Source: Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers
In her new book Crash Test Girl: An Unlikely Experiment in Using the Scientific Method to Answer Life’s Toughest Questions, MythBuster Kari Byron presents all facets of her background as science experiments, stepping bravely through her education, relationships, career, and more, analyzing the lessons learned in each part and giving smart advice to readers based on the results.
It’s surprisingly honest, highly useful, and totally hilarious all at once.
—Mike Senese, executive editor, Make:
I FEEL LIKE I WAS BORN A “MAKER.”
As an artsy kid, I was always busy constructing something. I even lived in a giant cardboard box rocket ship in my living room for as long as my parents could tolerate it. If you know my origin story (I love that comic book expression) and how I became part of MythBusters, you know I wanted to be a model maker and get into special effects. I sought out an internship at Jamie Hyneman’s M5 Industries so I could continue my love of making. I never realized there were so many out there just like me until MythBusters really caught its stride. That was right around the time I started to hear about “makers”and Make: magazine.
Every now and then I meet a maker that really impresses me, usually with a skill set opposite of mine. Technophile mom Debra Ansell of GeekMomProjects is just that. At a past Maker Faire I coveted her Twitter-enabled LED handbag. Nothing I love more than someone who is brilliant and creative! I started to internet-stalk her so I could ask about her origin story and find out what else she has in her glowing bag of tricks.
Were you like me, a maker even as a kid?
As a child I had a lot of project ideas, but was always very frustrated by the difference in the way I would imagine them versus the way they would actually turn out. I was (still am) clumsy and not very artistic. I think that much of my interest in making things now has been driven by computers and cheap microcontrollers which allow me to execute instructions with precision, as well as the availability of CAD and tools like 3D printers and laser cutters which make it so easy to transform an idea into a concrete object. These days, if a project doesn’t turn out as I expected, I have the ability to keep tweaking the specifications until it does. It’s such a satisfying process.
I hope to copy your headband project and impress my daughter. As a cyber native she will be a natural at a programmable DIY craft like that. How did…
The post Bright Ideas: Kari Byron Interviews Debra Ansell appeared first on FeedBox.