“We’re looking for anyone who has something fun to share, something they’ve made with their hands,” said Dale Dougherty, Publisher & Editor of Make magazine. “It can be practical or impractical—it could be something simple like a creative Halloween costume or maybe some handmade jewelry. Or it could be something wild like a bike with ten wheels, or a dog-powered lawn mower. Whatever it is, the more creative and imaginative, the better!”...

Soon, you too could be like these dudesDabblers in diabolical death-ray design and general gadget geeks will soon have another outlet—as though Maker Faire and Dorkbot weren't enough—to satiate their craving for homemade mechanical wizardry. Hailed as a "paradise for tech tinkerers" and created by one of the brains behind MythBusters, TechShop launched in the Silicon Valley a little over a year ago, and now has plans to open a franchise in Austin. The open-access......

Photos from last weekend's Maker Faire at the TCMS Expo Center. Photos by Romain Nayalkar and Aaron Haley. If you can't view the Flash slideshow above, an alternate version appears after the jump.......

Folks heading out to Maker Faire this weekend know to expect robots, catapults, art cars, and other manly machines, but you might not be aware that there're also some pretty things to be found at the faire. We scoped out Liza Eyster's recycled line of jewelry, and liked what we saw. With designs ranging from delicate to chunky, each of her pieces is made of at least 30% recycled materials, including beads, chain segments, findings,......

We’re absolute fiends for Halloween, though we'll admit that sometimes we go a little overboard. Last year our porch was so scary that several elementary-aged trick-or-treaters refused, absolutely refused, to step foot on it, sending their parents up to nab their candy. Something about the creeping tentacles and clouds of fog unnerved the wee ones. That was before they saw the giant 14-foot spider hanging in the carport. Good times. Naturally, one of the things......

Here's your chance! In conjunction with Maker Faire, HEYA (Toyota's collaborative youth program) is hosting an interactive art car build with Harrod Blank, art-car artist extraordinaire. Blank is the dude behind the Camera Van, which will be cruising through central Austin tomorrow—so get out your, uh, cameras. The build will run throughout the weekend, and anyone attending Maker Faire can participate. The goal is to transform a Toyota Matrix into a "music-themed piece of art......

Not sure what to do with that broken-down pile of pink plastic and purple wheels that little Kaitlyn hasn't played with for years? Why, turn it into a robot! Equal parts junked-out Barbie Jammin' Jeep and cleverly programmed electronic components, robot makers use more than a little artistry plus some innovative engineering—not to mention plenty of determination and elbow grease—to create some zippy, sizable bots. This weekend at Maker Faire, ACC, Robot Group, Capitol......

Among the fun to be had at the upcoming Maker Faire is the King of Fling Contest which you, dear reader, can enter today! What, praytell, is a King of Fling contest? Why, it's a little competition wherein participants vie to be dubbed "the Earl of Hurl, the Count of Catapults, or the Baroness of Ballistas" for creating the hurling machine that most accurately smashes a Bozo Bop Bag with a water balloon. Or a......

You may not have noticed, but Maker Faire is just around the corner—less than two weeks away on October 20-21. Among all of the homemade, groovylicious goods, we’re especially excited about the Zimbabwean-style Rattletree Marimba band—playing their gigantic instruments, which are hand-crafted by a band member. We first saw the group while hauling our sweaty, sticky selves home from ACL. Right there on Barton Springs Road, Rattletree was infusing the Heineken-sponsored, AT&T corporate-ness of ACL......

One of the big components of next month's Maker Faire Austin festival is the Swap-O-Rama-Rama, an enormous clothing swap and DIY workshop series. Through the recycling and repurposing of used clothing, Swap-O-Rama-Rama seeks to explore the benefits of community reuse and creativity. During the festival, you'll be able to bring your own bag of unwanted clothing to be added to the collective pile; in turn, you're invited to take away as much as you'd like.......

In less than two days, we'll be hosting our big annual pre-ACL party, Local Music is Sexy IV, Thursday night's soiree will feature Austinites The Lemurs, The Corto Maltese, and Brazos on the outside main stage, with DJs Car Stereo (Wars), Ceeplus Bad Knives*, and Markus with a K supplying dance-party jams inside alongside Magic Surprise. We're also thrilled to be bringing in Seattle indie rockers Say Hi To Your Mom* as our headliners. What's......

On the eve of ACL Fest, we're gonna turn off our laptops, put on our drinking shoes, and head over to the Mohawk, because Austinist is hosting Local Music is Sexy IV. An annual tradition since its inception in 2005 (back when the 'hawk was the Velvet Spade, and folks were still arguing over the smoking ban), Local Music is Sexy showcases a bunch of promising young Austin bands and DJs that we're most excited......

ACL Previews Interview: Ghostland Observatory Previews: The Broken West, Big Sam’s Funky Nation & Rose Hill Drive Previews: Billy Joe Shaver and Fionn Regan Previews: Brandon Rhyder and Ocote Soul Sounds Interview: The Broken West Previews: Sylvia St. James, Jeffrey Steele, and Amy Cook Interview: Bloc Party ACL Fest Updates: Google Mashup, Contests, Eco-Chic Previews: Augustana, Amos Lee Interview: Peter, Bjorn, and John ACL Band Clash, Round 3: Wilco Vs My Morning Jacket Travis......

If you missed out on the initial deadline to participate in this year's inaugural Maker Faire Austin festival, you're in luck! The event organizers have set a new deadline of Thursday, September 6, thereby affording you a comfortable two and a half weeks to come up with your very own zany creation. For an idea of what to expect, the MAKE blog highlights some of the inventions recently previewed at Austin Children's Museum, including hyperbolic......

ACL Previews Austinist Launches Dedicated ACL Page! Preview: Manchester Orchestra and Patterson Hood Preview: Ian Ball and the Little Ones Interview: Paolo Nutini ACL Band Clash, Round 2: The Killers Vs. Björk Weekly Features Tales Of Mere Existence Hots On #9: Sound Off New Release Tuesday: Frisell's Floratone The Argyle Academy New Movie Releases: The Invasion, Superbad, Death at a Funeral, and More Truesday: Friesday The Laurie Show News, Features, and More Travis County......

Maker Faire, the annual Bay Area festival that revels in Do-It-Yourself (DIY) ingenuity, is expanding to Austin this year. The two-day, family-friendly event will showcase some of the coolest shit—arts, crafts, wickedly geeky science projects—you've never seen in your life; think Dorkbot but hulked out. What else would you expect from a festival organized by the staffs of Make and Craft magazines? If you're a "Maker" and are interested in showing off your zany (or......

A tribute to all things DIY and zany robotic wizardry, the second annual Maker Faire was held last weekend in San Mateo, California. Drawing a crowd numbering in the tens of thousands, the MAKE magazine-sponsored festival featured hundreds of awesome, if ridiculous, creations by engineers, artists, inventors, and other people possessed of an excess of free time and an over-abundance of imagination. Just some of the nifty stuff on display included a Lego Star......