DIY Paradise at Maker Faire

The annual Bay Area carnival attracts the best Makers in the land. See what caught our eye this year

DIY Drones: The folks at DIYDrones.com create home-brew UAVs like the Air Force's Predator and Global Hawk. This rig uses a Lego Mindstorms computer, an accelerometer and gyroscope to measure orientation and a GPS module to track its location to allow for autonomous flight. John Mahoney

We're back from this weekend's Maker Faire, the third-annual event in San Mateo, CA . Our friends at Make continue to up the ante, bringing DIYers from far and wide to show off their projects at the ultimate geek county fair.

Launch our gallery to see just a handful of the amazing stuff on display this weekend, from the iPhone-controlled watering can to the hacked Guitar Hero controllers that serve as—gasp!—real instruments. PopSci Podcaster Chuck Cage also threw together the great Maker Faire highlight reel below.

If you missed the Faire this weekend, never fear: the circus rolls into Austin, Texas later this year.

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no doubt about it, this event sucked!

I enjoy the make blog and have it as one of my daily reads. I'll also occasionally buy a copy of Make Magazine even though I find this micromag to be overpriced. But nothing readied me for the dissapointment of the Maker Faire.

Let's start at the gate. $50 for two people. That is only the start of the insulting prices. Make Mag shows it's deep love for it's community by allowing vendors to charge $7 for hot dogs and $3 for fountain drinks. That kinetic wood model which fetches $5 in retail stores has a pricetag of $40. Second-hand shirts attempt to fetch $60. That's right, a $10 shirt plus a silkscreened bird = $60.

Make Mag thinks it's community is made of idiots. They have no shame.

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rcpilot1225

from Jersey City, New Jersey

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Any undertaking cost money. I love to build, collect RC or static display aircrafts as well as to fly them when I can. Since I am retired, I have to put limits to what I do. For anything budgeting is the key.

If you know you are going to spend that kind of money, just don't go. I have avoided purchasing from places that charge unreasonably and there is always the internet and local hobby shops to compare prices.

I have managed to collect a good number of aircrafts but I never broke the bank. My grand kids are enjoying them now and I managed to sell some of them. My apartment no longer looks like a hobby shop and I am still enjoying the building part of the hobby...

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