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Makers of MAKE
BoredStiff writes "An NPR show called The Connection inteviewed The Makers of MAKE.
They discussed who's behind MAKE magazine, and why they think there are a lot of people out there with an interest in re-inventing with the
gadgets that run our daily lives. MAKE magazine is a deliberate throw-back to the how-to science manuals of an
earlier era -- back when technology wasn't so cheap people did more 'do it yourself.'"
I've got my first two issues and at the very least, they are interesting. They straddle the line between pure MacGyver-ness and the kinds of things you'd find in 2600 magazine.
It's an awesome mag. The amount of detail on how to build a project is fantastic, and there's lots of small projects in addition to the two or three large projects. The editors don't mince words about telling you how to hack stuff either. The latest copy had instructions to remove macrovision on certain DVD players.
$7.95/mo, 200 GB disk, 2TBxfer, MySQL, PHP, RoR.
http://www.oreillynet.com/oreilly/make/
Scientific American's Amateur Scientist has always had interesting things to make. The older columns (from before the age of lawsuits) featured more exciting things such a a 6-foot homemade rocket, atom smasher, and 20 W CO2 laser.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but three lefts do.
Other great DIY 'tinkering' sites I like are AX84.com, 18watt.com, and Byonics.
I'd post a link to my site with pictures/notes on my own hand-built tube amp project or my mini-GPS/APRS project (not yet out of planning), but I'm afraid of the /.-ing I'd take. :)
http://makezine.com/
This is from a site for children (and on the first page of a google search for "casein plastic"). If you're really hardcore, you may be able to deviate from the recipe and get by without an adult to help you. ;)
t Sheet=114
http://www.suzy.co.nz/suzysworld/Factpage.asp?Fac
Make Casein Plastic
Casein is a plastic that is made from milk. It was one of the first plastics ever made and was used for making things like buttons.
What you need:
An adult to help you
2/3 of a cup of milk
8 teaspoons of vinegar
a pot
a plate
a stirring spoon
What you do:Pour the milk into the pot and get an adult to help you bring it gently to the boil. When the milk begins to steam and bubble, dribble in the vinegar, stirring the milk all the time. You will see lumps begin to form. When the little lumps clump together to make a big solid lump get the adult to pour off the liquid and then tip your casein plastic lump onto a plate. When it cools a little bit mould it into a shape, like a button then leave it to harden over night. You'll end up with hard casein plastic. The first plastic that was ever invented - it's a bit different from the plastic we're used to!
It's not "the law" that magazine subscriptions are subject to the recipient's local sales tax. Mail order companies only have to charge sales tax if they have a physical presence in the recipient's state. Apparently O'Reilly has a physical presence in Washington, which sucks for me.
If you subscribe to O'Reilly's Make magazine, use promotional code M5ZXML to get a free bonus issue (5 for $35 instead of 4).
volume 1 is available for download, from ibiblio.
http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12655
FYI, caesin is one of the predominant proteins in milk. It is not plastic. What you are making is a coagulate, using the acid to unfold the proteins and get them to clump together.
Another description of this "plastic" is acid-precipitated cheese.
You have made a lump of mozzarella and dried it out.