conductive thread, solder joints for snaps, and switches for buttons. With the sewing machine as a viable substitute for the soldering iron, you can craft a new generation of objects that are interactive, quirky, and fashion-conscious. Look for Fashioning Technology Kits soon this Summer in the Maker Shed! For now, check out the rest of our CRAFT Kits. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in MAKE Podcast | Digg this!

Turn a video camera into a lensless miscroscope and record what you see! Fun and easy project. To download Lensless Microscope MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Lensless Microscope article MAKE 14 "Lensless Microscope" & You can see that in our digital edition. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Weekend Projects | Digg this!

Download the MP4 Video or HD Version | Subscribe to CRAFT in iTunes Love your Maker's Notebook, but wish it had a pocket? Well, in this video I'll show you how easy it is to add your own. This gusseted (accordion-style) pocket will keep you loose papers safe from escape when your notebook is closed. In the Maker Shed Store: Pick up The Maker's Notebook ($19.99) for all your ideas, diagrams, patterns, and great references in the back Related: Maker's Notebook online home Maker's Notebook released at Maker Faire More on the Maker's Notebook Cats like the Maker's Notebook too! Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in MAKE Podcast | Digg this!

Here's a an easy to make, dollar store DIY spy microphone that lets you listen from afar and bring the sounds up close.To download Parabolic Microphone MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Parabolic Microphone article MAKE 14 "Parabolic Microphone" & You can see that in our digital edition. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Weekend Projects | Digg this!

Herbie the Mousebot is a very quick, easy-to-build, light-chasing robot kit, perfect for beginners. This little robot is so quick, you have to run to keep up with him. To download Herbie the Mousebot MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. @ The Maker store -- Herbie the Mousebot Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Weekend Projects | Digg this!

At the Bay Area Maker Faire in San Mateo, May 2008 there were over 400 Makers and 65,000+ attendees - in this video produced by Eric Michael Beug called "I Make:" the Makers say "I Make:" and (as you have guessed) tell us what they make! - it's an amazing video and gives you an idea of the fun and diversity at Maker Faire. In addition to the video in this post we also have a higher resolution one available (MOV 187 mb). The next scheduled Maker Faire is Austin: Oct. 18th & 19th, 2008 - Travis County Expo Center! Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Maker Faire | Digg this!

Bob Thompson bypasses the DEA and shows Phil Torrone how to make Iodine. To download Home Chemistry: Make Iodine MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. @ The Maker store -- The Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments For students, DIY hobbyists, and science buffs, who can no longer get real chemistry sets, this one-of-a-kind guide explains how to set up and use a home chemistry lab, with step-by-step instructions for conducting experiments in basic chemistry. Learn how to smelt copper, purify alcohol, synthesize rayon, test for drugs and poisons, and much more. The book includes lessons on how to equip your home chemistry lab, master laboratory skills, and work safely in your lab, along with 17 hands-on chapters that include multiple laboratory sessions. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Weekend Projects | Digg this!

I spent some time with Amy & Ariel from Sparkle Labs, makers of the DIY electronics kit we have in our Maker Shed Store, check it out! Here's the M4V for iTunes, iPods, iPhones, etc... DIY Design Electronics Kit - Harness the power of the electron! Create games, toys, and contraptions with these fundamental components. Follow the easy instructions to make a light detector, LED flasher, noisemaker and more! Once you master the basics, you'll be ready to create your own! Everything you need to get started is right in the box, including switches, buttons, diodes, capacitors. transistors and regulators. Learn the amazing concepts of resistance, capacitance, voltage and current with the step-by-step project manual. Soon, you will be the electronics wizard! Great introduction to electronics for all ages. [Read More] [Comments]

Keep an eye-out for Make Vol. 14, which has a special section on optics. You'll learn how to make an inexpensive but powerful digital microscope that will allow you to display bacteria colonies on a video monitor, a vintage-looking opaque projector that can display artwork from books onto a wall, a model of a crazy-angled room that makes things appear to change size, and a cool kaleidoscope. Also in the issue, we'll show you how to build the following: a mesmerizing taffy pulling machine, a remote control dune buggy with a built in video camera, a dollar-store parabolic microphone, and many more fun and fascinating projects (higher res video here, M4V). Subscribe using the code CMAKE and get $5 off (USA) - you can start reading the digital edition immediately online, no DRM! [Read More] [Comments]

Robots! Robots! People from all over the world came to experience the fun and excitement at this years Maker Faire in California. Here are just some of the amazing robots we saw.To download Maker Faire 2008 Robots MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. [Read More] [Comments]

Check out all the fun and excitement at this year's Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. People from all over the world came to experience this amazing event. Here are just some of the amazing riding machines we saw.To download Maker Faire 2008 Vehicles MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. [Read More] [Comments]

Check out all the fun and excitement at this year's Maker Faire in San Mateo, California. People from all over the world came to experience this amazing event. Take a look at some of the highlights and make plans to attend the next Maker Faire. To download Maker Faire 2008 MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. [Read More] [Comments]

An ornithopter is an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings! Here is a simple monoplane design powered by a rubber band. It's motion is similar to a bird in flight. To download Build an Ornithopter MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Build and Ornithopter article MAKE 08 "Build and Ornithopter" & You can see that in our digital edition. [Read More] [Comments]

