Ghost Phones at Maker Faire Bay Area

I'm a word nerd who loves to geek out on how emerging technology affects the lexicon. I was an editor on the first 40 volumes of MAKE, and I love shining light on the incredible makers in our community. In particular, covering art is my passion — after all, art is the first thing most of us ever made. When not fawning over perfect word choices, I can be found on the nearest mountain, looking for untouched powder fields and ideal alpine lakes.

Contact me at snowgoli@gmail.com or via @snowgoli.

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May 27th, 2009

In our Spy Tech issue of MAKE, Volume 16, artist and concept designer Greg MacLaurin showed us how to make a Ghost Phone (of the Judy Garland persuasion). Ghost Phones are “interactive modifications of the ancient and nearly arcane dial telephone system.” By hiding an MP3 player inside a telephone, you can have a one-sided conversation with a ghost from the past. At Maker Faire Bay Area this weekend (May 30th and 31st), Greg will share the concept behind this art project, discuss the methods and perspective for recording the dialog, and demonstrate ways to hide the tech and make it all the more mysterious. That’s one of my favorite things about Maker Faire: want to know how someone made something? Ask them! Wanna know why they made it? Ask them!