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Technology Books Media Book Reviews

Makers 135

Posted by samzenpus from the If-you-build-it dept.
James Alguire writes "Anyone who's tinkered with LEGOs, Lincoln Logs, or an Erector Set knows the thrill of turning ideas into something tangible. Even if all you've ever done is assemble IKEA furniture, you've felt the satisfaction of turning a collection of parts into a functional object with your own two hands. Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things In Garages, Basements, and Backyards by Bob Parks, and published by O'Reilly, celebrates the basic human desire to create, to nail together two things that have never been nailed together before and see what it does. While I have worked in construction, built computers from scratch and done my share of soldering, I still felt a sense of wonder after reading about the 76 projects outlined in this book." Read the rest of James's review.
Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things In Their Backyard, Basement or Garage
author Bob Parks
pages 184
publisher O'Reilly
rating 8/10
reviewer James Alguire
ISBN 0-596-10188-0
summary


Makers profiles 91 people from around the planet, from high school students to dedicated scientists who have cobbled together a remarkable array of home built devices. Some are answers specific needs, like Zach Radding's automated parts dispenser powered by a personal computer; or to further scientific discovery, like Dan Bowen and Mike Coffey's low cost high-altitude weather balloon and tracking package. Some, like Bathsheba Grossman's sculptures, printed from digital CAD files to metal, and Owen White's computer controlled laser cutter, bridge art and science. Others, including Tom Chudleigh's spherical wooden treehouses, or Matty Sallin's alarm clock, that wakes the sleeper by cooking bacon, merely fulfill some puckish desire. All the projects reveal the ingenuity, skill, foolishness, risk and passion humans are capable of in pursuit of their dreams.

Each profile identifies the "Maker", their profession, geographic location, the cost of the project being profiled, the amount of time the project took to complete and a web site where more information about the project can be found, followed by a description of the project, the process of creation, the technology used, the reasons for doing it, including pithy comments from the makers themselves. Bob Parks' writing is fresh and crisp and each vignette provides insight into how to think a little sideways about technology.

The concept for Makers grew out of the success of O'reilly's quarterly do-it-yourself (DIY) magazine, Make: Technology on Your Time. The publication provides recipes for modding, tweaking or reworking personal technology, and profiles of DIY people and their clever contraptions.

The book provides an interesting mix of cool gadgets to consider; from Douglas Repetto's motorized table that emulates the movements of a baby horse, and Kelly Dobson's voice activated blenders, that respond to their own language, to several "don't try this at home" devices like Richard Flanagan's jet engine powered go-kart (up to 60 miles per hour), Matthew Stiger's washtub Tesla coil (it shoots 7-foot sparks), or Richard Hull's homemade nuclear fusor (that's right your neighbor could be experimenting with nuclear fusion in his garage). I was surprised by the number of projects that were constructed from recycled components, many scrounged from devices on hand, purchased cheaply on eBay, or dug out of dumpsters.

Two of my favorites from the book are a machine that solves Rubik's Cubes (in about 10-minutes) built entirely from LEGOs by J.P. Brown, and probably the most poignant profile in the book, Sathya Jeganathan, a physician in India, improvised baby warmers, built using standard light bulbs for about $100 replacing expensive modern warmers costing $4000 that are difficult to maintain. Using the improvised warmers has cut infant mortality in Sathya's hospital by 50%.

Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things In Garages, Basements, and Backyards is a compact hardcover book that would be at home on any geek's coffee table. The profiles are brief but thought provoking, and the whole effect provides a new view into the serious and whimsical aspects of technology. After reading this book you will definitely look at old appliances and electronics with a different eye. Personally, I would like to have seen more step-by-step photos for many of the projects, but the included images and diagrams are high quality and give you a good impression of the gadgets. I also had problems with the text in the maker summaries, at the top of each profile. It was printed in a smaller typeface than may be comfortable for some and the light blue ink was difficult to read in some lighting situations. One of the best features is the URL listed in each profile where the reader can get even more information about the projects. If you like to tinker with technology then definitely check this book out. and if you can't get enough go to the Make Magazine's online site for even more do-it-yourself techno-hacking.

