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Archive: Reviews
August 6, 2008
Review - The VCO Chip Cookbook
If you're interested in building an analog synthesizer then the VCO (voltage controlled oscillator) circuit is the best place to start. Oscillators form the core of the instrument, generating basic waveforms which are then shaped and shifted by accompanying components like LFOs, VCAs, and filters and then delivered to our ears as tasty electronic audio candy.
I recently picked up a copy of synth-designer Thomas Henry's VCO Chip cookbook from SMS Electronics. The 100+ page book covers three chips - the 566, 8038, and XR-2206 function generator. The cookbook covers several recipes for attaining sine, triangle, and square waves from each chip with difficulties ranging from beginner-friendly to advanced-worthy. As a bonus, instructions for some unusual wave-shapers (rampoid, anyone?) and basic test devices are drawn out as well. Most of the plans included are intended for use with a +/-15V power supply. It's also worth mentioning that the 566 and 8038 IC's are no longer manufactured but can be purchased via ebay, and several rare/surplus electronics dealers.
I sat down and assembled one of the XR circuits on a breadboard in about an hour. Once I had things powered up and oscillating, I removed the pitch control potentiometer and replaced it with a couple force-sensing resistors which I'd been waiting to put to good use. You can see the scratchtastic results below -
It's refreshing to have a nice spiral bound manual at the workbench instead of referring to the multitude of webpages and printouts I'd begrudgingly grown used to. I found Henry's explanations and schematics easy to follow and I plan on using that XR-2206 circuit for a few upcoming projects.
Posted by Collin Cunningham |
Aug 6, 2008 01:00 PM
Electronics, Music, Reviews |
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July 31, 2008
Femisapien robot review..
Robotsrule has a giant review of the new Femisapien robot, for $99 it's look worth it for the parts, sensors and learning interface alone...
For me the posing interface is the most powerful and fun method of playing with Femisapien. As you can see in the accompanying video review, you can create a Femisapien dance or skit in literally seconds. You put her in Learning Mode and you simply move her at one of two different speeds, slow or fast. That's it. After each movement she will beep at you to tell you she's memorized the movement. Then just adding keep movements until you're done, up to 80 movements total. To finish the sequence just wait 4 seconds or tilt her head out of Learning mode. Any time you want to see the sequence just wave your hand in front of her face. It really is that simple. This brings us to her second interface mode, the Hand Gesture interface.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jul 31, 2008 09:00 AM
Reviews, Robotics |
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June 10, 2008
The Chemical History of a Candle
The latest Citzien Scientist has a great review of TThe Chemical History of a Candle Michael Faraday. Mike writes...
Michael Faraday, a man with little formal education, is regarded as one of the greatest scientists of all time. He is also considered the father of electrical engineering. During the Christmas holidays of 1860 and 1861, Faraday presented a series of six lectures before a Juvenile Auditory at the Royal Institution of Great Britain. In addition to these six lectures, this book includes an additional lecture on the element platinum.Faraday was an amazing individual who overcame many setbacks with determination and perseverance. When he was an apprenticed book binder, Faraday attended a series of lectures given by Sir Humphrey Davy and took detailed notes. He later transcribed the lectures into a note book and presented it to Sir Humphrey, who offered Faraday a job.
In addition to my admiration of the great Michael Faraday, SAS’s own Forrest M. Mims III remarked that he considered Michael Faraday “a great inspiration and personal hero.” Albert Einstein stated that he considered Isaac Newton, Michael Faraday, and James Clerk Maxwell as three of the most influential people in the history of science. This book was recommended to me by 2002 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, Dr. John B. Fenn, who is also a long standing member of the Michael Faraday fan club.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jun 10, 2008 08:00 AM
Reviews, Science |
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April 28, 2008
MAKE Interview: DIY video mixers and more with Karl Klomp
"OSD-glitcher", (Klomp, 2006, 2007)
Interview/Article by Jonah Brucker-Cohen
In the multifarious world of circuit bending outdated audio and video sampling devices, there is a strong community of artists and makers who are pushing the envelope on their designs with each new incarnation of their work. One of these impresarios is Dutch artist and maker, Karl Klomp. Klomp's work includes modded video samplers and intricately bent video descramblers and sync generators that change their visual output based on audio feeds and are completely customizable through many switches, knobs, and other sensor inputs. Make recently caught up with Klomp to discuss his approach to building these devices and to discover exactly how many custom knobs are necessary to generate the optimal bent performance.
