Powell’s 2 store in Portland: Maker heaven
Skip the crowds in the main store and instead go to Powell’s Books 2, pull up a Eames chair and geek out in the lounge with your fave tech books!
DIY Projects
Why Are We Crazy for Kits?
While we were working on our Make: Ultimate Kit Guide, we had an interesting thread of conversation on the merit of kits. Projects Editor Keith Hammond had some great, well-put points that we all agreed with. He ended up shaping his thoughts into the Welcome column of this special issue, and we wanted to share […]
IntraStand iPad Register Stand
If you run a small retail business that’s considering upgrading your customers shopping experience, check out the IntraStand iPad Register Stand from San Francisco maker Sean Spurling. It’s a wooden iPad register stand that works with your favorite iOS payment system to create a modern point of sale experience.
Ask MAKE: Hospital Availability Toggle Switch
Phil asks: “A geek friend of mine suffered a stroke last week and will be in a rehabilitation hospital for a few weeks. His room has WiFi in it. I’d like to make him a device with a single rocker switch (or slider switch) where he can indicate whether he is up for having visitors.”
“The Solar Parasite” Window Box Heater – Tiny Yellow House
This time around on Tiny Yellow House, I decided to mess around with passive solar heat so as to warm the always-cold front foyer of my home. The result: a smallish, closeable, passive solar collector that fits into a window opening. Its not rocket science (and it NEVER will be here on Tiny Yellow House) but it does work- even in January, in New England.
Sub-$100 Cardboard Hexapod Robot
Mike Estee has been laser-cutting hexapod limbs from cardboard and is making great progress on his hexapod project. As he explains:
As I’ve written about in the past, cost can be measured in many ways. For this exercise I’m primarily interested in cost of materials, cost of manufacturing, and assembly time. Design time isn’t particularly optimized here, but as we build on previous iterations, hopefully we can stay ahead of complexity. On the cold hard cash front, I think I’m doing pretty well. This little fellow consists of: $1.00 in cardboard, $54.60 in servos, and $29.95 in servo controllers.
Skype Controlled Mindstorms Car
I love the clever interface between this Mindstorms car and the web. Maker Leon from Rye, NY, built a Skype-based interface that changes the screen color based on the button clicked, and a light sensor (the second photo) detects the color change and sends a command to the car via bluetooth. To control the robot, […]