Tell Us What You’d Like To See In MAKE, Win A Subscription

Arduino
Tell Us What You’d Like To See In MAKE, Win A Subscription

We’ve had some great feedback lately to our contest questions, so we’ve decided to throw the door wide open on the latest element14 giveaway and see what flies in! The comments on the entry page are rocking along great, so far, but we want your input, too! So now’s the time to dust off your “I always wished MAKE would…” file, flip open the cover, and let us know what’s inside. We’ve got ten subs to give away, so there’s plenty to go ’round. Thanks for your time and attention!

More:
The Make: Arduino page.

44 thoughts on “Tell Us What You’d Like To See In MAKE, Win A Subscription

  1. Ron Arcovio says:

    I’d love to see more alternate power sources. We have a super creative community, all this money going to big oil, I think we together could prolly solve this power crisis.

    1. Robbie Pitts says:

      I agree. The maker community could change the face of the crisis. Solar cell projects, wind power, regenerative power using wasted heat/energy. We’ve seen a little, but want more.

  2. Will Price says:

    I’d like to see more different disciplines of making, with introductions so one can test out new hobbies easily with enough information to get a feel for new subjects and pursue them if they wish, broadening one’s skill set

  3. Badr Bouslikhin says:

    I’d like to see less expensive DIY projects.

    1. Anonymous says:

      I’ll second this one!

  4. Adam says:

    i’d like to see a series on sustainable energy projects, in particular solar powered cell batteries and energy storage.

  5. Joe Feldman says:

    Paper Models. How to create a model of a favorite building or thing…

  6. undeded says:

    I would like to see more projects for use of solar and wind energy projects using cheap or salvaged parts.

  7. Fightcube says:

    How about an entire LED themed issue of Make Magazine? You could cover LED cubes, POV displays, flashlight conversions, audio transmission, high power LEDs, RGB LEDs, 7-Segment LEDs, analog clock projection on the ceiling, LED matrixes, some kind of revamp of the LED throwie?, LEDs on clothing, LED strips (homemade even… I could contribute here ;-)

  8. Gregg Higham says:

    I enjoy your articles on metal forming, wood working, renewable energy, green houses/ food growing, electronics and Arduino in particular. I also like the articles on things I haven’t yet considered. You are expanding my interests. I’d say you’re doing a great job!

  9. Anonymous says:

    I would love to see a monthly topic of where(types of devices) to scavenge good parts. Not all electronic devices have easy to scavenge and reuse components. Tips and tricks for desoldering would be helpful as well.

  10. Mike Provenzano says:

    I would like to see an issue that talks about pseudoscience versus real science. In other words DIY projects that help explain the problems with pseudoscience or why the subject qualifies as pseudoscience. Royal Rife machines, ESP, ghost detectors that kind of thing…

  11. migpics says:

    I’d like to see a whole issue on making ‘with’ kids, not necessarily just making for kids. Ideas on how to work with your children on projects, how young is too young, some understanding of how kids learn, different experiences from parents, teachers etc. and of course, suitable projects to go along with those. I can volunteer my experience for starters! :)

  12. Christian Weckmann says:

    I’d like to see a recurring series of small electronics/mechanics 101s. Starting from very basic stuff and principles, slowly increasing difficulty and possibly never ending. You could also do a “new chip on the block” thing, where you introduce the readers to new/probably unknown ICs that could make their electronis life easier. Or, and that’d be really nice, add a section of “where to find this?” or “what’s inside?” where you crack open consumer products that easily end up on junk piles (thus easily accessible) but often include nice parts and components in their guts, so people have a slight clue what they can expect to find. Just my 2c.

  13. raggd_46 says:

    I would like to see more projects that gets a large amount of people involved, like a community project to build a zero-carbon footprint house for example.

  14. KurtRoedeger says:

    I always wished MAKE would cover more DIY projects from developing countries. Some of the backyard innovation those makers show is amazing given the materials they have to work with. I’d also like to see projects that can be used to help developing countries by giving them ways to better their living conditions.