More images and full Interview at the link below.
Read full storyPosted by Jonah Brucker-Cohen |
Apr 28, 2008 07:00 AM
Arts, Computers, Electronics, Music, Remake, Reviews, The Maker File |
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April 8, 2008
The Craftsman by Richard Sennett
Core77 has a review up of Richard Sennett's book "The Craftsman," which
is a conglomerate of case studies that explore the relationship of hand to mind, craftsmanship to Enlightenment. Herein, Sennett, a renown London-based sociologist with a zest for the human experience, argues that the most basic, fundamental ability we humans share is that of craft. When properly trained, this process functions as muscle memory, literally training the mind while working the hand. If its up to Sennett, all those hours spent learning how to throw clay pots, plane wood, and mix plaster for some toy-design/coffee-maker/mobile-phone project actually might just make you, the designer-cum-craftsman, a more enlightened person. From the computer screen to the workshop table, it's the stuff we've known for years: think, make, share, and do it again. It's what we wake up to do every morning, and what we dream about at night.
I know what's on my summer reading list...
Posted by Becky Stern |
Apr 8, 2008 07:00 PM
Reviews |
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March 31, 2008
Five hundred and seven mechanical movements
Dugg writes in -
One reader of The Automata / Automaton Blog wrote to me with an interesting question. "I'm looking for a simple mechanism to convert rotational motion to reciprocal motion along the SAME axis as the rotation, not perpendicular."I decided to investigate potential solutions in one of my favorite books on mechanisms, Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements: Embracing All Those Which Are Most Important in Dynamics, Hydraulics, Hydrostatics, Pneumatics, Steam Engines... (Astragal Press, 1995).
Answers and more here. Looks like a great book!
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Mar 31, 2008 07:00 AM
Retro, Reviews, Science |
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February 12, 2008
The Original Boys Handy Book
MAKE Flickr photo pool member Timmy writes -
First published in 1882 this timeless bestseller by one of the founders of the Boy Scouts of America is chock-full of cool projects, games and crafts for every season of the year.The Original Boys Handy Book - Link.Filled with black & white illustrations and schematics, this guide for American boys, is organized by season and is full of instructions, suggestions and advice about kites, fishing, knots, telescopes, tents, soap bubbles, animals, snowball warfare, puppets, kaleidoscopes, whirligigs, costumes, decoys--even fireworks!! The emphasis is on building things yourself, and to that end it is an extremely valuable handbook for our increasingly passive society.
*found it at barnes and noble in the clearance / limited copies section, picked it up for $9 well worth it if you ask me :)*
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Feb 12, 2008 03:30 AM
Retro, Reviews, Toolbox |
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February 11, 2008
Eyeclops: Super magnifying camera
One of my favorite makers has a review of the Eyeclops, a super magnifying camera @ the Cockeyed Science Club. This looks like a great tool for makers for all sorts of things ... Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Feb 11, 2008 07:00 AM
Imaging, Reviews, Toys and Games |
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January 20, 2008
New feature - What's new in electronics catalogs - Jameco SAFETY & SECURITY!
I think it's time for a new feature here on MAKE - our review (and yours) on electronics catalogs - as makers we all get dozens of catalogs from Jameco, Mouser, Digikey and more - so let's all comment on these "bibles" that fill our shelves and toilet tanks. We get our parts from these, we thumb through them - but does anyone actually pay attention to what they're trying to tell us? Who knows - here's the first one is the one that arrived in my mailbox today - Jameco!
The Jameco 281 - February 2008 edition (wow, 280 of these before this!). The theme is safety, there's a giant safe on the cover - safes = security folks. If you're going to order from Jameco you can choose savings or security (it's a choice of both). There are cheaper parts from no-name folks, that might be ok for a hobby project but when you're doing something else you might want to consider some name brand options, more so if you're company doesn't put up with generic brands and need some type of certifications/standards. It's like going to the pharmacy, the generics are probably ok - but who are you going to sue if things go wrong? Oh, the catalog weighs in at a nice 208 pages (zoomable photos here).
