Make (magazine)

Make
Editor-in-Chief Mark Frauenfelder
Categories Do it yourself (DIY)
Frequency Quarterly
Founder Dale Dougherty
First issue January 2005
Company O'Reilly Media
Country United States
Based in Sebastopol, California
Language English
Website makezine.com
ISSN 1556-2336

Make (or MAKE) is an American quarterly magazine published by[1] O'Reilly Media which focuses on do it yourself (DIY) and/or DIWO (Do It With Others) projects involving computers, electronics, robotics, metalworking, woodworking and other disciplines. The magazine is marketed to people who enjoy making things and features complex projects which can often be completed with cheap materials, including household items. Make magazine is considered "a central organ of the maker movement."[2]

Its first issue was released in January 2005, and, as of July 2011, 27 issues have been published. The magazine is subtitled "technology on your time" It is also available as an e-zine and Texterity digital edition on the Web, on subscription or free of charge to existing magazine subscribers. The HTML-based e-zine allows for searching and includes additional content such as videos, with freely accessible blogs, podcasts and forums also available in the website. The e-zine also allows limited sharing of articles with friends.

The magazine has photo essays on projects as well as regular columns on the world of technology and reviews of books and tools. Most volumes have a theme to which the main articles are usually related. Cory Doctorow is a regular columnist for the magazine. Lee D. Zlotoff contributes a competition in each magazine which he judges. Various leaders from the maker movement, such as Mr. Jalopy, also contribute with stories and editing. Bruce Sterling was a regular columnist for the magazine's first 18 issues. The cartoonist Roy Doty contributes regularly to the magazine.

The Primer section is a frequent feature teaching skills in areas as diverse as welding, electronics and moldmaking. Another frequent feature is the MakeShift competition, which presents a situation where someone has to confront a life-threatening situation with limited equipment.

Make's founder and publisher is O'Reilly co-founder Dale Dougherty; the editor-in-chief is blogger and journalist Mark Frauenfelder, and the director of digital media is Shawn Connally. The magazine also has an eight-strong technical advisory board, including Gareth Branwyn.

Contents

Maker Faire

The magazine launched a public annual event to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset." Called Maker Faire, the first was held April 22 – 23, 2006 at the San Mateo Fairgrounds. It included 6 exposition & workshop pavilions, a 5-acre (20,000 m2) outdoor midway, over 100 exhibiting Makers, hands-on workshops, demonstrations and DIY competitions.

In 2007 Maker Faire was held in the Bay Area on May 3 & 4 and Austin, Texas on October 20 & 21. The 2008 Maker Faires occurred May 3 & 4, at the San Mateo Fairgrounds in San Mateo, CA, and October 18 & 19, at the Travis County Expo Center in Austin, TX. The 2009 Maker Faire Bay Area was held on May 30 & 31. In 2010, there were three Maker Faires: Bay Area on May 22 & 23, Detroit on July 31 & August 1, and New York on September 25 & 26.

Makers

Makers (subtitled "All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things in Backyards, Garages, and Basements") is a spin-off hardback book. Based on the magazine section of the same name, it covers DIY projects and profiles their creators.[3]

Craft

In October 2006, a spin-off magazine, Craft, was created for art and craft activities, allowing Make to concentrate exclusively on technology and DIY projects. On 11 February 2009, e-mails were sent to Craft: subscribers explaining that due to rising production costs and shrinking ad markets, the print version of Craft: would be discontinued but would remain as an online presence. Also, all further printed content would be incorporated into Make:.[4]

Make: television

Make: television is a television show produced by Twin Cities Public Television and hosted by John Edgar Park[5] which premiered in January 2009 on PBS stations.[6] The show features projects and informational guides as well as user produced videos which can be submitted online.[7]

Make Controller Kit

MAKE Controller Kit
Developer(s) MakingThings, LLC
Stable release Firmware - Heavy20 1.6.2 / May 18, 2009
Operating system Custom Firmware
License Firmware under Apache 2.0 license
Website Website

Makezine teamed up with MakingThings, LLC, to produce the Make Controller Kit, an open source hardware solution for hobbyists and professionals to create interactive applications. It supports desktop interfaces via a variety of languages such as Max/MSP, Flash, Processing, Java, Python, Ruby, or anything that supports Open Sound Control.[8]

Possibilities includes the ability to plug in XBee modules for wireless communication capability. Xbee modules add the power of IEEE 802.15.4 network standard and Zigbee protocol to a MAKE Controller.

Hardware specifications

See also

References

External links