Reviews (4)

Restoring Dignity and Nobility to the term "Hacker"
O'Reilly Publishing has been on an almost solo crusade it seems to elevate the word "hacker" to its former dignity and nobility.

The media has co-opted the term and used it for any variety of malicious computer programmer or Internet malcontent. I myself am guilty of "mis-using" the term and have even written that the hacker purists should just get used to it (see What Is In A Name?.

But, the roots of hacking are more benign. Hacking is about being clever, not malicious. Pure hackers set out to be ingenious, not notorious. The O'Reilly Hacks series of books is devoted to this interpretation of hacking and now true hackers who just want to know how things work under the hood and tinker with them to create new inventions of their own have a magazine to help them.

The beginning contains a lot of newsy sort of tid bits that describe various hacking projects or hacker tales, but don't include the complete details. For example, there are a few photos and a brief rundown of the home monorail system Kim Pederson built in his backyard. Five years, $4,000 (USD), and 300 feet of track later his monorail glides around his backyard with ease.

The middle section provides a handful of full-fledged projects, complete with an inventory of the materials and tools necessary, full details for how to construct it and illustrations to guide you.

If you are interested in hacking and learning how to convert and modify gadgets and gizmos to do your bidding, check out this magazine. If you have done some of your own hacking projects already, contact the editor to see about publishing it in an upcoming edition of Make.

Tony Bradley is a consultant and writer with a focus on network security, antivirus and incident response. He is the About.com Guide for Internet / Network Security (http://netsecurity.about.com), providing a broad range of information security tips, advice, reviews and information. Tony also contributes frequently to other industry publications. For a complete list of his freelance contributions you can visit Essential Computer Security (http://www.tonybradley.com).

a geeky blend of all my favorite mags
I just received the premiere issue of Make Magazine from O'Reilly yesterday. Let me just say this mag is a geek's dream come true. It's not a magazine about coding. Heck, I'm not sure if calling it a magazine is even accurate. It's more of a journal or zine (but with higher production values). A geek quarterly, if you will.

For example... the premiere issue features an article on aerial photography. Not geeky enough for you? Ok, how about aerial photography accomplished by rigging up a camera to a kite? Still not geeky enough? Throw in a homemade mechanism for triggering the shutter from the ground. The best part is, this isn't just an article full of theory. These guys DO this stuff. The article is full of pictures, plans and step by step instructions on how to make it happen.

That's not all... other How-To articles include: making a 5-in-1 network cable, making a magnetic stripe reader, XM Radio hacks, tips and tricks for your IPOD, gmail hacks, IPAQ hacks and a lot more. This puppy is just under 200 pages of D-I-Y technology.

Still not geeky enough? How about an article on how to make your own railgun, using magnets, a ruler and some steel bearings? There's also an article about hacking robotic dogs to sniff out toxic waste. This is geek goodness in all it's glory.

If you like reading 2600 (the hacker quarterly), Maximum PC and Scientific American, roll them all into one and you have Make (but without the attitude of Maximum PC and the leetspeak of 2600). I'm gonna subscribe!

A geeky winner!
Make: Technology on Your Own Time is not a book... exactly. It's a mook, which is a hybrid of a magazine and a book. It's a magazine, but not a typical one. In my initial perusal, I think I wasn't high on it because I'm not into home projects because I don't have time.

I read it closely. Shortly, I became engaged and enjoyed reading the articles. Though I don't plan to make anything (like I'm going to put a monorail in my backyard-yes, this is a real project), the stories and the writing drew me in.

I like geeky things, but I'm not a geek in terms of building computers from scratch and hacking gadgets. These are the kinds of projects covered in the mook. The premiere issue includes the following projects: magnetic stripe card reader, camera on a kite, $14 video camera stabilizer or buy one, and a 5-in-1 network cable.

The quarterly mook has a Web site with things not covered in the print edition as well as a blog. Its design is clever with color codes on the cover and side for the major projects. The initial issue has 192 pages of quality paper and color printing to justify $8.74 an issue.

The mook has a homemade yet professional feel and has "home improvement" style fonts to add to its DIY (do-it-yourself) theme. The photos give the impression they're taken by average people and not photographers. They're good quality and complement the articles.

People who don't have time to build and like technology will find it an engrossing read thanks to the personable writing and instructions that don't make eyes glaze. Few new magazines make it past the first year or so. Make should thrive for years to come.

Fantastic guide to cool projects
I've been waiting for this magazine all my life. Finally, it's here. There are enough ideas in here to keep me busy for the next several months, and even if I don't plan on building everything in it, it's a lot of fun just reading about how other people are making stuff.

It's more like a paperback book than a magazine, and there are very few ads in it, which means there's lot of room for plenty of do it yourself projects. ... Read more

Reviews (62)

Still a great magazine
My favorite magazine is probably still Wired magazine.