  15. Darrel E. Edson says:

    I personally would like to see more projects that use recycled materials that us poor people can find. Perhaps how to strip down parts from old computer boards and re-purpose the components. That stuff just clutters the landfills, there must be a way to re-utilize it.

  16. Anonymous says:

    For a while, I’ve been wishing the Make would do some larger projects, ones that might span several issues. I’ve gotten the sense that there were going to be some projects like this in the Make: Blog, but they never seemed to pan out.

    For example, I was excited to see a post on the Beagle Board and I had the impression that there were going to be follow-up posts with more information that would help makers get set up with a Beagle Board to use in projects. If there were follow-ups to this post, I missed them (and didn’t see them in google searches either).

    I was also interested in the Makey Robot blog series on how it was made and the problems encountered in designing and constructing it. The third of the five-part series was posted in Jan. 2010 and it doesn’t look like the final parts were ever posted.

    Using robotics as an example, what I’d like to see in Make: is maybe a year-long series where an open-source robot design is constructed in stages. I think this would be a great way for people to learn the individual parts of the project, but more importantly, it would be great if the articles were collaborative. The first article might be about setting design goals and choosing hardware (and testing, prototyping and optimizing it). After publication, readers would be invited to submit feedback and suggestions for the next stage, and that feedback would be incorporated in the next article; perhaps on chassis design and parts layout (with a design that could be either laser cut and/or home fabbed to meet all maker’s abilities and workshop resources). Third article might be about the circuit and microcontroller, fourth article might be programing and add-ons.

    This would continue until, at the end of the series of articles, people following along would all have a set of similar robots that the community could continue to develop, modify and expand on. I think the collaborative part of incorporating readers’ feedback at each stage is really important and something that fits the ethos that surrounds Make projects; something that is more difficult to achieve with a one-off article/project. Perhaps the forum for providing feedback on each stage would only be available to subscribers (though the final design would of course be available to everyone).

    I think the community built around Make and the integration between the blog, the magazine, and the Maker Shed make this kind of project a unique opportunity for Make. Besides, I’m itching for a long-term, complex and community driven project like this.

    Jeez, I didn’t think I’d be writing so much :)

  17. Jonathan Lowe says:

    I’d like to see small-scale projects requiring few tools: projects a serviceman, without access to a workshop, can do in his spare time.

  18. Matt Fedorko says:

    I will echo what KurtRoedeger said below. I would like to see more examples of Appropriate Technology in the pages of Make Magazine, which is to say, projects that take the larger system into account — scale of tool needed, how a project fits into a culture, how it can be repaired, etc. While this is usually thought of a philosophy/set of principles for the developing world, it can be applied to anywhere. I love the whiz-bang and the fun-is-the-only-point projects in Make, and I love the $150,000 work spaces, and industrial scale home shops, and I’m certainly not suggesting Make turn into Mother Earth News. I do think that technology can be empowering, and is embedded in the greatest examples of human self-sufficiency (the sister of DIY), and communities helping themselves, and that it’s worth getting explicit about.

    Plus, that type of stuff is really flipping cool —
    i.e. the Global Village Construction Set mentioned here just the other day, or the Google pedal project from a couple years ago.
    Reason enough!

  19. Wu Bing says:

    The Coach Outlet Online,are more than 100 kinds of products:handbags, belts, purses,travel products and so on.in 1996 autumn ,also attempt to provide men series of handbags,watches,scarf, sunglasses,jewelrys, perfume.

  20. Andrew Schamp says:

    I’d like to see some suggestions for substituting electronic parts for ones you have on hand (combinding resistors and capacitors in various ways to get those elusive values, or increase power ratings, etc.)

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I am descended from 5,000 generations of tool-using primates. Also, I went to college and stuff. I am a long-time contributor to MAKE magazine and makezine.com. My work has also appeared in ReadyMade, c't – Magazin für Computertechnik, and The Wall Street Journal.

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