Make Zine

MAKE is a quarterly publication from O'Reilly for those who just can't stop tinkering, disassembling, re-creating, and inventing cool new uses for the technology in our lives. It's the first do-it-yourself magazine dedicated to the incorrigible and chronically incurable technology enthusiast in all of us. MAKE celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend technology any way you want.

URL: http://blog.makezine.com/

Updated: 29 weeks 1 day ago

Sugarcube sculptures

2 November 2008 - 6:20am

Brendan Jamison's sweet sugarcube sculptures via NOTCOT.

Set your clocks back it's Standard time again...

2 November 2008 - 12:00am

Set your clocks back makers it's Standard time again...

Starting in 2007, daylight time begins in the United States on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. On the second Sunday in March, clocks are set ahead one hour at 2:00 a.m. local standard time, which becomes 3:00 a.m. local daylight time. On the first Sunday in November, clocks are set back one hour at 2:00 a.m. local daylight time, which becomes 1:00 a.m. local standard time. These dates were established by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Pub. L. no. 109-58, 119 Stat 594 (2005).

Although standard time in time zones was instituted in the U.S. and Canada by the railroads in 1883, it was not established in U.S. law until the Act of March 19, 1918, sometimes called the Standard Time Act. The act also established daylight saving time, a contentious idea then. Daylight saving time was repealed in 1919, but standard time in time zones remained in law. Daylight time became a local matter. It was re-established nationally early in World War II, and was continuously observed from 9 February 1942 to 30 September 1945. After the war its use varied among states and localities. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 provided standardization in the dates of beginning and end of daylight time in the U.S. but allowed for local exemptions from its observance. The act provided that daylight time begin on the last Sunday in April and end on the last Sunday in October, with the changeover to occur at 2 a.m. local time.

During the "energy crisis" years, Congress enacted earlier starting dates for daylight time. In 1974, daylight time began on 6 January and in 1975 it began on 23 February. After those two years the starting date reverted back to the last Sunday in April. In 1986, a law was passed that shifted the starting date of daylight time to the first Sunday in April, beginning in 1987. The ending date of daylight time was not subject to such changes, and remained the last Sunday in October. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 changed both the starting and ending dates. Beginning in 2007, daylight time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November.

Pedal to a cold drink...

2 November 2008 - 12:00am

Pedal to a cold drink... via TreeHugger.

Home trainer with heat pump. In the left tub is a bottle of beer, but at the required pedaling to make the beer cool, it's likely to give up before. A good example to collect personal experience with the princip of a heat pump. Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Green | Digg this!

Austin Event: DJ/Laptop Battle

1 November 2008 - 11:30am

An interesting Austin electronic music event tonight:

Ai180: Art Institute of Austin DJ/Laptop Battle

Saturday, Nov 1, 5pm

100 Farmers Circle, Austin, TX

The Art Institute of Austin is calling all DJs and laptop musicians to come flex their skills at the inaugural Ai180. Battling through five rounds of competition, you better come prepared to show your best stuff quickly; contestants will have three minutes per round to show the crowd and the judges why they deserve a pass to the next round.

32 musicians go head-to-head, battling to win a recording session in the Art Institute's brand new recording studio designed by Grammy Award winner John Storyk.

To make the contest more interesting, each contestant will be allowed to perform with one support artist. A support artist can be a rapper, singer, or dancer, who you think will enhance your show. So whether you decide to spin vinyl with a breakdancer, or rock your laptop and MIDI controller with a soul singer, the competition is yours for the taking. Just make sure to bring your best stuff, or expect to get lost in the crowd.

Single-Wheeled Bike Trailer

1 November 2008 - 11:15am

Here's a detailed Instructable on building a single-wheeled bike trailer, very similar to the $300+, critically-acclaimed B.O.B. trailer systems, for something like $20. Aside from the coolness factor, one vs. two wheels obviously gives you a nice lowered rolling resistance.

My favorite quote from the build is the description of his hitch system (step 8). The Maker bought the B.O.B. hitch, came up with a better version, and returned the commercially-produced one back to the store!

Gear heart

1 November 2008 - 7:00am

This papercraft geared heart is so amazing - if anyone has more info about it, I'd love to hear it. The artist's site is here.

HOW TO - Make a wall clock from old hard drives

1 November 2008 - 6:50am

Nice how-to @ Instructables on how to make a wall clock from old hard drives.

