Make: technology on your time

Published by Colin on 24th March 2005.

The first issue of O’Reilly’s Make magazine finally dropped through my mailbox today. Actually, Magazine is an understatement as it looks more like a paperback. O’Reilly have baptised it mook (magazine/book hybrid).

It has a Wired-meets-DIY vibe going, including essays on aerial photography with kites, hacking toy robot dogs to sniff out toxic waste, mesh networks with airport express base stations and a primer on soldering and desoldering.

I’d already seen a good part of the content at some point or other while traipsing around the web but that’s unavoidable, especially for a first issue.

All in all, I’d recommend it to anyone with even a light strain of hacker in them. People who don’t have the time to make all these things will enjoy the read nonetheless. As a bonus, the ad count is close to zero.

My only gripe is the address label glued to the front cover. I don’t know if O’Reilly or the shipping company (mine came from France) are responsible for this, but I like to keep my magazines mooks in good condition. Luckily, the good old point a hairdryer at the label and watch it curl did the trick.