A lot of people find it easier to fall asleep with a dim light such as a nightlight in the room. But the down side of most nightlights is that they waste electricity because they are on all night when you really only need them to be on while you are falling asleep. So I […]
The basic construction is relatively simple, with a standard 1/2 inch copper pipe serving as the main support for lightweight tubes (barrels) that spin and emit light when they pass in front of a high intensity LED source. A cheap cordless drill — something from Harbor Freight, for example — would be the easiest way […]
About 2 months ago, after years of begging and pleading from my family, I reluctantly agreed to get another cat from the local shelter. We already have a menagerie of beasts that share our home, but for some reason they felt we needed another. I admit, I do like our new addition to the family. […]
Introduction by Dale Dougherty, founder of MAKE How do we give young people more opportunities to become makers and learn practical skills they can apply to their own creative projects? The question comes up after each Maker Faire, when I see how young people are inspired by other makers. I know they leave and want […]
I had the chance to run visuals for a unique DJ act called The Hard Sell, a collaboration of turntablists DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. The art of spinning and cutting records is usually not visible to dance club audiences. Cut and Shadow wanted to let everyone see, up close and personal, all the action […]
Carl von Linde was dead tired. The eminent engineer, considered the father of the modern refrigerator, had just returned to his home in Germany from a lecture tour that took him to, among other places, Malaysia. This being the late 19th century, the voyage had taken months. Von Linde had seen and learned much during […]
I had a dying madrone (Arbutus menziesii) in my backyard. Looking at its structure, I noticed a nice 3-pronged junction of branches a few feet above my head. I thought this would make a nice tripod base for a small side table, so with a bit of trial and error and a slice of another […]
