What If I Had Bought Bitcoins Instead of Backing Kickstarters?
Bitcoin is red hot right now. Like everyone, I’m full of silly regret for not having put all my savings into it when it was super new and dirt cheap — even a small investment at the start would be worth a fortune now. Instead,…
Celebrate this Weekend’s Curiosity Mars Landing with a Peek At Mechanix Illustrated’s 1975 Profile of the Viking Mars Landers
One of my favorite magazines to skim through at vintage bookstores is Mechanix Illustrated — a now-defunct Popular Science/Mechanics-style periodical that oozes with charming nostalgia. On a recent store visit, a headline about the Mars Lander caught my eye, as I’ve recently been monitoring…
Westwood Village – The Mos Eisley of the 1940s?
Domes, towers and spires – something felt familiar about the above photo of Westwood, circa 1940. And then it hit me: Mos Eisley, the wild spaceport that hides some of the biggest scourges in the galaxy. Twin cities, separated at birth.
Five Years Ago: The Dramatic and Devastating Oakland Freeway Tanker Fire And Collapse
Hard to believe that it’s been half a decade since the early-morning tanker crash and ensuing fire on the Macarthur freeway exchange in Oakland. The devastation was fast and intense — the entire overpass melted into a Dali-esque mess of withered steel and draping…
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…
Succulent Planter Made From A Wooden Carpenter’s Toolbox
I’ve had a countertop of succulents that needed a permanent home for some time now, and had been hoping to put them in a wooden box with rustic charm. Last weekend I stopped at my local Orchard Supply for supplies and saw a cheap…
With Respect to The Terrifying, Truck-Throwing Texas Tornado, Here’s a Video of a Moving Train Being Toppled By a Twister
Earlier this week a batch of giant tornados criss-crossed the Dallas-Ft. Worth region, making news for the startling footage of 30,000 pound big rig trailers getting flung through the air like pieces of paper. Shocking photos and images, and a reminder of how intense…
Want to See a Half-Mile High Dust Devil on Mars?
Interesting video on Weather Channel’s website that shows an aerial image of a 1/2 mile tall, 100 foot wide dust devil sweeping the sandy martian plains. The resolution of the satellite image is pretty amazing, and allows researchers the ability to calculate the twister’s…
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!