Inside the cover there is a team of tiny people that are working safely on a circuit board. The one in the middle is about to do something with that capacitor while the other is telling him what to do, the other guy is just hanging out in his yellow hat, likely a contractor. Jameco is against asterisks, they don't have them and the darts speak for themselves I think. The safe is back, they're not going to let you forget about security just yet.
Overall I think this is what I expect and want from an electronics catalog, some stock photos that end up being charming more than anything else along with some bold campaigns against symbols that usually mean bad things (the asterisk, we hate them!). Good work Jameco.
Ok, makers your turn - if you got this catalog post your comments up. Next week will likely be Mouser or Digikey. If you want to do a review hit us up on email.
More:
Jameco (10x of what's in the catalog online) - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 20, 2008 03:00 AM
Electronics, Reviews |
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Eye-Fi - Wireless SD card, might be good for Makers who use Flickr, do projects in their shops and more...
I picked up an Eye-Fi wireless SD card, it's a card with 2GB of storage and it can automatically upload your photos as you take them to your computer and/or services like Flickr. I take a lot of photos in the workshop here of electronics, projects and things for site so I figured this might be worth the $100 price. It usually takes me 10 minutes or so to take an SD card out, transfer photos and then up to 15 minutes or so to upload most of them to Flickr or just keep them on my machine. The packaging is fun, you pul a tab and box slides open, the Wi-Fi SD card has the installation software on it and in less than 5 minutes it was set up and uploading to Flickr and my computer. The software (on my Mac) talks to the card and their web site for configuring it all. I'd like to see more advanced controls for Flickr like titles, tags and disabling privacy settings - but that's all software and web updates so maybe this review will move that along. I'd like to give it an email address so I could send to people, or to blog services like Tumblr.
One of the reasons the Eye-Fi is appealing to is that in the past I've used Kodak's Wi-Fi camera as well as Nikon's but I felt trapped by the way they force you to use their services. Things have changed a bit lately but one of the things I didn't like at the time was that camera manufacturers like to force you to use their weird photo service. The Kodak Wi-Fi camera was fun but it didn't send the photos to Flickr, I needed to do a silly workaround-hack. I think with something like the Eye-Fi you'll always have more choices and as you retire out a camera the Wi-Fi ability is card based, not camera based.
This is a quick 1 hour review, I'll post more as I play around with it. Oh, at Macworld Eye-Fi announced that later this month there will be an update so it works directly with iPhoto. I don't use iPhoto but lots of people do so I'm curious how much better it will be. There are already 40,000+ photos tagged with "Eye-Fi" on Flickr now, they're mostly babies but I suppose worth checking out - Link.
More:
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Jan 20, 2008 12:08 AM
Gadgets, Reviews |
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December 21, 2007
OLPC vs Kindle
Mike @ Radar has a good review comparing the OLPC and Amazon's Kindle... different devices, but Mike as you'd expect (O'Reilly/Safari) is looking at these for reading books...
Both the Kindle and OLPC can browse the Web. However, the Kindle was designed to browse Amazon's library of content to purchase. The OLPC has a Firefox browser and it truly operates like it was meant to browse. The Kindle uses Whispernet from Amazon, which is quite impressive in its coverage. It is not painfully slow either. I have read GMail with the Kindle and checked basketball scores on NBA.com. I did a quick bit of math. If you are paying roughly $49 a month for an internet service provider, you could buy a Kindle and use Whispernet for free. After about eight months, your Kindle would have paid for itself in the savings you were shelling out for an ISP. I am not going to do this myself, but it is possible for low-volume browsing and internet useage. I am hoping the browser delivered in the Experimental section of the Kindle improves with time. I believe Amazon has a good opportunity to make this a very compelling device, even more than it already is. I do like the reading quality of the Kindle. The reading experience is excellent if you keep your thumbs off the sides. I have well-trained/controlled thumbs now. I have a Sony Reader as well and, I am sorry to say, that it just does not compete well with the Kindle's intuitiveness and readability.- OLPC and the Kindle - [via] Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Dec 21, 2007 09:00 AM
Gadgets, Reviews |
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December 19, 2007
Home Endoscope review - Digital pen camera
Dan writes -
An endoscope is a thin viewing device, suitable for being poked into places where the human eye cannot, and possibly should not, otherwise see. Since it's likely to be dark... in there, endoscopes usually have some sort of illumination device built in. The more sophisticated kinds of endoscope shoot light out of the same lens the user looks through. The common otoscope, for peering into ears, is the simplest example of that idea.Home Endoscope review - Digital pen camera - [via] Link.Endoscopes are useful for all sorts of things, but they're also usually rather expensive. Endoscopes that incorporate a camera so you can hook them up to a TV or computer are, generally speaking, more expensive again.
