Book Review - The Best of MAKE
Category Book Review
I have enjoyed O'Reilly's MAKE magazine a lot, so when you get a full-length book of 75 of the "best" projects, it's worth reading. In The Best of MAKE by Mark Frauenfelder and Gareth Branwyn, you'll find a wide swath of projects and tips that are not only fun to work on, but that have practical purposes. And not all of them involve soldering irons and electronics...
Contents:
Tools; Electronics; Microcontrollers; Toys & Games; Robots; Music; Flight & Projectiles; Photography & Video; Cars & Engines; Index
Chapter 1 - Tools - preps you for what you'll need to get started on DIY projects, such as breadboards, needlenose pliers, lots and lots of wire, etc. Even in this chapter, there are projects you can do, such as planning your own toolbench using Google's SketchUp software, making driver bits to unscrew "tamper-proof" fasteners, and what emergency items you might want to have on a keychain. I really liked the list of items you should include on a USB thumbdrive that you carry around with you. I have a "must do" project right there. The following chapters divide up the projects based on general topic. For instance, Electronics has you making LED "throwies", low-powered LED lamps, adding a rumble-pack to your mouse, and interfacing your digital clock radio to a gaming system gun. Imagine shooting your alarm clock each morning to turn it off... :)
One of my favorite projects did not even require any real tools. The author of this particular project showed how you can use "urban camouflage" to make your car or truck appear to be a corporate fleet vehicle. With some strategically placed numbers, letters, and colored tape, your plain while SUV can become an official motor vehicle that appears to have some level of importance and can cause others to not question its presence. Not a bad ruse if you're needing to stop somewhere for 10 minutes, and the only option is the official "loading zone". Of course, I'm sure you'll never use this information to do anything illegal or wrong, either... :)
If you're at all into off-beat hacks, strange contraptions, and unusual conversation pieces, you'll find plenty to consider in The Best of MAKE. If you're already adept with electronics and soldering irons, there's not much in there that you won't be able to do. And if this is your first foray into that world, you can afford to make plenty of mistakes, as most of the projects use cast-off items you can find in your local junk yard or thrift shop. Either way, you'll have fun and learn a few things in the process.
I have enjoyed O'Reilly's MAKE magazine a lot, so when you get a full-length book of 75 of the "best" projects, it's worth reading. In The Best of MAKE by Mark Frauenfelder and Gareth Branwyn, you'll find a wide swath of projects and tips that are not only fun to work on, but that have practical purposes. And not all of them involve soldering irons and electronics...
Contents:
Tools; Electronics; Microcontrollers; Toys & Games; Robots; Music; Flight & Projectiles; Photography & Video; Cars & Engines; Index
Chapter 1 - Tools - preps you for what you'll need to get started on DIY projects, such as breadboards, needlenose pliers, lots and lots of wire, etc. Even in this chapter, there are projects you can do, such as planning your own toolbench using Google's SketchUp software, making driver bits to unscrew "tamper-proof" fasteners, and what emergency items you might want to have on a keychain. I really liked the list of items you should include on a USB thumbdrive that you carry around with you. I have a "must do" project right there. The following chapters divide up the projects based on general topic. For instance, Electronics has you making LED "throwies", low-powered LED lamps, adding a rumble-pack to your mouse, and interfacing your digital clock radio to a gaming system gun. Imagine shooting your alarm clock each morning to turn it off... :)
One of my favorite projects did not even require any real tools. The author of this particular project showed how you can use "urban camouflage" to make your car or truck appear to be a corporate fleet vehicle. With some strategically placed numbers, letters, and colored tape, your plain while SUV can become an official motor vehicle that appears to have some level of importance and can cause others to not question its presence. Not a bad ruse if you're needing to stop somewhere for 10 minutes, and the only option is the official "loading zone". Of course, I'm sure you'll never use this information to do anything illegal or wrong, either... :)
If you're at all into off-beat hacks, strange contraptions, and unusual conversation pieces, you'll find plenty to consider in The Best of MAKE. If you're already adept with electronics and soldering irons, there's not much in there that you won't be able to do. And if this is your first foray into that world, you can afford to make plenty of mistakes, as most of the projects use cast-off items you can find in your local junk yard or thrift shop. Either way, you'll have fun and learn a few things in the process.
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