I have been a subscriber almost continuously from around 1994 or so.

Despite a history of excessive advertising and embarrassing flag waving about the glory of the internet economy Wired has consistently informed and entertained me with quality articles about the things that I enjoy: internet, software, business, technology, politics, travel, etc.

It has also been a major innovator in terms of the visual style of magazines. Their style was as new and different at its introduction as was MTV when it first appeared in the 80s.

The articles are largely targeted to 20 - 40 year old upper-middle-class, liberal technology industry oriented people, although I doubt there is anything in its content that conservatives or non-tech people would find offensive.

My issue goes straight into the toiletside magazine rack every month when it arrives.

Still bleeding edge, which makes it different
The best thing about Wired is that it has stayed true to its roots over all of these years. Wired has always had a forward-looking, sophisticated attitude toward technology. You can tell that every article is well-researched and no feature in the magazine is an afterthought. In every issue, you will find:

- stories about the unsung heroes who are really responsible for pushing the limits of technology
- some politically-oriented article that shows the growing interplay between technology and politics
- cool digital and electronic gadgets (that usually cost a lot of $$)
- fun stuff like Jargon watch, Wired vs. Tired, and even some of the ads (how often can you say that?)

Beyond that, I find Wired is the best place to read about things like the melding of human and computer and the progess of technology outside of the U.S. So, I find every issue interesting. It's a little less useful to me as an investor in technology stocks, but it does offer me that broader perspective on technology that helps put investable ideas into context. The clincher is the price - a small sacrifice for so much intriguing and entertaining content. I once considered discontinuing my subscription, but realized that it's so different from everything else I read and just one decent article an issue makes it worthwhile. Very glad I kept it. So, if you've never read Wired, I would give it definitely give it a try.

Beware of subscription lapses
Subscribers of Wired, beware.

I had a subscription to Wired for a few years and recently decided to let the subscription lapse because I don't have the time to read it now. After the usual "your subscription is expiring" notices were ignored and the magazine stopped being sent, I received a charming little notice from a collections agency. WIRED hired this agency "to write you as to why payment has not been made as of this letter date." The letter ends in a bold, italicized threat: "This is an attempt to collect a debt and any information obtained will be used for that purpose." After phoning the number at the top of the asinine letter (not a toll-free number, mind you) and wading through several phone prompts, I was given an option to let Wired know I am just not interested in subscribing anymore.

Since when is letting a magazine subscription expire a debt? This guerilla marketing technique is unethical in my book and a low way to intimidate others into re-subscribing. It infuriates me to imagine someone being bullied into sending money to this company.

Wired customer service wasn't any help, either. The gal stopped typing after I told her that I wanted to place a complaint--I'm sure they aren't concerned about ex-subscribers. If you do get Wired magazine and then decide you don't want it anymore, be prepared to receive a charming little letter like mine from them. I will never read their magazine again and I urge others to think twice before sending their hard-earned money to a company that stoops this low to regain a subscription.

Raspberries and two thumbs down to Wired Magazine.

awful baloney
According to this magazine we'll all have rocket ships in the next 5 years. Pretentious tech magazine.

Good Deal
While "Wired" remains at the forefront of technology magazines, a few things keep it from truely reaching greatness.

In every issue there is always a few interesting articles; but the writing and editing seems, at times, fairly unprofessional. Also the magazine tends to lack focus in reaching their target audience (are they trying to appeal towards 20 to 30 somethings with a technology related career? Because I'm in this category and the topics and writing sometimes seems geared toward even younger readers).

Fortunately the cost of "Wired" evens out all of its downfalls. At $10 for 12 issues it's worth it for even one good article a month and it still remains an informative and interesting magazine. ... Read more

From Amazon.com

Since 1995, Fast Company has been an informative and vital voice of the changing business industry. The monthly magazine is a beacon to new industries, especially those tied to the Internet, but offers more. Inside are smart attitudes and information that give entrepreneurs and business professionals the particulars of leadership and organization, no matter what the trade. Find key ingredients of working in teams or read a candid interview with the leaders of today's leading-edge companies. The magazine also offers practical business tools and tactics, from must-have gadgets to how to handle voluminous amounts of e-mail. Ideas come from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, Harvard, and even Las Vegas. The magazine dubbed the entrepreneurship and consulting movement "Free-Agent Nation," and overnight became the bible for those working for themselves. --Doug Thomas ... Read more

Reviews (12)

You can feel the human touch
The very first time I picked this up, it was in the height of the dot-com era and I was a travelling IT consultant at the time flying in a sea of other consultants around the country. I really liked what I did, I brought change to new environments. One day, at an airport, I happened to see this with the headline "Your job is change!"...it looked interesting and I've been hooked on it since.