And then, there's this one.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Dec 19, 2007 03:00 PM
Gadgets, Imaging, Reviews |
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December 3, 2007
SketchUp book!
PC World has a review of a new SketchUp book, SketchUp is a free and popular 3D tool for designing objects, buildings and more... Phil writes -
Remember when your high school English teacher explained that every word in the sentences you write needs to carry some meaning? While the rest of us missed that point, Aidan Chopra was paying attention. Google Sketchup for Dummies is a tightly written, fun to read book that gives a lot of byte for your buck. Aidan Chopra works at Google as the product evangelist for Google SketchUp and he's the editor of the monthly SketchUpdate email newsletter. He knows SketchUp inside and out and uses plain English to show you the ropes.- Community Voices Book Review - Google SketchUp for Dummies - [via] Link.Google SketchUp is a 3D drawing program that defies easy description. It's fun, playful and at the same time very powerful.
Related:
SketchUp drawings of midibox-based MIDI controller designs - Link.
Workbench plans - made with Sketchup - Link.
Hammock made with Sketchup... - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Dec 3, 2007 03:00 AM
Reviews |
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November 28, 2007
Review - Making Things Talk: Practical Methods for Connecting Physical Objects
We Make Money Not Art has a review our our new book Making Things Talk! - Link & more @ the Maker Store.
Programming microcontrollers used to require an expensive development environment costing thousands of dollars and requiring professional electrical engineering expertise. But recent innovations, such as open-source physical computing platforms with simple i/o boards and development environments, have given hobbyists, hackers and makers new options for homebrewing video games, robots, toys, and more.
This book contains a series of projects that teach you what you need to know to get your creations talking to each other, connecting to the Web, and forming networks of smart devices. Whether you need to plug some sensors in your home to the Internet or create a device that can interact wirelessly with other creations, Making Things Talk shows you exactly what you need.
The projects in this book are powerful but inexpensive to build: the Arduino and Wiring microcontroller kits themselves cost around $40. The networking hardware covered here includes Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Zigbee, and Bluetooth, and can be had for $50 to $100. With a couple of microcontroller kits and the networking gadgets of your choice, you can make things and make them talk to each other!
