Joe Grand (“Soldering & Desoldering”) describes himself as "anal, goofy, high-strung, and obsessed with work.” He grew up in Boston and has been involved in electronics since he was 7 years old. “Hardware hacking is, to me, a perfect example of ‘anti-establishment’. Make a product do something it

was never intended to do, add a personal touch, and make it your own. Not just buying a product and using it as is (which is what The Man wants you to do!).” Besides working on secret projects involving video games, toys, and consumer electronics for his company, Grand Idea Studio, Inc., Joe lives in San Diego where he runs, swims, cycles, and plays the drums.

Andrew “Bunnie” Huang

(“Glowstick A Go-Go” ) simply put, is an engineer. The Cardiff by the Sea, Calif., resident says he’s somewhat of a hacker because he likes to explore complex systems and understand them at a deep level. “I’ve always liked the smell of new electronics. I think it is like the smell of a new adventure. Every time I get a new piece of hardware, I like to look inside and learn everything I can from visual inspection.”

Blaming his father for his hacker sensibilities, Bunnie says, ” He would never let me touch electronic parts because they contained harmful compounds like lead. That just made me more curious about the subject.” Bunnie now spends his time designing nanophotonic integrated circuits for a startup company, Luxtera. He’s also a big fan of electronic music, both from a DJ and dance perspective.

Billy Hoffman (“Magnetic Stripe Reader”) says he is too curious for his own good. “I like to take things apart, see how they work, see their shortcomings, and try to make them better.” Living in Atlanta gives him plenty of time to pursue outdoor activities as well

Contributors

as seek input from his friends about possible technological advances he’s working on. Some of Billy’s current projects include a self-destructing hard drive, some radio frequency ID stuff, blogging technology, and spyware-cracking software. He’s graduating this spring from the Georgia Institute of Technology with a computer science degree — anyone hiring?

As an illustrator who straddles the worlds of art and science, Nik Schulz (“Kite Aerial Photography,”

“$14 Video Camera Stabilizer,” and “5-in- 1 Network Cable” ) loves to make things and has always appreciated well-drawn instructions. Working on the illustration for the Kite Aerial Photography project was inspirational to him. “I remember thinking how amazingly thorough and well-presented Charles Benton’s reference work was. The rig itself was also a triumph. He had created a product that reflected truly exceptional standards of design, function, and aesthetics, out of materials as humble as rubber bands and popsicle sticks.”

The San Francisco resident continued, “It reinforced the idea that good design doesn’t have to be expensive and that, in fact, the best design makes the most use out of the fewest resources. To have the opportunity to help illuminate these really clever projects for others is really enjoyable for me.”

Photographer Emily Nathan (“Welcome to the Fab Lab” and “Kite Aerial Photography” ) became interested in photography because her dad had an Olympus OM- 10 camera and a subscription to National Geographic. “I became obsessed early on with the The New York Times Magazine and with pictures my dad had taken in vegetable markets in Israel.”

Attending art camps and taking shop class while growing up gave her a fondness for scientists and makers of all kinds. She herself has taken apart her fair share of calculators. Emily lives with her husband in San Francisco in a 100-year-old Victorian apartment when she’s not surfing, shooting photos, or traveling, all of which she’s been known to do at relatively the same time.

Contributing Artists: Jorge Colombo, eBoy.com, Christopher Hujanen, Timmy Kucynda, Mike Martin, Evan McNary, Emily Nathan, Dennis Pasco, Nik Schulz, Damien Scogin, Kirk von Rohr, Carlin Wing

Contributing Writers:

Tim Anderson, Charles C. Benton, Tom Bridge, Simon DeDeo, D.C. Denison, Cory Doctorow, Daniel M. East, Simon Quellen Field, Rob Flickenger, Joseph Fung, Joe Grand, Saul Griffith, Alex Handy, Kaden Harris, David and Raina Hawley, Billy Hoffman, Bunnie Huang, Mark Hurst, Mister Jalopy, Xeni Jardin, Brian Jepson, Todd Lappin, Johnny Lee, Wei-Meng Lee, William Lidwell, Geoffrey Litwack, Merlin Mann, Matthew MacDonald, Dave Mathews, Marc H. Nathan, Danny O’Brien, J. W. Olson, Tim O’Reilly, Peter Orosz, Michael Ossmann, Robin Outis, Gareth Palidwor, Bob Parks, David Pescovitz, Michael Rattner, Justin Ried, Dori Smith, Paul Spinrad, Bruce Sterling, Simon St. Laurent, Howard Wen, Steve Wood

Make: 9