Made on Earth
Ernie Fosselius' menagerie of mechanical woodcarvings.
Page 18
Theo Jansen's huge, self-propelled sand walkers.
Page 20
Jo Babcock turns RVs into giant pinhole cameras.
Page 21
Bryan Horling rescues houseplants with his Linux-based plant waterer.
Page 22
Artist Matt Jones welds garbage bags into spooky hot-air balloons.
Page 23
Charge your tech gadgets on Sean Barrow's elegant, sustainable furniture.
Page 24
The robotronic fantasia of sculptor Gould Nemo.
Page 25
1+2+3
» Custom Travel-Game Mod
by Harry Miller
Make a travel edition of your favorite, and otherwise housebound, board game.
Page 17
» Shaker Flashlight Power Source
by Cy Tymony
Powering small electronics with your muscles.
Page 48
Launch streams of toilet paper into midair, or completely mummify your friends.
Page 122
» Paper Water Bomber
by Ewan Spence
Winged origami missile with front-load tank delivers wet payload.
Page 182
Projects
Can humans fly by flapping? Build a small, rubber band-powered ornithopter whose motion is similar to a bird in flight.
Page 90
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!
Page 100
How the pros replicate objects.
Page 160
DIY
DIY: Music
» TV-to-Synth Interface
by Tom Zimmerman
Triggering sound from video images.
Page 123
iBump crossover lets you crank it up without distortion.
Page 128
Turn your Xbox into a mobile media monstrosity.
Page 130
DIY: Home
Build a bright, low-powered desk lamp.
Page 133
Motorized lazy Susan aims the screen where it's needed.
Page 136
Energy-efficient A/C knows when you're in the room.
Page 140
DIY: Circuits
A/V monkeyshines with flex sensors and a MIDIsense board.
Page 142
DIY: Workshop
Salvaging components from unwanted appliances.
Page 146
Download Sample PDF of this article
.
DIY: Imaging
Ignore these handy rules and your instructional video will turn out great!
Page 149
Big sights and sounds hit the streets.
Page 151
» Quick and Dirty Light Table
by Hiram Cook
A storage bin, a pane of glass, and fluorescent light saves hundreds of dollars.
Page 154
Howtoons
Make this balance trainer and go surfing in your imagination.
Page 156
Welcome
» Follow the Bouncing Ball
by Dale Dougherty
Pinball's magic juju and the unanticipated effect of one thing on another.
Page 11
Download Sample PDF of this article
.
News from the Future
What makers understand is that play is as important as work.
Page 13
Life Hacks
» Why Those Kids from Podunk Are Keeping You Down
by Danny O’Brien, Merlin Mann
Don't worship successful geeks — emulate 'em.
Page 14
Make Free
» High-Definition = Highly Deadly
by Cory Doctorow
Forget plugging in a PC or Slingbox. Goodbye open platforms, hello monopoly lockware.
Page 16
Hands On
Inventor Nikola Tesla saw reality in his own way.
Page 26
Can a machine have a soul? Can it think? Can it laugh and cry, bug you for a snack, tease you, or curl up on your couch and dream robotic dreams? Can you build such a machine? And can you sell it for $250?
Page 28
A tribute to Robyn Miller's favorite maker.
Page 37
Placing huge towers up a mountain is just the start to reaching Troy Caldwell's ski-resort-on-a-budget dream.
Page 38
Heirloom Technology
Charlie is 78 years old and he's been fishing for mullet in Hawks Nest, Australia, for over 60 years.
Page 40
Making Trouble
» Unhindered Creativity
by Saul Griffith
Enable kids to invent their own games.
Page 42
Citizen Science
Build a torsion balance to measure tiny changes in the Earth's magnetic field.
Page 44
» Homebrew Game Design
by James Ernest
Turning wacky ideas into fun board games.
Page 50
Co-creator Robyn Miller reveals why it became the best-selling adventure game of all time.
Page 54
An afternoon with Ralph Baer, the "Father of Video Games."
Page 62
Toys sent through the X-ray machine give new insights.
Page 64
Pinball, Resurrected by Bill Bumgarner (pg. 66)
Restoring a crusty, beat-up Cyclone.
Pinheads in Oddball Places by Dale Dougherty (pg. 74)
Inside the electromechanical underground, with Lucky Ju Ju and the Pinball Hall of Fame.
Page 66
Comics you can build!
Page 76
That's no pile of trash; it's my asteroid mining colony!
Page 80
Microsoft's XNA Game Studio Express opens up game development.
Page 83
Part robotic plant life, part techno-sculpture, these desktop toys are easy and fun to make.
Page 84
Download Sample PDF of this article
.
In this fast-paced lunch-hour sport, changing the rules is part of the game.
Page 87
To experience coffee nirvana, roast your own beans with this cheap, portable coffee roaster.
Page 110
MakeShift
The creator of MacGyver challenges you to survive on a deserted island. (See previous MakeShift challenges and winning entries here.)
Page 158
Toolbox
Create your own computer games, discover magnetic attractions, and become a paper airplane champion. Plus: Recommendations from kids, and from and the designers at Wild Planet.
Page 168
From maker to maker: renew, repurpose, recycle.
Page 177
Retrocomputing
From the earliest computers came the first computer games.
Page 178
Aha!
Gold chains and chicken nuggets.
Page 179
Blast from the Past
Glimpse how modern civilization was built without laser levels or pneumatic nail guns.
Page 180
Reader Input
Where makers tell their tales and offer praise, brickbats, and swell ideas.
Page 184
How I went from cubicle slave to full-time maker.
Page 188
Retrospect
» Barricelli's Universe
by George Dyson
Early experiments in digital evolution.
Page 190
Maker's Calendar
Our favorite events from around the world.
Page 193
Homebrew
Page 194
= PDF OF ARTICLE
= DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES
= SLIDESHOWS AND EXTRAS
