Synopses & Reviews
Computer hacking takes on a whole new meaning when you're going at it with a screwdriver and hammer: announcing the most wildly inventive, eco-friendly craft book on repurposing everyday objects since
Generation T. Except in this case the raw material isn't a T-shirt, but the stuff we all have lying around and have no idea what to do with, or even how to get rid of properly--your old cell phone, a broken printer, irredeemable iPod, busted digital camera, mysterious thatches of cables and wires, orphaned keyboards, and of course, those dead PCs and laptops.
Created by a Parsons design graduate who's obsessed with navigating the intersection of art and technology, here are 62 ingenious projects that are irresistibly geek-chic. An iMac Terrarium--how cool is that? A laptop Digital Photo Frame. The impressively green Scanner Compost Bin. Plus a power strip Bird Feeder, Walkman Soap Dish, My First Squiggle Bot, Qwerty Hair Tie, Flat-screen Ant Farm. Each project has complete, step-by-step instructions, is rated by difficulty--in a thorough first chapter the author covers all the tools and skills needed to take apart electronics safely--and is arranged by use, from stuff for the house, to fashion, toys, arts and crafts, items for pets, and more.
Synopsis
From an iMac terrarium to a flat-screen ant farm, this work presents 62 ingenious projects to turn old and out-dated technology into works of art. Each project has complete, step-by-step instructions.
Synopsis
Don't trash it -- Transform it!
It's irresistible geek chic: 62 projects with step-by-step instructions for repurposing old computers, cell phones, scanners, mp3 players--even that nest of useless cables and drawerful of meaningless remotes. There are fashion projects: RAM Money Clip, Capacitor Earrings. Arts and crafts projects: Mouse Pencil Sharpener. Gadget goodness: USB Destop Fan, Postindustrial Nightlight. And great toys, like My First Squiggle Bot and Mr. Resistor Man. Includes the basic tools and techniques for working with electronics and a full-color insert that shows the finished projects.
About the Author
Randy Sarafan is a new-media artist who is currently a Virtual Fellow with the cutting-edge F.A.T. (Free Art and Technology) Lab; is a top project contributor and community manager at Instructables.com, the leading user-generated how-to website; has contributed to
Make magazine; and creates projects with a unique style and an eye for fun (a breathalyzer microphone, water-gun alarm clock, USB-enabled fruit). He graduated with honors in the Design Technology program at Parsons School of Design and lives in San Francisco.
Table of Contents
Contents:Introduction
Chapter 1: Tools, Techniques, and Safety
Find out what lurks in the depths of your computer, learn how to get at it, and how to dig in safely.
Chapter 2: Projects for a Postconsumer Dwelling
Get smart with 14 projects to deck out your desk and office, live large in your living room, and geek out your kitchen with your fried electronics.
Chapter 3: Fashionable Technology
Go geek chic with 12 projects to accessorize your look--because there's so much more to style than a well-placed pocket protector.
Chapter 4: Fun-Fun-Fun-Fun-Fun-Fun!
Robots and Aliens and Lasers--oh, my. Here are 6 clever projects you can make for yourself or a friend--just for the fun of it.
Chapter 5: Arts and Crafts
Indulge your creative side with 9 projects that turn computer scraps into sculpture (and notebooks and wallets and pencil sharpeners and picture frames and ...)
Chapter 6: Making Noise
Let's get loud: From instruments to speakers to amps, here are 6 projects to help you turn up the volume.
Chapter 7: Gadget Goodness
From the practical to the prank-worthy, here are 10 projects to unleash the gadget god within.
Chapter 8: Playful Pet Projects
Feed the birds, raise an ant farm, wrangle the lizards, introduce your cat to a different sort of dead mouse and more: 5 projects for your growing menagerie.
Acknowledgments