You can purchase Makers: All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things In Their Backyard, Basement or Garage from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
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  • No mention? (Score:4, Funny)

    by drewzhrodague ( 606182 ) <drew&zhrodague,net> on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:40PM (#14366004) Homepage Journal
    No mention of teledildonics, hombuilt jet engines, or hombrewing, but still looks neat nonetheless.

  • For the record (Score:5, Funny)

    by nocomment ( 239368 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:43PM (#14366021) Homepage Journal
    I get no satisfaction out of building that shitty IKEA furniture. 5 hours to of tinkering to get destroyed the first time you move...stupid desk.
    • Well, that's why we build stuff. Hopefully the more experience you get, the better it gets. Plus you can't duplicate the feeling that *you* made whatever you happen to be using at the moment.
    • Those Swedes really know how to put in almost everything you need.

      - Philip J. Fry

    • Re:For the record (Score:3, Interesting)

      by melonman ( 608440 )

      Probably a bad plan if you move every other week. But buying a new Ikea desk every 5 to 10 years is probably cheaper than buying a solid oak one every 30 years. Makes moving easier too.

      • No help on the moving front, but if you buy a solid oak desk, you can resurface it instead of replacing it, because it is still intact. When the desktop starts to get thin, you just drop another layer of oak on top and refinish it. None of this is very difficult to do well (mostly you need clamps, and a router is nice but not required) and it's a lot cheaper than constantly buying that ikea bullshit.
        • And if you do any serious amount of work on your desk, lots of IKEA stuff feels like a wobbly piece of shit. Nothing is worse than trying to scribble aggresively when you get a really good idea, and having the table wobble all over the place. I say, if you can't jump up and down on the desk without it wobbling ... then it's not worth my time. I've got a thick pine desk (much cheaper than oak), and it's quite stable. And the legs can detach from the desk surface so it's easy to move, even by myself.
          • exactly why I have a 1960's metal desk at home.
            It is rock solid.

            I am hoping to get it repainted parakeet yellow, with cherry red handles, and flames on the side.

            • You can repaint it yourself. Go to the paint store and get some auto paint rattlecans including a clear coat, and some 500 and 1000 grit sandpaper. Wet-sand every surface to be painted with 500 and then 1000. You don't need to take all the paint off, just kill all the finish. Then spray it with the paint. Lacquer is easiest, acrylic will probably last longer. Try to get 50% overlap and put it on thin enough to do several coats, 10-15 minutes apart. Remove the handles and paint them separately. The flames ar
              • I don't do one thing: Paint.

                I'll fix pipes, rewire, poor concreate, build shelves, whatever. I do not paint.

                I tried for a long time to paint well, but somethinf elludes me. It is always uneven, streaks or is thin. Somehow most of this only shows up when it dries.
                I have even painted under the guidence of people who are good at it. Aftrwords they look at the wall scratch their heads, and then repaint it.

                "...hojillion dollars"
                Are you saying that I just need to get a ho for the guy at the paint shop? cause When
                • Actually, you might be able to throw a paint guy fifty bucks or something, if you can find someone who works for a shop where they don't mind if they do side work. You should do all the prep, which is what painters hate and what they will definitely charge you for. Mask off anything that needs masking with the green 3M masking tape (easiest to remove later, and still removable after a week or two unlike the beige shit) and so on. Buy the paint and clearcoat; you'll need one or two quarts of each for coverag

        • Re:For the record (Score:4, Insightful)

          by SB5 ( 165464 ) <freebirdpat@nOspAm.hotmail.com> on Friday December 30, 2005 @03:07PM (#14366579)
          No help on the moving front, but if you buy a solid oak desk, you can resurface it instead of replacing it, because it is still intact. When the desktop starts to get thin, you just drop another layer of oak on top and refinish it. None of this is very difficult to do well (mostly you need clamps, and a router is nice but not required) and it's a lot cheaper than constantly buying that ikea bullshit.

          Will a wireless router running Linux work?
      • But the oak will look nicer, and if it is of decent quality, can be handed down from generation to generation.
        • Do you really care about the second part? I know I don't want any of my parent's furniture- waaay different tastes. Anything that lasts for more than a decade is overkill. Who knows what your life will be like in 10 years (wife, kids, bigger house, smaller house), why buy for decades when its not necessary and more expensive?
          • Wow. I don't own any furniture that's newer than 10 years old, most of it is 50 years or older.