Vroom! Power a balsa wood vehicle from the energy of a mousetrap! Fun and easy project! No mice were harmed during the filming of this video. To download Mousetrap Powered Vehicle MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. [Read More] [Comments]

Here are 8 ways to recycle the common 2 liter plastic soda bottle. Did you know...Americans throw away 2 million plastic bottles an hour. We throw away about 868 million pounds of it annually (about 75% of what's produced). That's an estimated $130,000,000 worth of plastic! To download Water Bottle Recycled MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. [Read More] [Comments]

From take-out coffee lids to Stormtrooper costumes, vacuum formed plastic is everywhere. Now you can build your own for thousands less than professional models and still make cool 3D objects! To download Kitchen Floor Vacuum Former MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Kitchen Floor Vacuum Former MAKE 11 "Kitchen Floor Vacuum Former" & You can see that in our digital edition. [Read More] [Comments]

Get vintage sounds from time-warp radio with this fun "back to the future" project. Top 40 songs from the 70's don't sound the same on big stereo systems or headphones but they will now! To download Transistorize Your iPod MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Transitorize Your iPod MAKE 13 "Transisorize Your iPod" & you can see that in our digital edition. [Read More] [Comments]

Do you like magic tricks? Here's a cool project that turns an ordinary Sharpie into a Telekinetic Pen! It shivers at your very command...or does it? To download Telekinetic Pen MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the MAKE 13 "Telekinetic Pen" & You can see that in our digital edition. [Read More] [Comments]

Ever wonder what goes on inside the engine of your car? Can you imagine at 5000 rpm there are 80+ explosions every second? Here's a DIY internal combustion engine that'll show what all that noise is about! To download Explosion Engine MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. Check out the Explosion EngineMAKE 13 "Explosion Engine" & You can see that in our digital edition. [Read More] [Comments]

Make a flaming fireball shooter just like magicians use. Save $$ and MAKE your own! Awesome pyrotechnics effect! To download the fire shooter MP4 click here or subscribe in iTunes. A modified version of Diminutive Balls of FireMAKE 13 "Balls of Fire" & You can see that in our digital edition. [Read More] [Comments]

Blast your alarm clock with a classic Sega Light Phaser! Hack an old toy and your alarm clock to make this gratifying wake up call... MP4 Video | QT Video | Subscribe in iTunes. From the pages of MAKE - Project: Gun-Operated Alarm Clock - Hack a retro gaming light gun with tilt switches to control a vintage digital clock radio. When the alarm wakes you up, grab the gun and kill it off! Read it in the MAKE digital edition. [Read More] [Comments]

MP4 Video | QT Video | HD | Subscribe in iTunes This week's CRAFT Video Podcast is the second in a two part series on how to make intarsia/stranded knitting pattern from an image in Photoshop. We'll go from the gridded pattern we made last week to a knitted back panel for the sweater using a mixture of intarsia and stranded multicolor knitting. Related: Skeleton Cardigan Part 1 - CRAFT Video Podcast- Link. Skeleton Cardigan - CRAFT Pattern Podcast - Link. [Read More] [Comments]

Forget the Macbook air, there's a new lightweight portable in town - Join our new video Maker (Kip Kay) as he shows you how to turn a modified hardback book in to a PDA powered "laptop" with keyboard. MAKE 07 "Palm Pilot Notebook" & check it out in our digital edition too. [Editor's note: Additional formats are up! MP4 (iPod/iPhone/PSP/etc...) - Quicktime (MOV) - Please subscribe in iTunes and let us know if these are working properly and there's a PDF too. And lastly, we'd like to welcome RadioShack as a MAKE sponsor! [Read More] [Comments]

MP4 Video | QT Video | HD | Subscribe in iTunes This week's CRAFT Video Podcast is the first in a two part series on how to make intarsia/stranded knitting pattern from an image in Photoshop. We'll go from an old skeleton illustration to a gridded knitting pattern for personalizing your own Skeleton Cardigan. Next Friday in Part 2, I'll show you how to work from the pattern to make the back panel of the Skeleton Cardigan! You can also download the Skeleton Cardigan PDF pattern - Link. [Read More] [Comments]

ipod|mp4|mov|hd-appletv|3gp|3g2|pdf|itunes This weekend on Best of Weekend Projects with Bre Pettis, learn how to hack your brain by making Mitch Altman's Brain Machine! It flashes LEDs into your eyes and beeps sounds into your ears to make your brain waves sync up into beta, alpha, theta, and delta brainwaves! Mitch invents cool things that make the world a better place. He's well known for the TV-B-GONE and this brain machine is his latest project. One of the cool things about this project, is that it builds on an open source project. Mitch used Lady Ada's open source MiniPOV and switched out LEDs and added new capacitors and resistors and then rewrote the firmware to make it into the brain machine. It's super cool when people make hardware open source so that others can work with it! Make sure to take pictures of your build and of you in your brain machine and upload them to the Make: flickr pool. Get the podcast and pdf downloaded automatically in itunes. - Link [Read More] [Comments]