Volume 09

Special Fringe Section

50: Patently Curious Physicist Tom Valone looks at technologies most scientists consider junk. By Charles Platt

56: In Search of Psi A boy and his Hieronymus Machine. By Charles Platt

62: The Music of Chance Roger Nelson’s Global Consciousness Project searches for meaning in random numbers. By Bob Parks

66: Digital Kirlian Photography Shooting auras without film. By John Iovine

70: Reinventing the Square Wheel Unlimited allure: the perennial search for perpetual motion. By Donald E. Simanek

75: Masonic Conspiracy Revealed! When engineering culture detaches from reality. By Paul Spinrad

78: The Essential Strangeness of Time Reconstructing Athanasius Kircher’s magnetic clock. By Jonah Peretti

Columns

11: Welcome

Why it sometimes pays to look beyond the limits. By Mark Frauenfelder

13: News From the Future

The future of media is the future of thinking. By Tim O’Reilly 78

KIRCHER’S CLOCK As if by magic, a floating fish points at the current hour on a rotating globe of the Earth.

2 Make: Volume 09

Shock and Aw e Journey to the outer limits of belief in our special fringe technology section.

ON THE COVER: Kirlian Photo of a Coin Jasper Nance, who took the cover photo, writes that “the light you see during a Kirlian discharge comes from an electric field ionizing the air and parts of your Kirlian subject. The charged air gives off intense heat and ultraviolet radiation as well as visible light.” (See page 66.)

15: Make Free

In order to “protect intellectual property,” bandits are willing to take away your rights to your property. By Cory Doctorow

24: Hands On How Mark Twain couldn’t make it as a venture angel.

By Bruce Sterling

32: Art Work The joy of YDKEWYGUYGI. By Douglas Repetto

40: Heirloom Technology

Make your own hammock in less time than it takes to read this article. By Tim Anderson

46: Making Trouble Don’t worry, no one is going to steal your secrets. By Saul Griffith

156: Citizen Scientist

Detect cosmic rays in a basketball case. By Dr. Shawn

171: Retrocomputing

Emulate an Apple II on a Palm device. By Tom Owad

186: Retrospect

High-tensile fastenings stand the test of time. By George Dyson

Vol. 09, March 2007. MAKE (ISSN 1556-2336) is published quarterly by O’Reilly Media, Inc. in the months of March, May, August, and November. O’Reilly Media is located at 1005 Gravenstein Hwy. North, Sebastopol, CA 95472, (707) 827-7000. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Send all subscription requests to MAKE, P.O. Box 17046, North Hollywood, CA 91615-9588 or subscribe online at makezine.com/offer or via phone at (866) 289-8847 (U.S. and Canada), all other countries call (818) 487-2037. Subscriptions are available for $34.95 for 1 year ( 4 quarterly issues) in the United States; in Canada: $39.95 USD; all other countries: $49.95 USD. Periodicals Postage Paid at Sebastopol, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MAKE, P.O. Box 17046, North Hollywood, CA 91615-9588.