            I've got the bed my grandmother was born in, and I'm told it was old then (no, I don't have the mattress). I've got my father's cabinet stereo from the '50s, the speakers work well as my center channel. I've got a corner cabinet my grandfather built. I've got a few older pieces that I've bought. And it all fits in perfectly in my 1920 Victorian-style house.

            If a piece of furniture isn't going to last a hundred

    • Re: For the record (Score:5, Funny)

      by it0 ( 567968 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:49PM (#14366067)
      That is a feature ;)
    • ...shitty IKEA furniture. 5 hours to of tinkering...

      It takes you 5 hours to build an IKEA furnature? I could see that if they left parts out of the box, maybe. But 5 hours just to build it? Or are you doing some custom hackjob?

  • Come on... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by RedNovember ( 887384 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:44PM (#14366027)
    If you're going to do a book review, at least title it as such!
    aka: "Book Review: Makers"

    Those of us who use RSS would like to know.

  • I wonder if... (Score:3, Funny)

    by JPamplin ( 804322 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:44PM (#14366030) Homepage
    I wonder if you have to assemble the pages into an entire book before you read it. ;-)

  • Make your own blast furnace (Score:4, Interesting)

    by NutMan ( 614868 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:45PM (#14366043)
    Here is a site [lindsaybks.com] with many books that tell you how make all kinds of fun gadgets.

  • I like working with Power Tools... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by IAAP ( 937607 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:50PM (#14366079)
    and tools: period. You know what's funny, if you're smart and like working with your hands the careers that pop up on the SIGI (sp?)an other career programs are: Surgeon, Dentist, and something else that I can't remember.

    I have a VET who says that surgeons love to work with their hands, that's why their hobbies include woodworking. Which now makes sense. Here in Atlanta, in one of the most upscale neighborhoods, is a shop that sells - you guessed it - woodworking tools and machines.

    How this applies: building stuff doesn't necessarily mean that your kid is going to be laying pipe for a living. (Considering the off-shoring issues, that may not be a bad career - just wait, there'll be a renaissance in the trades for a career) but it may lead him to develop his motor skills to become a surgeon, vet, etc....

    Accurate Spellign is purly by accident.

  • To Glue... (Score:3, Funny)

    by Tablizer ( 95088 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:51PM (#14366092) Journal
    celebrates the basic human desire to create, to nail together two things that have never been nailed together before and see what it does.

    This comes to mind in a Shatner voice: "To glue.....what.....no man.....has....glued.....before!"
           

    • Re:To Glue... (Score:5, Funny)

      by brontus3927 ( 865730 ) <<moc.liamg> <ta> <3ardrawde>> on Friday December 30, 2005 @02:11PM (#14366217) Homepage Journal
      shouldn't that be "to boldly glue what no man has glued before" ?
      • He's gettin' old, so he skips adverbs sometimes.
      • shouldn't that be "to boldly glue what no man has glued before" ?

        Must ... resist ... grammar ... !!!

        Correctly, it should be to glue boldy what no man has glued before.

        Or is splitting an infinitive just splitting hairs?

        • Re:To Glue... (Score:5, Interesting)

          by timster ( 32400 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @03:48PM (#14366856)
          The rule against splitting infinitives was invented out of whole cloth by someone who liked Latin better. There has never legitimately been any such rule in English.

          That being said, it is not advisable to pointlessly, carelessly, verbosely, and excessively, causing people to start wondering where the verb is, split an infinitive.
          • The rule against splitting infinitives was invented out of whole cloth by someone who liked Latin better. There has never legitimately been any such rule in English.

            That being said, it is not advisable to ...

            Sigh. It was supposed to be a f*ng joke. But since you asked ...

            This may be /. where ignorance of both history, tradition, and stuff found imprinted on aging and dusty remnants of dead trees are held in such contempt as to merit mod points or badge of some sort (or, perhaps more appropriately, a T-shi
            • Here I feel constrained by moderation, which has raised my words up on high as if they had some particular merit. I really only wrote the post for the joke in the last sentence (which was not actually all that funny, and I didn't even get a Funny mod).

              In response to your serious objection, though, I think there are two answers here. In a Grade 7 sense, I think we need to teach some brand of strictness and prescriptivism to create passable writers from the massive stock of naturally terrible ones. On the
    • Don't forget the Carlin Correlary:

      "Nail together two things that have never been nailed together before, and some schmuck will buy it."

