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Wow, check out this correspondence figuring out ways to help soldiers in the field diffuse those cell phone detonators. “I was connected via a soldier on Iraq who sent me a picture of the radios they are using to set off the IEDs. Some of them are using FRS radios (Family Radios). The picture I saw was a Motorola TalkAbout 5000 (or something like that). What I did was make a FRS radio connected to a 7 watt external amplifier, and with a BASIC stamp controlling the main function buttons of the radio. It will hop through all 838 possible codes (22 channels, 38 privacy codes) and transmit for 1 second on each channel. Hopefully setting off the bombs before they drive through”.

I posted up my photo based “IT CAME FROM MAKE” comic using Comic life, but I’m interested in making the comic look more comicy. Here’s a great step by step guide to turning photos in to comic book looking art work with Photoshop. I’m trying to see if I can get GiMP to do the same thing.

Here’s a simple project that might be interesting to try out. This simple circuit can detect the invisible fields of voltage which surround all electrified objects. It acts as an electronic “electroscope.” Regular foil-leaf electroscopes deal with electrostatic potentials in the range of many hundreds or thousands of volts. This device can detect one volt. Its sensitivity is ridiculously high.

MacMinute has a story about Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails making the band’s new single, “The Hand That Feeds” available to download for Mac users with GarageBand to mix and mash up (an actual multi-track audio session). “For quite some time I’ve been interested in the idea of allowing you the ability to tinker around with my tracks — to create remixes, experiment, embellish or destroy what’s there,” Reznor says. Here’s a screenshot of it on my Mac (View image) and here’s where to get it (70MB file). Here are a couple of the first remixes!

Comic Life from Plasq might just be the coolest Mac applications that made me go “no way!” since Delicious Library. In MAKE we feature comics from Howtoons.org and I love the idea of using an photos I have around here to my own comics. Here’s the first one I made called “IT CAME FROM MAKE” (click here to view). It’s a one page comic with stuff I posted to my photo site. Speaking of– on a MAKE-mash up note, wouldn’t it be cool if this app “slurped” in your Flickr photos so you could make (and share) comics from all your Flickr photos? Might make a cool web app.

We’re going to try an experiment with an additional audio program starting next week. We’re still gearing up to release our interview series really soon with great audio from all sorts of amazing Makers out there. But, we’ve had a ton of requests to do a weekly show with DIY projects, hacks and commentary on stuff we’re up to at MAKE, so we’re going to do it, why not. We’ve also been doing the FM radio rounds lately and the “call in” part of the shows have been packed with hundreds of folks working on cool projects or looking for advice- so if you’d like to ask us a question or tell us what you’re up to call 206-888-MAKE. Toll charges apply, we’ll have a Skype voicemail set up soon too, but do call in or post up questions here!