Our maker this week is Matt Richardson. Matt's a video producer, a writer, a maker of things, a technology consultant, and a student at New York University's Interactive Telecommunications Program. Matt wrote two articles for MAKE volume 32. One of them is a BeagleBone tutorial and the other one shows how to make his awesome -- I mean -- wonderful Awesome Button. Matt also co-wrote (with Shawn Wallace) a new MAKE book called Getting Started with Raspberry Pi, an introduction to the business card sized $35 Linux computer.

I spoke to Matt from his workshop in Brooklyn.

He's also working on an animated feature film about a group of DIY kids who have to rebuild civilization. Above, a gallery of screenshots of concept art for the movie (Click on the images to enlarge them.) Here's a time-lapse videothat shows how Isaiah creates his amazing artwork. Here's Isaiah's answer to a question that he didn't get to answer fully during my interview with him. My question was about DIY.org. Was he planning on making it a nonprofit organization or a for-profit company? Here is his answer:

We decided to structure DIY.org as a for-profit startup because we know that if we create a tool that boosts kids' creativity, that will be of tremendous value to parents. Rather than being a non-profit and begging wealthy donors to fund us, we aim to build a great service that parents are excited to pay for. We'll never sell information about our users to advertisers and we'll never allow advertising on the site. Membership to DIY.org will include embroidered skill patches that come in the mail once earned, and potentially a kit service as well. Using a majority of the site's features will remain free for non-members. Also, we use a very flexible Creative Commons license for all the content uploaded to the site, and our team releases much of DIY's platform as open source on a nearly weekly basis.

MAKE profiled Isaiah Saxon and his partners at Encyclopedia Pictura in MAKE volume 30. Here's a PDF of the article.

In this episode of the Make: Talk podcast I interviewed Joel Murphy. He's an artist living in Brooklyn and owns a business designing and fabricating electro-mechanical projects for artists and designers. He teaches Physical Computing at Parsons the New School for Design, and he owns Rachel’s Electronics, an online store for electronics kits and breakout boards. He's the co-creator of the Pulse Sensor, an Arduino compatible sensor that measures heart rate beats per minute. (Here's a how-to article about making a headband with the Pulse Sensor in MAKE, Volume 29).

Here's the 15th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk!

Our maker this week is Matthew Borgatti. Matthew makes so many things it's hard to even begin to describe it all: musical instruments, science fiction-themed jewelry, folded paper creations, realistic passports to hackerspaces, ceramic "brass knuckles," and on and on. This was a really great interview, and I'm sure you are going to enjoy it. Here's a terrific page of information Matthew created for listeners of this podcast.

In the show, I also talk a bit about the new issue of MAKE, Vol 30, which is available on newsstands now and by subscription. We've got a great line up of projects in this issue, including how-to's on making indestructable LED Torches, an electronic Magic 8 Box Fortune Teller, all sorts of home automation projects, and our cover story -- a very easy to make and fun to fly remote control stunt flyer.

In the show, I also talk a bit about the new issue of MAKE, Vol 30, which available on newsstands and by subscription. We've got a great line up of projects in this issue, including how to's on making indestructable LED Torches, an electronic Magic 8 Box Fortune Teller, all sorts of home automation projects, and our cover story -- a very easy to make and fun to fly remote control stunt flyer. 

to learn more about our latest issue.

Here's the 13th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk!

Our makers this week are Kate Mayfield and Gordon Bowen, owners of the biodiesel-fueled Arts Refoundry in Los Angeles. A couple of weeks ago my 9-year-old daughter Jane and I took a bronze casting workshop at Arts ReFoundry. Here's what we made:

If you don't live in LA but would like to create a bronze belt buckle, you can get a Metalcast Kit from Arts ReFoundry, which includes tools, instructions, and two wax buckle slabs that you can carve into a belt buckle. Once you are finished carving it, you just send it to ReFoundry and they will cast it in bronze and send it to you.

Also in this episode, I talk about a brand new Make event that's taking place on May 15 and 16 this year, just a few days before Maker Faire. It's called the Hardware Innovation Workshop and will be held at Xerox Parc in Palo Alto, California. There will be hands-on demos of compelling devices, products, and platforms that are shaping the future of manufacturing and the global economy. Our list of speakers includes Massimo Banzi, Co-Founder of Arduino, Ayah Bdeir, Founder of littleBits, and Carl Bass, President & CEO of Autodesk. The Hardware Innovation Workshop is being hosted by Dale Dougherty, founder and publisher of MAKE.