      Words to make money by...

  • I was surprised by the number of projects that were constructed from recycled components, many scrounged from devices on hand, purchased cheaply on eBay, or dug out of dumpsters.

    Any faithful /. reader would know the benefits of dumpster diving [megatokyo.com]...

  • Whaaa? (Score:3, Informative)

    by big_groo ( 237634 ) <groovis.gmail@com> on Friday December 30, 2005 @01:56PM (#14366120) Homepage
    Another Slashvertisement?

    While we're at it, let's pimp the website too. http://www.makezine.com/ [makezine.com]

    • I see no link between MAKE and this book, besides the similarity of the names. Then again, "make" is a pretty common word. I think you've got your wires crossed on this one.

      • Re:Whaaa? (Score:3, Informative)

        by brontus3927 ( 865730 )
        From TFA: ".The concept for Makers grew out of the success of O'reilly's quarterly do-it-yourself (DIY) magazine, Make: Technology on Your Time."

        The book is a spinoff of the magazine published by the same publisher. Of course, when Microsoft sells a book about Windows, that could just be a coincidence too.

      • top of their page

        "James Alguire has a review of our new book Makers on Slashdot"

        emphasis mine

        you were saying? =)

  • My favorite maker is Mark Tilden (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Tilden

    Mark used to work at the University of Waterloo before they stupidly managed to lose him. Pathetic. Anyway, Mark used to build his robots entirely out of recycled parts. His work definately inspired my own efforts. For instance, he could re-program the chips in musical greeting cards and use them as processors in his robots. My favorite story has him presenting at a conference. He took one of his little robots, crumpled it up in his hands and put it on an overhead proj
  • So when do we get to meet the Maker(s)?
  • ...celebrates the basic human desire to create, to nail together two things that have never been nailed together before...

    That's what I tried telling the twins, but would they listen?

  • Humanity portrayed positively. (Score:3, Funny)

    by stimpleton ( 732392 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @02:23PM (#14366285)

    If this book is a metaphor for man striding forward, in all his/her creativeness, and glowing potential, then TV reality shows provide the lactic acid and procrastination.

  • Hey, I did that!! (Score:4, Funny)

    by El_Smack ( 267329 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @02:56PM (#14366499)
    "the basic human desire to create, to nail together two things that have never been nailed together before and see what it does."

    I put together two things that looked like they fit, sometimes refered to as "nailing", to see what would happen. What happened was a third thing running around the house that took up all my spare resources. Totally worth it though, 'cause I've made 2 more things since then.
    • This is indeed a Red Letter Day (TM). Not only have we discovered one of the few slashdotters who have had sex, we have discovered the one who has had sex more than once.

      Bask in your glory, El_Smack, for it is truly short-lived.

  • What about Patents? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by argoff ( 142580 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @03:02PM (#14366546)
    After all, the story that we've all been spoon-feed is that "noone has an incentive to invent without patents", and that "all the inventors would be dying and starving in the streets" without them? Hmmmm.
    • Good question. I don't believe in them for mom-n-pop inventions. They take too much time, cost too much money, and then you have to go to court, spending way more money, to defend them. What's more, they are vehicles of abuse, as I found out many years ago with the Cadtrak bitmap exclusive-OR patent.

      That said, my name is on a couple patents, but others did the filing for me. [Note: I'm profiled in the Makers book.]

      • patents for individules are not that expensive, or time consuming.

        While they have been abused, I would hadly call the vehicals of abuse any more that I would call a computer a vehical of abuse.

        My grandfather held many patents, and they helped him from time to time.

        Patents can hel protect an inventor against corporations.
        What needs to happen is end software watents, business model patents, and have a board thar reviews prior art clamis made by the public.

    • You might find the discussions over on http://www.mises.org/ [mises.org] to be interesting in this regard, since several of the featured writers on that site, including Murray Rothbard and Stephen Kinsella, argue persuasively that IP laws (copywrite, patent) have turned out to be actively destructive to innovation.

      One thing to note is that IP laws are relatively recent developments.
  • I made my own drums (rope tension snare drum/bass drum for "Ancient Fife and Drum" and reenacting stuff). I also sew pieces of uniforms, fix the children's torn or damaged clothing and do my own ironing. The best fitting shirt I own, I made myself.