Color "E-paper"

1 November 2008 - 6:30am

@ Technology Review Color "E-paper" from Freestyle audio and Qualcomm...

A waterproof MP3 player built for bright beach days is the first device with a color "e-paper" display, meaning it has no backlighting and thus can be read in direct sunlight. The display, from Qualcomm, consists of two layers of a reflective material. Some wavelengths of light bounce off the first layer; some pass through and bounce off the second. Interference between the two beams creates the color, and electrostatic forces control the distance between the layers. We've tinkered around with MAKE on e-ink but we're so graphics rich it's always been a challenge to do more than text, I'm looking forward to color "e-paper"... Read more | Permalink | Comments | Read more articles in Gadgets | Digg this!

Skippy racer

1 November 2008 - 12:00am

Gorgeous scooter called the "Skippy racer" via Kottke...

LED Costume

31 October 2008 - 4:00pm

I give you my pick for geekiest costume I've seen this year: a giant LED costume. Yes, I agree with you that it should have real LEDs on the inside:)

Meet T.W.E.R.P.

31 October 2008 - 3:00pm

From the Make: Flickr Pool comes the T.W.E.R.P., a ThingamaKIT housed in a 10" Mad*L vinyl toy.

Things I've Made

More:

Best of Maker Faire - Maker Shed round up...

31 October 2008 - 2:21pm

Here's a round up of all the items that have a discount which are part of our "Best of Maker Faire - Maker Shed" sale... A lot of folks who weren't in the Austin, TX area last week for Maker Faire Austin 2008 and wanted some of the deals we had at the Maker Shed Store, so - we put the most popular items out here with a nice discount or free shipping depending on what you order... Click read more below to get the big ole' list...

Spooky (and free) audio effects

31 October 2008 - 2:00pm

CDM points out this free Halloween themed effect for VST/AU compatible audio software. You can download the plugin from Solid State Logic's site (free reg required). Nice to see the neighbors aren't the only ones giving out free treats.

It's basically a pitch-shift + vibrato + wind noise + eco/reverb combo ... which means it's fun -
helpme.mp3

helpme.mp3

Steam Powered reaching pressure

31 October 2008 - 1:00pm

I'm here in Sunnyvale, CA to cover Steam Powered, the first dedicated steampunk convention. Set-up is now underway. The local San Jose freebie, Metro, ran a nice cover piece on the event and steampunk 101. That's Abney Park on the cover. The article emphasized the maker aspects of the genre and the non-serious roleplaying involved. I.e. it's fun to make beautifully-crafted, ornamented retro-futuristic gadgets and to pretend they came from some parallel universe that mashes up appealing aspects of past, present, and future.

Some things I'm looking forward to at the convention are Chris Garcia's talk on the replica of Charles Babbage's Difference Engine, currently on display at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, presentations from the Weta Workshop folks (see their Moon Hater Death Ray below), learning more about Airship Ventures, and of course, seeing Abney Park perform on Saturday night at the San Jose Civic Auditorium (tickets for this show are still available). Also, MAKE pal and frequent blog-subject Jake von Slatt is delivering the keynote address at the con. Should be a fun weekend.

BTW: If you're at the convention, please look me up. I'm staying at the hotel where the convention is happening (The Domain).

Wired has a piece, Ray-Gun Maestro Zaps Steampunk Convention, on Greg Broadmore of Weta Workshop and his participation at Steam Powered.

More:

Steam Powered - California Steampunk Convention

Water drawing + ink

31 October 2008 - 1:00pm

Here's an method for drawing/painting with water, then quickly rendering your image visible by adding ink - similar to some watercolor techniques. [via Neatorama]

Carving a 900lb pumpkin

31 October 2008 - 12:40pm

Famed Pumpkin Carver Patrick Moser shows the world how to carve the Huge Alantic Giant at Pumpkinville, 2007, with Susan Warren of the Wall Street Journal...

Barrowbench

31 October 2008 - 12:00pm

Here's an easy mod for all you folks who need to move around your heavy benches: the barrowbench by Rogier Martens, via Core77.

Happy Halloween from Make: television

31 October 2008 - 11:30am

Happy Halloween from Make: television.

Escaped rhino drill

31 October 2008 - 11:00am

The best part about this video of an "escaped rhino drill" at a Japanese zoo is the fact that they had to construct that rhino costume entirely for the sole purpose of performing escaped-rhino drills. Via BB.