Here's the 12th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk!

Our maker interview this week is with Ayah Bdeir, the founder and lead engineer of littleBits, an open source library of electronic modules that snap together with magnets, making it fun and easy to build interactive electronic projects.

I met Ayah at the TED2012 conference last month, where she was awarded a TED Fellowship for littleBits. You can watch my video interview with Ayah at TED here, and you can also watch Ayah's TED presentation here.

And in this episode of Make: Talk Ayah has a big announcement: littleBits has just launched its new littleBits Community, a website where people can share their creations. I'm looking forward to seeing the different projects people make with littleBits.

Ayah and littleBits will be at Maker Faire in San Mateo, California on May 19 and 20, and she'll also be presenting at Make's first Hardware Innovation Workshop in Palo Alto, California on May 15 and 16.

Here's the 11th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I interview one of the makers featured in the magazine.

Our maker this week is Yury Gitman. Yury's a toy inventor and a product designer who teaches physical computing and toy design at Parsons The New School for Design in New York. In the current issue of MAKE, Volume 29, Yury co-wrote an article about his Pulse Sensor, a wearable heart beat sensor that he created with his colleague Joel Murphy.

Before the interview with Andy, I mention a cool project on our makeprojects.com website. It's a guide on how to harvest and use squid ink, which you can use for cooking or printing. It was written by Instrucatables.com cofounder Christy Canida.

Here's the 10th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I interview one of the makers featured in the magazine.

Our maker this week is Andy Cavatorta. Andy is a roboticist, artist, musician, and filmmaker. He was at MIT's Media Lab from 2007 to 2010. In the current issue of MAKE, Vol 29, Andy wrote an article about his collaboration with the Icelandic musician Bjork to create robotic gravity harps for her touring performance. In my interview, we talk about this project and more.

Before the interview with Andy, I mention the latest deal in MakerShed: these fun-to-make Papertronics Lunar Modules with LEDs. They're $10 for a set of 3.

Here's the 9th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I interview one of the makers featured in the magazine. Our maker interview this week is with AnnMarie Polsenberg Thomas. She's the director of the Design Laboratory at the University of St. Thomas. Prior to that AnnMarie was a faculty member at Art Center College of Design. She's one of the most playful professors I know -- she created a course called The Science of the Circus and she actually learned to juggle and perform circus stunts. She's designed underwater robots and she also is the creator of something called Squishy Circuits, which she talks about in the interview.

Before the interview with AnnMarie, I chat with Make's senior editor, Goli Mohammadi (left), about the special monkey she received in the mail this week.

PlantSmart

MAKE's Game Developer Conference Coverage

The iStand in Make: Projects

OpenYou

FitBit

Nonpolynomial Labs

Keepon Kinect Control

Boot2Gecko

Here's the 7th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I'll interview one of the makers featured in the magazine.

Our maker this week is Charles Platt. He writes the Electronics Fun and Fundamentals column in every issue of MAKE. He's also the author of the book, Make: Electronics which, in my admittedly biased opinion, is the best introductory electronics book ever written. He has a knack for clearly explaining what so many other people cannot express without using a lot of incomprehensible mumbo-jumbo.

Charles is also a science fiction author and a designer. Here's a fascinating interview with Charles about his work as the art director and graphic designer of the groundbreaking British science fiction magazine New Worlds in the 1960s and 1970s.

Charles has many talents and I am a huge fan of his.

In this episode, I also talk a bit about TED2012, which I attended this week. I was a happy to see a lot of makers on the stage, including Gregory Gage of Backyard Brains, Ayah Bdeir of littleBits, and Bre Pettis of MakerBot. Go team!