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Nov 28, 2007 11:00 PM
MAKE Store, Reviews |
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October 10, 2007
National Balsa Co. - prototyping and modeling
Jordan writes -
Just wanted to send this link for anyone doing work in basswood or balsa. I have been using these guys for years, and its hard to beat the price and service. Especially great for anyone doing lasercutting.National Balsa Co. - Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Oct 10, 2007 01:00 PM
Reviews |
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September 19, 2007
The Plenitude
Paul sent in this book for us to check out, any makers out there read it yet? Post up your review or thoughts in comments. Looks pretty good, here's the review Amazon from Publishers Weekly-
The Plenitude is the word of Silicon Valley polymath Gold for the limitless stuff produced to feed our consumer-focused economy, but this small, posthumous (Gold died in 2003) book reads more like his private notebook than a business guide. That's not a bad thing: Gold, a scientist, inventor and artist who worked at times for the toy company Mattel and the legendary Xerox PARC research labs, is good company. Based on a few of his lectures, this breezy book shares thoughts on creative hats Gold has worn, such as artist and engineer, and the worldviews they impose on practitioners ( e.g., engineers like to solve problems while designers are contemptuous of artists for their detachment from the commercial)...The Plenitude: Creativity, Innovation, and Making Stuff (Simplicity: Design, Technology, Business, Life)Link.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Sep 19, 2007 11:00 AM
MAKE Playlist, Reviews |
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September 11, 2007
Geek Heaven - TechShop review
Lots of people like the stuff Guy Kawasaki writes and he's just reviewed our pals @ TechShop! -
One of the challenges that geeks, inventors, hobbyists, hackers, burners, and artists who are trying to change the world face is finding a place to do their work. Ideally, it would have lots of equipment, supplies, and other geeks. Until the last year, they would have to set up their own workshop or beg for space at a machine shop. Now they can go and hang out at TechShop in Menlo Park, California.How to Change the World: TechShop: Geek Heaven, thanks Kevin! - Link.Jim Newton founded TechShop in the summer of 2006 because he needed a world-class workshop so he could work on his projects and inventions. After having access to full machine shops at both the College of San Mateo when he taught a BattleBots class and at the studio set of the Discovery Channel's MythBusters show when he was the science advisor, he found himself without a place to work on his projects after these positions. He was surprised to find that there were not any places like TechShop already, so he decided that he would open one himself.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Sep 11, 2007 05:00 PM
MAKE Playlist, Reviews |
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August 30, 2007
Wholly Irresponsible Experiments
David sent around this book Wholly Irresponsible Experiments to our team, I haven't heard of this book (has anyone else?) - Here's a review of it by Ian @ the Fortean Times -
Science can be looked at in two ways, I suppose: as a selfless quest for knowledge in the service of human progress; or as a really good excuse to blow shit up. This book sits firmly in the second camp, and as I make a living organising this kind of stuff for public audiences at one of the UK's hands-on science centres, it was inevitable that Wholly Irresponsible Experiments would land in my in-tray.Wholly Irresponsible Experiments | Books | Reviews | Fortean Times UK - Link.So, is it any good, then? Well, yes, but not actually wholly irresponsible. It comes with instructions that tell you to put the match out after lighting a candle and does not employ anything more esoteric than household ingredients. It does not feature anything with a blast radius, or the potential to be structurally damaging or a gross violation of health and safety law.
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Aug 30, 2007 05:00 AM
Reviews, Science |
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August 27, 2007
Kondo GENEX Suit kit review
MAKE pal I-Wei Huang has fallen big-time for mini-humanoid robots. We can only hope he won't give up his steam obsession in the process. For ROBOTS-DREAMS, I-Wei has written an in-depth review of the A-621 GENEX Suit kit, a Polycarbonate skin/"body armor" for the Kondo KHR-2HV. Ever the kit basher, I-Wei added LED eyes to his bot by busting into a two-bulb LED keychain flashlight he had.
PS: And is it just me or are those cotter pin nipples a tad... kinky?
Kondo GENEX Robot Suit Review by CrabFu - Link
Posted by Gareth Branwyn |
Aug 27, 2007 04:00 PM
Reviews, Robotics, Toys and Games |
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August 21, 2007
EMS Labs' review of Forbidden LEGO
Windell of Evil Mad Scientist Labs got a copy of the new No Starch Press title "Forbidden LEGO." He explains the idea behind the book:
Forbidden Lego is written by a pair of Lego master builders, who used to work in designing advanced Lego sets (e.g., Mindstorms). While they obviously got to work on lots of cool things while they were there, there were certain projects that just turned out not to be suitable to be made into kits released by the Lego company. They wrote the book to give some kind of a tantalizing hint at the kinds of things that go on behind the scenes at Lego, and the kinds of neat things that might get released in a world without product liability suits.
To try out the projects in the book, he built the "High Velocity Automatic Lego Plate Dispenser," seen in the above video. He built it within a few hours of getting the book in the mail. His verdict on the book? "Yes, you want a copy."
Book Review (and build!): Forbidden Lego - Link
Posted by Gareth Branwyn |
Aug 21, 2007 08:00 PM
DIY Projects, LEGO, Reviews, Toys and Games |
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Phillip Torrone
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