The Science Channel here in the states runs a BBC show called “Rough Science” where they throw people on an island and have them complete tasks like building an AM Radio, a Camera, insect repellent as well as figuring out their coordinates, all using stuff they find on the island, mathematics and science. It reminds me of our MakeShift section of the Magazine, which has received some amazing responses so far! Keep them coming!

Amazon’s MAKE Magazine listing now includes a 5 minute sample of Make:Audio, our upcoming audio series. In this snippit Tim O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty talk about MAKE past, present and future. A little heads up, it’s a Real audio file, so if that isn’t your thing the full 32 minute interview will be posted here in MP3/OGG goodness on MakeZine.com in about a week as we kick off our Make:Audio series! Interview recored on an 3G iPod running Linux (Podzilla).

I’m on my way to Etech now. the Make team will be posting throughout the conference in addition to the usual Make stuff. Check back here for updates as well our Flickr group pool. Also, Be sure to check out the ongoing coverage here.Update: Go see the AttentionStream for almost realtime photos, posts and more.

Owen has put together a pretty amazing computer controlled sheet metal cutting system. The metal is cut using a 100 watt C02 laser, it took him two years to build. He’s only had it up and running for one week, this weekend was the first time he started making parts.

Via del.icio.us– Here’s a neat article about making a magnetic spice rack using a sheet of metal, magnets and watchmaker cases. I really like this since you can see the spices inside the cases and arrange them in all sorts of neat ways or even via recipes. I think I might make one for all the little screws, nuts and bolts I have and mount it to a huge wall, possibly adding a white board between the metal. Article here, photo here.

I hope to get to NYC to check this out, it looks amazing! Many of the geared, motor driven exhibits are so big, they needed to be housed in the Sculpture garden. Ãœberorgan, created from multiple bus-size biomorphic balloons, each with its horns tuned to a different note in an octave, is a gargantuan self-playing organ. Its musical score consists of a 200-foot-long scroll of dots and dashes encoding old hymns, pop classics, and improvisational ditties. Tim Hawkinson explains: “The score is deciphered by the organ’s brain- a bank of light-sensitive switches- and then reinterpreted by a series of switches and relays that translate the original patterns into nonrepeating variations of the score.”.

Here’s a neat site- it’s an ongoing journal on building an independent movie theater in Springfield, MO. In Seattle we have few, and I’ve seen tons of great movies, but I know many places only have the big Cineplexes and nothing else. If you’ve ever wondered would it would take to start a theater, this is an interesting read.