Make: The Best Of – 75 Projects
from the pages of MAKE
Reviewed by Robert Pritchett
Introduction
After two years, MAKE has become
one of most celebrated new magazines to hit the newsstands, and certainly one
of the hottest reads. If you're just catching on to the MAKE phenomenon and
wonder what you've missed, this book contains the best DIY projects from the
magazine's first ten volumes -- a surefire collection of fun and challenging
activities going back to MAKE's launch in early 2005.
What I Learned
This is pretty much MAKE in book form. Okay, best of MAKE. I
liked Phillip Torrone and Simon Hill's "Maker's Bill of Rights"
regarding what should be serviceable and what should be available for
Do-It-Yourselfers instead of the trend of assembly replacements instead of
component replacements.
There are nine chapters on tooling up, electronics,
microcontrollers, toys and games. Robotics music, flight and projectiles,
photography and video and ending with cars and engines.
I particularly enjoyed the info on solar engines used to
make bot-types roll , jump, crawl, swim, fly, etc. One thing that struck me
were the items for Mac-ophiles – a MacsWagen for using a Mac Mini onboard
a VW and hardwiring iPods to get quality music out of iPodding stereo
equipment. There is also a section on creating Frankenmice – those little
reincarnated self-propelled computermice gone wild that could drive cats crazy.
Now we know what to do with mice that go bad – turn them into electro-gadgets!
But there also is a section on making biofuel that actually
is well-written and does a great k job summarizing what can be found in the
"Biodiesel Basics and Beyond" book reviewed in this issue of macCompanion magazine.
Conclusion
If you never subscribed to MAKE magazine, here is an
opportunity to get a "MacGyver " book and see what you've been
missing.
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