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Make-it-yourself

Ok, I'm going to get a little geeky here. I have a deep dark side that wants to come out every once in awhile. That side is the geek in me.

A couple years ago I was introduced to a new magazine that was like a breath of fresh air to a drowning man. This new magazine, MAKE:, fills a void left when Popular Electronics, Radio Electronics (later to become Electronics Now) and finally, 73 Magazine, folded and ceased production. It seemed like the newer generations weren't really interested in experimenting and making things themselves so those magazines that catered to that crowd, no longer had a big enough audience to stay afloat.

MAKE: is all of those magazines plus a little of Popular Science all rolled into one. It has it all! I guess if I had to try to sum it all up into one sentence, I would have to point people to the slogan found on their website:

"Void your warranty, violate a user agreement, fry a circuit, blow a fuse, poke an eye out. Make: The risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things... Welcome to Make: Online!"

Thanks to the good people over at Idea Propulsion Lab for turning me on to this great resource.

Enjoy!

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Comment by Muskrat Sam Donaldson on June 21, 2009 at 4:51pm: I'll have to check this out; still have fond memories of going to the Heathkit store, now a thing of the past.

It seems like there are fewer and fewer science-kit type toys; chemistry sets, breadboards etc on the shelves nowadays.

Sad. All young people should know the joy of watching their pencil-and-bell wire motor spinning up on the first try!

Comment by Kenny on June 21, 2009 at 9:17pm: Heathkits. I never did build one of those. But I do remember the very first crystal radio that I built and actually got working. I was about nine years old and I had done several things wrong and it took me days to fix all my little mistakes. Then, one morning on the kitchen table before anyone else was up, I finally fixed the last problem and I started to hear music coming through the little earphone! Wow, what a thrill!