We have a lot of posts on MAKE (20,000+) and while we have our favorites we like to look at what ended up circulating around the web the most each year – it’s always an eclectic mix of projects and passions. Besides our main blog page, magazine page, video/podcast and paginated pages we’ve put together the top viewed posts in 2008 on MAKE, check them out and relive the fun of 2008!
PS3 Grill – When the final case design of the Playstation 3 was released, it was widely critsised as looking exactly like a George Foreman Grill … we decided this would be a great project and challenge to actually build the Real PS3 Grill.
Make your own vacuum tubes – Check out this absolutely mesmerizing (17 minute!) video of a French amateur radio operator who rolls his own vacuum tube triodes! I love the ease with which he performs these rather high-end skills (like glass forming), the gestural flourishes (like it’s hand magic), and the Zelig-esque soundtrack.
Entire NES stuffed into its cartridge kinda makes you cry – This amazing mod crams an entire Nintendo Entertainment System from the 80s into one of it’s cartridges complete with power and reset buttons, controller ports and composite video and audio output jacks. This is equivalent to the gaming version of the “clown car” where there is so much stuffed into such a small physical area that it’s pretty hard to understand how this could work.
Man builds a living out of LEGO – A fun story about artist Nathan Sawaya who makes incredible LEGO sculptures.
Weird bass guitars – Check out these great bass guitars! Which one is your favorite?
Segway’s new RMP! It uses the same parts that a Segway uses but just doubled, it can haul up to 400 lbs. The engineer was going to load the firmware on for demos later, but I took some video of video they had on a screen, it’s creepy cool for sure.
Open source hardware 2008 – The definitive guide to open source hardware projects in 2008 – Each year we do a guide to all open source hardware and this year there are over 60 projects/kits – it’s incredible! Many are familiar with Arduino (now shipping over 60,000 units) but there are many other projects just as exciting and filled with amazing communities – we think we’ve captured nearly all of them in this list. Some of these projects and kits are available from MAKE others from the makers themselves or other hardware manufacturers – but since it’s open source hardware you can make any of these yourself, everything is available.
Zombie Pumpkins! – pumpkin carving patterns – This guy has been updating his library of pumpkin stencils over the years and his catalog is just brilliant. He’s a great artist and the site covers everything from movies to classical monsters. Some stencils are more involved than others when it comes to carving but the results have always been amazing. The best part is that you can get lifetime access to the library with as little as a $2 donation. Well worth it.
HOW TO – build a water mortar – This water mortar is made from PVC using a variation on the “drill press lathe” technique from the book “Eccentric Cubicle.” The finished product launches over a quart of water per shot!
DIY Lamborghini – The car, called the “Woodighini” was made by a 33 year old Canadian named “Woody”.
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