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On Tuesday 4/4 10am PDT I’ll be on NPR’s Weekday at KUOW in Seattle, WA with host Steve Scher talking about more tinkering….Make: Technology on Your Own Time is a new magazine about that drive many people have to make things work just a little better. The tinkerers of the world unite to take the Ipod to the next level, build a mouse inside an Altoids box and maybe even root around inside a car to make a better source of travel. Technology has moved into just about every facet of our lives and right behind it are the tinkerers and technologists who just want to know how these things work and how to make them work better. Some folks also want to see what else they can make these machines do or figure out what kind of information these devices collect. Are you a tinkerer? What have you done with your ideas?

Over the weekend SRL (Survival Research Labs) held one of their live shows with robots blowing up robots and what looks like complete destruction, in a brutally mechanical arty sort of way. Coverage here. Survival Research Laboratories was conceived of and founded by Mark Pauline in November 1978. Since its inception SRL has operated as an organization of creative technicians dedicated to re-directing the techniques, tools, and tenets of industry, science, and the military away from their typical manifestations in practicality, product or warfare [Via BoingBoing].

Charles Lee and Frank Ling host a show on KALX 90.7FM in the San Francisco Bay area called The Berkeley Groks Science Show. I’m always on the look out for downloadable science content to go jogging with and they’ve recently started posting MP3s of their show along with a RSS feed so you can subscribe, download or get their shows from the internet archive. The older shows are located here. Our show will be out soon, promise!

Pop over to PEZMP3 and sign up to be on the list to pre-order the PEZMP3 player if you plan on getting one when they come out. Patrick is a stay at home dad with a dream of bringing his idea (a PEZ dispenser MP3 player) to market. He’s been working on this for over a year and has the approval from PEZ as well as getting a bank loan. The player will support OGG and he’s also open-sourcing as much as he can from the start.

Toyota’s SCION line of vehicles have a new ad campaign where they interview “Modders” and car hackers. The SCION community is pretty booming and Toyota has embraced it making it part of the culture of ownership. The ads feature a fellow saying “Everything is Modd-able” and they go on to show all the tweaks and installations like car PCs inside their cars. Here’s SCION’s community listings and corp site.

On NPR’s Science Friday caller Mari Ann had asked about some welding resources- for books check out The Welder’s Handbook (ISBN: 1557882649) and Welding Essentials (ISBN: 0831131519). The other thing I’d suggest is to check in with local institutions to see what welding classes they offer- it might be better to get an idea of what’s involved before investing in the equipment. Most classes start out with Oxyacetylene welding then move on to Electric Arc and later Gas-Tungsten. Anyone have other suggestions for Mari Ann?

Here are a couple links from NPR’s Science Friday / Talk of the Nation with Ira Flatow. Talk of the Nation, April 1, 2005- We’ll look at some science and technology projects for the extra-resourceful, and some surprising uses for things you probably have around your house. Guests: Philip Torrone, associate editor, Make magazine and Cy Tymony, author of Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things.