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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.'"
It may be a throwback, but the issues so far have still had a heavy bias toward the whole casemod/ipod/gaming end of the "making stuff" spectrum despite the fact that there are TONS of other topics that still embody the DIY attitude, many of which are actually the same ones that were part of the earlier era of DIY. A lot of those have never gone away. Heck, the whole hippie/commune/energy conservation crowd has been doing-it-themselves for a long time, building practically everything they need.
As I've been digging to find resources for my new site (listed in my sig), I've been thrilled to discover just how many projects are out there fully-documented in arenas I've never messed in myself.
Last night, I made a batch of plastic in my kitchen to put a USB memory key back together. I found the recipe for casein plastic online, didn't have to leave the house because all of the ingredients were already there and I had never even heard of casein plastic until I stumbled across it for site research.
Projects like that, the little laser tripwire kit I found that can be combined with mirrors to give you the security grid shown in every bad heist movie, etc. are all over the place.
Fortunately, it looks like, via their blog and more recent web content (like their contest to start a dead car in the middle of nowhere) that their topics may become more diverse.
The Glass is Too Big: My Take on Things
If you've ever built a Heathkit something or another, or a old analog signal cable descrammbler from radio shack parts (or for the newer generation, if you've ever modded your xbox I guess), you owe it to yourself to check out the Make magazine. It has lots of great projects and it proves to my wife that I am not a crazy as some other people.
"Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change."
Personally.... They need a book reviews. There are plenty of DIY books out there that need to be reviewed. There are probably more than the creator of this magazine actually realizes. Then again would I want slashdoter's to have plans to a DIY EMP device.(IM serious) Hmmmmm....
Ooo man the floppy drive is broken. No wait. The computer is just upside down.
As a former computer magazine editor myself, I kind of wondered about the viability of a dead-tree magazine for hackers in the age of the URL myself, especially one that costs fifteen bucks an issue. But MAKE has been very well-received, and they're supporting it with an active daily blog. I've enjoyed both issues so far, and am eagerly anticipating the next. It probably helps that it's from the O'Reilly book people, who really grok hackers, since they come from the same gene pool. Plus their production values are incredible. Full color on every page, high-quality paper, etc. Copies of MAKE will be around at least as long as those old National Geographics in your grandfather's attic.
Serving your airship needs since 1995.
LAME!! As soon as I read this article, I tried to subscribe to Make Magazine, but they're charging SALES TAX!! I have never and will never pay sales tax on a magazine subscription!
Bad move!
I pay attention to what Philip Torrone is up to.
He started the engadget Podcast, hackaday, and now MAKE.
it seems like he's really good at getting cool stuff off the ground and then he leaves it to other people once its up and running
http://flashenabled.com/ is his site
"What does slashdotting mean?"
"You've never heard of slashdot?"
"I know it makes websites not work."
It's definitely a geekier magazine than most, but none of the stuff seems that unique. Many of the projects are stuff I already read about here on Slashdot or elsewhere on the net; many are oversimplified; many are not explained well enough. It was also funny that they had that article about yak-shaving, but the proposed solutions weren't that inspiring, and then the rest of the magazine is devoted to many ways of yak-shaving that they hoped would be as diverting as possible.
Of course it tries to be many things to many people. There are so many varieties of geekery, so their coverage of any one variety is cursory. Maybe for the type of geeks that have never done anything outside the software area, it's something to get their feet wet.
Popular Science sometimes finds some real, inspiring news that I didn't already read on the net. That is nice. I used to like Electronics Now back in the late 80's and early 90's; they had some really unique projects. EE Times is also an excellent industry news source, but I quit subscribing to the paper version now that it's 100% online and free. With Make, I hope that it just hasn't found its stride yet, not that it's going to be permanently just fluff.
Here's a quote:
9.4.5 Make plastic from milk casein
Casein is a phosphoprotein thermoplastic polymer that may be used to make insulators, buttons, handles, adhesives and artist's priming paint. We can make casein from the reaction of skimmed milk with ethanoic acid (acetic acid).
Calcium caseinate + 2H+ ---> casein + Ca2+
(i) To prepare an approximately 10% ethanoic acid (acetic acid) solution, add 1 mL of glacial acetic acid to 10 mL of water. Separate cream from milk or directly use skimmed milk.
Pour 200 mL of skimmed milk into a 500 mL beaker.
Heat the milk to 50oC and then maintain the temperature at 40 to 50oC.
Add drops of the prepared acetic acid solution to the warmed milk with constant stirring.
After all the acetic acid solution is added, continue stirring for five minutes and then leave the mixture standing until the liquid becomes clear and the separation of the casein curd from the whey is complete.
Filter the lump of casein by suction, squeeze it with a teaspoon, wash it with water, wipe it dry with a piece of filter paper, mould it into shapes and then expose it to the air for 1-2 days.
Harden the plastic by immersing the dried casein in formalin (formaldehyde solution, methanal solution.) for one day.
Finally, polish the hard casein plastic with sandpaper.
Addition of aqueous ammonia solution to the casein can make glue.
The Glass is Too Big: My Take on Things