Vibram FiveFingers. Loves Me Loves Me Not Watch from Crispin Jones, Artist Designer or Mr Jones Watches. Lifechanger: The Unofficial Shoe of Gizmodo. Smart Gifts for College Kids. Just Stick and Lift, Your Breast Will Be Supported,Even Without A Bra (As Seen On TV) Embracing Your Father: How to Build the Relationship You Always Wanted with Your Dad (0639785384694): Linda Nielsen. If You Meet the Buddha Machine on the Road, Hack It. Looking for that perfect holiday gift for your most sonically adventurous friends or loved ones? Look no further. The Buddha Machine, introduced in 2005 (and blogged here many many many many times before), is a portable little sound-loop device in a plastic box introduced five years ago by the China-based duo FM3 (aka Zhang Jian and Christiaan Virant).
It so resembles an impressively generic AM radio that Muji products look like Prada by comparison. The first two generations of the Buddha Machine contained short varied loops of ambient sound. The third generation, newly released this month, retains the pitch control but replaces all those electronic-audio recordings with loops recorded on an ancient Chinese instrument known as the qin. The qin, or guqin, or å¤ç´, is the ancient Chinese zither. This third version of the Buddha Machine was introduced just this month, and it's already been hacked, as FM3 announced yesterday via Twitter [Video Link]. Top 10 kits, components, and tools from the Maker Shed. If you haven't finished your holiday shopping yet this year, take a look at some of the cool projects and kits available in the Maker Shed (the retail operation of Maker Media, which also publishes MAKE, the magazine I edit).
I asked Dan Woods, the associate publisher of MAKE and the general manager of e-commerce, to write about the top 10 gift items in the Maker Shed had been this holiday season. Here's what he had to say: I've been sharing some awesome holiday news with my MAKE comrades. November sales in the Maker Shed were up a whopping 81% over last year (which was up 72% over the prior year). Now, to be sure, we have a dedicated team working insane hours and doing a lot of smart things well (for which, I'm eternally grateful), but that's the e-commerce story. The more interesting story for me is that the gift of making and hands-on learning is making a really strong comeback. Maker Shed's Top 10 Maker gifts so far this holiday season: Make: Electronics Components Pack 1 Robotics Arm. Zune HD Review: The PMP, Evolved.
Bluetooth Headphone Battlemodo: The Best Isn't the Best. Phillips Head Steampunk Earrings by earthfirestudios. RedFlagDeals.com: Canada's Largest Bargain Shopping Community! Find Canadian Deals, Coupons, and Freebies!