Here's are some projects Charles has written for MAKE:

Plastic Desk Set

Anti Dog-Bite Siren

Crystal Nightlight

Extreme Zap-a-Mole

Here's the 6th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I'll interview one of the makers featured in the magazine. Our maker this week is William Gurstelle. He's a contributing editor to MAKE and his books include Backyard Ballistics, Adventures from the Technology Underground, and Absinthe and Flamethrowers. In addition, Bill writes frequently on culture and technology for national magazines and blogs including The Atlantic, Wired, and Popular Science. Here's are some projects William has written for MAKE:

Two-Can Stirling Engine

Bullwhip

Double Pendulum

Super Tritone Shop Whistle

Here's the 5th episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I'll interview one of the makers featured in the magazine. Our maker this week is Carol Reiley (@robot_MD and @tinkerBelleLabs). She's a surgical roboticist at Intuitive surgical and the founder of Tinker Belle Labs. Carols's on the cover of the current issue of MAKE, Volume 29, and is the co-author of two how-to projects in this issue: Air Guitar Hero, which is a way to control video games with the electric signals from your muscles, and an easy to use electronic blood pressure monitor.

Here's the fourth episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I'll interview one of the makers featured in the magazine.

Our maker this week is Steve Lodefink. An inveterate tinkerer and "broad-spectrum hobbyist," Steve just can't say no to a cool project. At 3, he was already reverse-engineering the peanut butter and jelly sandwich: "I figured out where all of the parts were, found a good tool, and built one. I've been doing it ever since." He lives in Seattle with his wife and two sons, two cats, five tarantulas, and 24 African cichlids, and thinks that one of life's great pleasures is a really sharp aged cheddar cheese. "I'm a simple man," he says. He looks at life's debris at finkbuilt.com.

I talked to Steve about his Easy Sunburst Guitar, Atomic Ball Clock, Soda Bottle Rocket, and more.

And, at the beginning of the episode, Maker Shed Marc de Vinck describes our new Tiny Wanderer Robot Kit, an autonomous robot with a $2 microcontroller brain.

Here's the third episode of MAKE's podcast, Make: Talk! In each episode, I'll interview one of the makers featured in the magazine.

Our maker this week is Larry Cotton, a long time contributor to Make. Larry's a retired engineer and part-time math teacher who lives in New Bern, N.C., and likes to listen to, write, and play anything musical. I talked to him about his LED Paper Cutter, his Rok-Bak Chair, His Spin the Birdie rotating bird feeder, his Camp Stove Coffee Roaster, and his project in the current issue of MAKE, a sturdy, multi-position iPad stand called the iStand.

And at the beginning of the episode, Make: Online editor-in-chief Gareth Branwyn shares news of some cool things happing on the site.

We created Make: Talk to find out about the people who write the how-to articles in MAKE. As you might guess, MAKE's authors are often as interesting as the projects they build. In Make: Talk, you'll find out why they make things, how they acquire skills, where they go for inspiration, and what's on their workbenches.

Our maker this week is Bob Knetzger, MAKE's "Toy Inventor's Notebook" columnist. Bob's a designer, inventor, and the co-founder of Neotoy in Kirkland, Washington. Bob's designed hundreds of toys and games for companies like Mattel, Hasbro, Simon and Schuster, and CBS. He's designed and invented everything from cereal box toys, to educational software, to games. His creations have been seen on The Tonight Show, Good Morning America, and ABC's Nightline. See videos of Bob's collection of "groovy" mechanical sound players.

Download Make: Talk 002 as an MP3 | Subscribe to Make: Talk in iTunes | Subscribe via RSS | Download single episodes as MP3s

Here's the first episode of MAKE's new podcast, Make Talk. In each episode, I'll interview one of the makers from the pages of the magazine.

We created Make Talk because we wanted to find out about the people who write the how-to articles in MAKE. As you might guess, MAKE's makers are often as interesting as the projects they build. IN Make Talk, you'll find out why they make things, how they acquire skills, where they go for inspiration, and what's on their workbenches.

Our Maker this week is Steve Hoefer of Grathio Labs. Steve's uniquely appealing projects in MAKE include the Dizzy Robot, the Secret Knock Gumball Machine (above). He also wrote a how-to article in MAKE 29 about a device called the Tacit that allows you to feel objects at a distance. Steve is one of my favorite makers, and in this interview, you'll find out why!

Download Make Talk 001 as an MP3 | Subscribe to Make Talk in iTunes | Subscribe via RSS | Download single episodes as MP3s