Darth Vader, Sans Cape and Helmet, Looks Like a Leather Gimp Slave From the Local Goth Club
What’s this? A beat-up old Star Wars toy Why is it cool? It’s the large-size model (15″), not as common as the small figurines, and because of missing pieces it looks more like C3P0’s dad than Luke’s. What’s the story? In 1977, people had…
17 Photos From Caine’s Arcade, his Cardboard Games and his $150,000 Cardboard Check
What is this? A genius-level DIY game arcade that will make you start hoarding cardboard boxes Who made it? Nine year old Caine Monroy from East LA Awesome element: The brilliance of the Fun Pass — a representation of a child’s game-play dreams, and a shrewd business…
DIY Motorized Router Table Lift Mechanism and Two Other Innovative Router Tables
A router is a versatile and useful tool, although a pretty crazy one too. It’s a compact, high-powered motor that holds a narrow cylindrical blade (“bit”), spinning at ultra-high speeds with massive force. Routers are used for ornamental design work (look at the recessed…
Six of the Geekiest RC Quadrotor and Flying Designs: “Back to the Future” Flying DeLorean, X-Wing Fighter, and More
RC quadrotors (or quadcopters) have so much awesome potential because they are basically stable, powerful floating platforms, capable of a variety flight-enabled projects. You can mount a camera on one to capture amazing aerial video, or create a menacing autonomous surveillance system. Or —…
Q&A With Joey Hudy, 14 Year Old Maker of the White House Marshmallow Cannon
14 year old Joe Hudy has been having fun. From promoting science at Maker Faires to shooting marshmallows with the President at the White House, he’s the embodiment of STEM education effectively motivating a new generation about science and engineering, while showing how it…
Discovery channel casting for new show “Top Engineer”
For you engineers, tinkerers and makers with reality TV dreams — you’ve got until March 7th to submit yourself for a new Discovery show being produced by Pilgrim Studios — the company that makes Dirty Jobs, American Choppers, and Ghost Hunters (among many others)….
Eight things you can do about getting your data throttled by AT&T
Let me start by saying that right now, AT&T has customers in a sucky place, with only one decent option to fight back against their data throttling initiative. But first, a recap: In the Fall of 2011, AT&T announced that it was going to…
“Sold,” a gripping short film about the illegal sex trade, and a look at filmmaker John Irwin’s indie/DIY film technique
https://www.youtube.com/watch/v=VKk6kGKtfD4 John Irwin is a writer/director acquaintance who’s making some kickass projects. Commercial work, music video, short film — and all with impressive results. John recently showed me his short “Sold,” a very intense piece about the horrific world of human trafficking. Very well…
Build Your Own White House Science Fair Marshmallow Cannon
Earlier this month, The White House hosted their second science fair, bringing innovating kids together from around the country to show off impressive creations and contraptions. A standout moment of the event occurred when President Obama spotted a peculiar looking device, and asked its…
One Guy, Alone at Home, Creates an Incredible Solar-System Exploration Software With UDK
With the ability to accurately depict the elements of our solar system like planetary size and movement, this awesome computer program looks to bring an easy-to-grasp understanding of the heavenly bodies closest to Earth. Feeling like something from Star Trek, the interface depicts the…
Hi, I'm Mike. I’m the executive editor of Make: magazine, and host of Discovery channel’s Punkin' Chunkin' and Catch It Keep It, TV shows where I build and explain crazy machines that crush stuff, blow things up, shoot fire, all in the name of science.
I've previously worked at Wired and ReadyMade magazines, writing about how to utilize new technology in our everyday lives.
This site is where I keep a list of instructions for fun projects I've done, am working on, or draw inspiration from. I encourage everyone to get involved — get up and do something!