Makers

Apply for an Awesome Grant!

Apply for an Awesome Grant!

That’s not an adjective in the title, “Awesome Grant” is the actual name of the grant, from the Awesome Foundation, of Cambridge, MA. Each month, they give away $1,000 to someone who wants to do something… well awesome. Here’s how they define what they’re looking for: Awesomeness is often overlooked by mainstream culture, which tends […]

Japanese POW camp radio

On today’s HacDC Blabber list, Trammell Hudson posted a link to this awesome account of British soldiers building a radio in a Japanese POW camp. Trammel writes: Since they didn’t have a local Digikey or Radioshack, everything had to be sourced from what was available. The caps were made from aluminum foil lining of tea-chests, […]

The Walnut Creek model railroad

The Walnut Creek model railroad

Now this is a train layout, 1,800 sqaure feet of it. It’s the pride and joy of the Walnut Creek Model Railroad Society, Walnut Creek, CA, who’ve been at it since 1975. I like how the piece on Wired.com opens: Before SimCity — even before Dungeons and Dragons — back when “computer” was a job […]

A PAC for geeks?

A PAC for geeks?

Introducing Syn/Ack Pac, a Political Action Committee for “SysAdmins, Tinkerers, CodeMonkeys, Makers, Technologists, Warranty Voiders, and Geeks of all types.” Why Do Geeks Need a PAC? Non-profit groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, Public Knowledge and many others do a great job evangelizing, lobbying, and litigating on our behalf. But as non profits, they’re unable […]

Datamancer’s new blog

Datamancer’s new blog

Our pal Datamancer has a new blog up. He’s hoping to keep a regular digital diary of his projects. Given all of the cool stuff he’s always working on, let’s hope he keeps it up. Above are two picks from a hobby furnace he’s building, built around the Lionel’s Lab HobbyMelter kit. (Jake von Slatt […]