    And I don't live in my parent's basement, am married, and get laid on a regular basis.

    Had to throw that last part to differentiate me from, ah, nevermind.
  • Mmmmm fresh baby from my Easy Bake Oven. 40 Watts of cake like goodness.

  • My take on Make (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    So far I've received 2 issues and I'm a little disappointed. The first issue was much better but the latest seesm to lack substance. Too much time is spent profiling elite "makers" in their high castles and not on cool crazy projects. I find far more interesting things online than in their magazine. At least it's easier to take a copy of Make into the can with you.
  • If it's anything like the MAKE:Blog [makezine.com], there will be 30 profiles of people who wrapped their iPods in duct tape, another 30 who crocheted little socks for their iPods, another 30 who stuck USB thumbdrives into Altoids cans, and one who actually pulled off a cool hack.

    And 40 of these profiles will be duplicated in another book called "Boingers [boingboing.net]".
    • i'm always looking to improve the MAKE blog, if you could tell me what type of stories you do like, i'll gladly seek out more of them. you can also send in stories that you'd like to share too.
      • Well, when I see the tagline "technology on your time", I'm not expecting to see postings about little crocheted socks, regardless of what you stick in them. And $USB_DEVICE in an Altoid can/matchbox car/whatever might be a decent hack the first time, but multiple followup postings hardly qualify, IMO

        It's been a while since I looked at Make:blog, mainly because of what I griped about in my OP, but I just scanned the front page, and it appears things have improved. Carry on. :-D
  • "Nail together two things that haven't been nailed together before, and some schmuck will buy it from you!"
    - George Carlin

  • Computer from scratch... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Karma Farmer ( 595141 ) on Friday December 30, 2005 @03:38PM (#14366795)
    While I have worked in construction, built computers from scratch and done my share of soldering,

    Making a computer from scratch has always sounded like fun.

    I'm assuming there are now inexpensive ways to print a multi-layer circuit board, and people no longer wire-wrap chips to a breadboard. However, I've always wondered about firmware and peripherals and compilers and operating systems and the like -- how long does it take to write the software to even get something that will boot off media?
    • Check out the guy at http://homebrewcpu.com/ [homebrewcpu.com]. He's still working on his, some 5 years and counting :). Serously though, the software side of his project wasn't the most time consuming, it would seem.
    • Slashdot ran a story about a guy who did create his computer from scratch - he spend two or three years to make a 3Mhz computer.

      As for the OS, i suspect by the time you have made your own computer it will be no problem to write the OS.
      • As for the OS, i suspect by the time you have made your own computer it will be no problem to write the OS.

        From what I've seen (friend built a Z80 based system from scratch 20 years ago) usually by the time they get the hardware working, the most they've managed is a crude command line for loading, saving, and running their hand-hacked code. Real hardware nuts seem to then go on to hack in even more sophisticated hardware, with greater capabilities-- that still only has a crude command line. Hardware guys

    • You left out the steps where you:

      • refine petroleum to make plastic for IC bodies
      • mine metal ores to make IC legs and board traces
      • grow SiO2 crystals to etch into IC dies
      • etc.

      Given that the manufacturing of a pencil is this complicated [econlib.org], the phrase "from scratch" ceases to have much meaning for anything more complex than, say, fruit salad.

      (And the Sun, birds, and bees might have a thing or two to say about that...)

  • And I quote:
    "The word LEGO® is a brand name and is very special to all of us in the LEGO Group Companies. We would sincerely like your help in keeping it special. Please always refer to our bricks as 'LEGO Bricks or Toys' and not 'LEGOS.' By doing so, you will be helping to protect and preserve a brand of which we are very proud and that stands for quality the world over. Thank you! Susan Williams, Consumer Services."
    </pethate>

  • It's a group that's united by a love of offbeat science and technology; of underdog inventors like Fuller, Farnsworth, and Tesla; and certainly of arcane facts

    I was having this same discussion with my mother about this too. Of course for some weird reason the discussion involved poison. I think she pointed out the fact that animals die from drinking antifreeze and then I pointed out that someone was poisioned with antifreeze recently in Boston. Then I also pointed out that people who are poisioned with cya

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