This magazine has a beautiful perspective on life. Not your job, not the new economy, it's about life. It's about how to take your life and filter out what's good about it and build on that quality. Every month, they talk to several individuals in vary varied roles and truly emphasize their subjects personalities as the cause of why they are good at whatever job they do. This is missing from virtually any other business magazine out there. Wired certainly comes close sometimes, but they do their own thing and are very good at it. Fast Company focuses on people's lives in the working world and tries to make you apply the lessons learned to your own life.

This may not make much sense and probably isn't consistent with the other reviews about this magazine but look, go to their website and read some articles (they have every one ever written for free online) and decide for yourself. This magazine can make a NY to LA flight "fly" by. It's layout and design may be progressive for some but try to look past that and focus on what this magazine really is about.

Your life and how to get more out of it.

Let's hope John Byrne can put this back on track
Fast Company started out strong in 1995 as the first magazine that struck at the heart and soul of the frustrated cubicle dweller. Founding editors (and Harvard Business School professors) Allan Webber and William Taylor hit upon a unique niche at that time. Fortune, Forbes and BusinessWeek were solely dedicated (so it seemed at the time) to senior management; Inc. had the pure entrepreneurship angle covered. Fast Company appeared to speak for the rest of us.

Great stuff.

Unfortunately, Fast Company was also the leader in the pack of magazines that lost its way during the whole internet craze. The Industry Standard, of course, was chartered to follow the bubble and famously imploded. But Fast Company essentially chased the same carrot. Each issue arrived extra-chunky with ads and breathless covers that screamed "Dot Com Yourself!"...even well after the bubble had obviously irretrievably broken.

What happened in the interim is that Time-Life got a hold of Business 2.0 and whipped it into fighting trim - it now seriously outclasses Fast Company. Forbes started adding great sections dedicated to entrepreneurship and small businesses. Fortune has done the same. Meanwhile, a punch drunk Fast Company was reduced earlier this year to simply slapping Po Bronson on the cover and re-printing 10 pages from his latest book, "What Should I Do With My Life?" You call that journalism?

Thank goodness someone at owner Gruner+Jahr realized that this wasn't a survivable model. When supermodel-thin 100-page issues start showing up in your mailbox, something's gotta change.

The great news is that G+J hired John Byrne to come on board as Editor in Chief. For more than 15 years, he'd been one of BusinessWeek's finest journalists, with a couple of great books under his belt as well. The impact can be felt already. Now, we're seeing some real journalism. Take the cover story of this month's (Oct. 2003) issue: "CEOs Who Should Lose Their Job," "Can Microsoft Kill All the Bugs?" and "The Brains Behind Howard Dean."

Yes. Now we're talking. Three hot button issues. Let's hear what Fast Company has to say. How can I make these ideas work for me? That's what FC started out like. Looks like Byrne has got the train headed back in the right direction. I added an extra star for that potential.

A Turnaround In The Making
Fast Company is back! If you're already a leader or entrepreneur, or if you're aspiring to be one, this is a remarkably intelligent business magazine filled with great ideas and great people. The edge is back!
I subscribed in the early days and gave up on it after the bust. I've recently picked it up again and am happy to report that the magazine is more vital than ever. A recent issue had a wonderfully inspirational story on an entrepreneur who leads a medical device company called Cyberonics that helps people live with epilepsy. And then there's the recent cover on offshoring. Almost every magazine and newspaper has written on this topic, but no one has captured the pain of the white collar people who are losing their jobs--no one, until Fast Company. The magazine put the faces of 32 people who recently lost their jobs on the cover. That gets the point across. Thanks for bringing back a magazine I love!

My Favorite Magazine.. It Was!
Every month, I was like a boy waiting at the mailbox for his Flash Gordon decoder ring. It looks like those days are gone.

When my subscription runs out (unfortunately, I just signed up for 3 years), I do not think I will renew... unless things change at Fast Company.

Last month was Wal-mart, this month its Apple. It looks like Fast Company now has a hit list. Gone are the positive, motivational and inspiring stories that I have been reading since 1997. Webber and Taylor (the founders) are very missed.

Late last year (2003) the editorial content of Fast Company Magazine shifted uncomfortably to the left. For years, Fast Company covered the most remarkable business success stories that could be found in America. Today, it is scattered with subtle attacks on the Bush administration and not so subtle attacks on underperforming CEOs (coming out of a recession).

Unfortunately, it looks like Fast Company has become an active member of the "mainstream" media.

It got the map!
I too was worried about Fast Company, which had followed the internet bubble a little too closely. Thank God somebody had the good sense to hire John Byrne away from Business Week. The new cover story on Wal-Mart is one of the best examples of investigative journalism I've seen this year. And if you love business books, you might want to check out their new feature on books that are being published. This is a magazine to watch, not dismiss. ... Read more