Spotlight on Michigan Inventors

Neat article in today's Free Press that gives notice to some inventors from Michigan that are some of the subjects in a book about inventors. The book Makers : All Kinds of People Making Amazing Things In Their Backyard, Basement or Garage has a handful of Michigan inventors featured within it's pages. A solar-powered scooter and bagpipes made from PVC and some upholstery are just a couple of the inventions from Michigan. There is a blog published by the same folks as the above book and if you like to tinker and create this is one you should not pass by. I subscribe to the feed and have bookmarked tons of fun projects. Check it out here www.makezine.com/blog

MAKE Magazine: The First Year : 4 Volume Collector's Set is the magazine also published by the same folks. The link points to the first four volume set. It is a quarterly publication that is loaded with do-it-yourself projects ranging from how to use a kite for aerial photography to decoding the magnetic strip on your credit card to see what information the credit card companies are keeping track of.

I could have used DIY information like that when I was a kid. I can't even tell you the number of electronic toys and games I ruined. I was forever taking stuff apart to see how it worked and what I could make out of it. After my little sister stole some money out of my bank I contstructed a homemade burglar alarm from a toy police bullhorn that emitted a siren when the door opened. Oh the many more things I could have done if only my folks would have let me have a soldering iron. ;)