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Collin’s Lab: DIY Contact Mic

Collin’s Lab: DIY Contact Mic

It’s amazing what a little disk can do … when it’s layered with piezoelectric crystals. Piezo disks are impressively sensitive to vibration and can easily be adapted to work as a contact microphones. The trick is the preamp – a basic circuit used to match the piezo’s signal to levels compatible with modern audio gear inputs. The resulting piezo/preamp combo can be used for electrifying an acoustic guitar or simply exploring the lesser-heard world of small sound around us.

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Make: Live Hackerspace Roadshow 11/30/11 (video)

Make: Live‘s Hackerspace Roadshow takes you on a virtual journey to hackerspaces around the globe. Above, makers from NYC Resistor in Brooklyn, NY demo their projects including an Inspector Gadget inspired pop up book, a TV-B-Gone NES Light Gun, remote controlled HAM radio base station, and stylish RFID-blocking wallets. Subscribe to the Make: Live Podcast […]

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Reclaiming, Reusing and Remembering Detroit: Tim Burke (video)

On a visit to the Heidelberg Project outdoor art installation in Detroit, we happened across longtime Detroit resident and artist Tim Burke. Tim filled us in on the tragedy of, and artistic opportunity in, the destruction of some of Detroit’s most interesting and historic buildings. In addition to losing architectural landmarks, artworks within these buildings are also lost.

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Giant Bubbles Float Through Maker Faire

Sterling Johnson has childhood memories of being fascinated by blowing bubbles, even learning how to make them using only soap and his own hands. At Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 he uses a variety of simple devices to create both massive bubbles and swarms of smaller bubbles.

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Bounce For Glory: Peter William Wagner (video)

Peter William Wagner bounces across the fairgrounds at Maker Faire Bay Area 2011, delighting everyone whose path he crosses. The big purple eccentric-axled bike has two inflated all-terrain wheels that can also function as flotation for the aquatic parts of the annual Kinetic Grand Championship in and around Arcada, California, where this “whim-cycle” has appeared for the last six years. Even Peter’s baby granddaughter enjoys the ride.

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Make: Live’s Hackerspace Roadshow II (preview video)

Join us Wednesday evening for the next episode of Make: Live, our streaming show and tell! This episode is another Hackerspace Roadshow, where we take you to five hackerspaces across the globe.

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How-To: Holography

I always assumed that the process of making a hologram was so complex that it was limited to only those with access to expensive lasers and other fancy optical equipment. But when I heard that the Maker Shed started carrying Litiholo’s Hologram Kit, I was surprised that such a thing existed and I was eager to give it a try. After carefully following the directions, my first hologram was visible, but just barely. This was better than I expected, actually. The manual stresses that controlling vibration is the most important factor in creating a good hologram, but I live in a busy Brooklyn apartment building that often feels the low rumble of the subway trains rolling by. I tried to make another, but this time I increased the exposure time from five minutes to fifteen as the instructions suggested. The result was a surprisingly sharp hologram of a toy car.

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