Making Detroit

Robotics Redefined knows kids learn by taking things apart

Robotics Redefined knows kids learn by taking things apart

Crazy concept, right? Not really, just common sense. Of all the makers I’ve spoken to and interviewed in the past, most say that as children they learned through the insatiable desire to take things apart. In the current issue of MAKE, Volume 23, we profiled young Michigan maker Andrew Archer. At Maker Faire Detroit, I […]

Continue Reading

Detroit’s “Mower Gang” reclaims a velodrome

MAKE pal and tech advisory boarder, Mister Jalopy, sent us a link to this article and video about a group of volunteers, armed with mowers and weed whackers, who reclaim overgrown areas of Detroit, one gnarly piece of scrub brush at a time. Here, they work to reclaim the Dorais Velodrome bicycle track in northeast […]

Continue Reading
Citizen Commerce with Jules Pieri of Daily Grommet

Citizen Commerce with Jules Pieri of Daily Grommet

Last weekend, at Maker Faire Detroit, I had the chance to meet Jules Pieri of Daily Grommet, birthplace of the term Citizen Commerce. From the site: “If you share the belief that the products we all buy are a powerful force in defining the world, then Citizen Commerce means that each purchase is actually an […]

Continue Reading

“Lemon Battery” webcam

Alan Languirand has something called Project Lemon Battery set up at Maker Faire Detroit. It’s a solar-powered, 3G-connected webcam on a pole that takes pics every ten seconds and uploads them to a webpage. Project Lemon Battery is part of a larger initiative Alan is involved in to sell “micro real estate” in Detroit to […]

Continue Reading
Mitch Altman rocks!

Mitch Altman rocks!

I’m here at the MAKE magazine booth at Maker Faire Detroit, and across from us is the Learn to Solder area, run and manned by Mitch Altman and Jimmie Rodgers. Mitch has brought tears to my eyes with his passion and enthusiasm for teaching folks to solder. I’ve witnessed him patiently and joyfully teaching people […]

Continue Reading
Crushin’ cars in the Motor City

Crushin’ cars in the Motor City

Uh-oh, better get Maaco. The Life-Size Mousetrap mice warm up on the family minivan. The head mouse tells us that the official show schedule for the weekend will be: Sat: 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, 5:30, 7:30 Sun: 11:30, 1:30, 3:30, 4:30 Bring the family to see this! BTW: If you’re coming to the Faire, or just […]

Continue Reading