DIY Life

The annual Maker Faire in the Bay Area wrapped up this past weekend, and I thought it only appropriate to mention the explosion of DIY'ers and "makers" there are out there. According to the official site, there were over 500 makers and over 65,000 attendees-- both are records for the event. I heard a few people say there were backups on the highways because of the crush of geeky, crafty, clever builders from all over.

There certainly was an impressive showing of talent, no question. From giant flaming sculptures to tiny pipecleaner robots, Maker Faire appeals to a wide range of interests. Perhaps the best aspect of the event is that it is accessible to almost anyone with a project they have built themselves. Unlike stuffy old conferences (or even glitzy ones, like E3 used to be), Maker Faire is a very hands-on, festival atmosphere.

If you want to see more, there are the flickr pics tagged with "maker faire 2008" plus read Guy Kawasaki's post. He describes it well, I think, saying "Macworld Expo meets Burning Man meets MythBusters meets Woodstock." Who wouldn't like that? More coverage from Suicide Bots, Daily DIY and BoingBoing.

Next week I'll be interviewing Bug Labs, who attended Maker Faire. If you have any questions for Bug, leave them in the comments.