How to make things?
Ask MetaFilter has an excellent question (How to make things?) with some great replies – “I’m looking for books that tell general building techniques, for example, how to weld, basic wood working principles, how to fabricate things, etc. Also, websites or blogs that cover that sort of thing would be nice. Also, I’d prefer books that suggest ways to build things without a lot of tools (For example, I own a circular saw and a Jigsaw but no table saw). In short: I’m looking for things that will teach me basic building techniques from wood to metal and electronics.” Link.
I’ve always thought instant messaging was fast lightweight way to get information – often better than opening up a browser on your computer, or trying to use a phone to browse the web. So, we’re now in “beta” of a new way to get the latest from MAKE, it’s a little MAKE buddy you’ll be able to add to you buddy list on AIM/iChat. Right now you can get the latest posts, news, gadgets and events from MAKE, and have the little MAKE buddy message you when there are new posts if you choose. We’ll also add queries, for example you could type “How do I weld” and the buddy would send you a link. Here’s a screen shot of him now, once he’s ready for more testers I’ll let you know! Image – 
I think most of the online worlds will eventually swing this way – Multiverse is in beta “Make a complete Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG) or virtual world for less money and in less time than you could have dreamed possible. Participate in the game industry’s most exciting frontier. Build the features that make your game unique, leveraging the expertise of the networking and infrastructure experts who helped build the web. Deliver your vision to a built-in market of players–without having to ask a publisher’s permission or give up your intellectual property.” [
Handy tip if you want to see how TV shows on iTunes will look on your TV -before- you purchase them. Andrew writes “Unfortunatly, iTunes does not let you save the 30 second previews of music or video. While thats not really an issue with music, many people want to know how good the video looks when played on their TV or iPod. So how did I get the urls of the above videos. I used Debug iTunes Music Store.” 
One of my favorite web tech shows has a new episode – the $100 arcade cabinet is pretty good – “In this episode of Hak.5 Wess finishes up his sub-$100 mini arcade cabinet, Darren talks streaming audio and video, Jon dives into AJAX, and Harrison plays with metasploit. Plus the Microshaft Jackhammer 5160, special guest star Frank Linhares, guest intro by Mike Lazazzera, music by Ashley Witt, and a not-so-friendly server.” 
My favorite collective intelligence destination for finding lots of Maker projects is going to expand in to audio/video “Digg.com…a news site that some on the Web are touting as the next Slashdot, intends to branch out from tech stories and move into other news categories as well as media such as video and audio, said Digg.com CEO Jay Adelson.” I don’t think it’s the “next Slashdot”, it’s really the next Amazon – for electrons. 
Raphael writes “This simple project shows you how to make a USB powered Nokia cell phone charger. The advantage is that it weighs much less than the bulky AC adaptor, and can be used wherever you have a computer or a laptop. I use this thing all the time now!” 
