Three ingredients to park your iPod. ABS plastic. Dock Design Download. CupCake CNC. Now this might not sound like your average electronics shopping list, but for a how-to hacker it’s exactly what she needs to print her own iPod desk stand. Yes, print. The CupCake CNC is a DIY 3D printer kit. For about $800, this product from MakerBot Industries can print items up to 4” x 4” x 6” (using ABS plastic) from digital templates available on such sites as Thingiverse. If this sounds like the ultimate gadget for your home or office, you can’t have one. The company is sold out “due to incredible demand,” thanks to the growing popularity of open source hardware hacking and the maker culture.
If you’re familiar with computer operating systems, you’ve probably heard of open source software. OSS, as it’s often called, is computer software that is open, allowing its users to read it, change it, and make new versions of it. Open source hardware is similar, but it’s in reference to electronic devices that are freely hackable. Essentially, this means that you can modify this hardware as you see fit. In other words, make your own gadgets.
On a recent visit to the HackLab in Toronto, which is a small second-floor room in a tiny building in trendy Kensington Market, I discovered what this new-ish wave of making things is all about. On the lab’s shelves sit dozens of plastic containers, complete with owners’ named scratched on the outside. If you or someone you know get manicures on a regular basis, think about this wall like those you find in a salon that house an individual’s personal nail-keepig tools (files, clippers, etc.). However, at HackLab, what’s inside these boxes is wires, cables, cutters, and chips (you might find a bottle of clear nail polish, but it's only used for conductive coating).
Members meet at the lab on a regular basis to learn how to make their own things, most often electronics. In the bathroom there is a laser cutter that plays a famous retro game theme song when it’s turned on. The HackLab toilet? When you flush it, it posts to the micro-blogging site Twitter. In other words, the entire place is one big DIY experiment.
If you think you need some hardcore hacking skills to participate in this movement, think again. Since the culture is all about being open, individuals are keen to share what they know with anyone interested. That means if you come up with a random idea to turn a Star Wars wireless mind-reading headset into a Pong (the popular arcade game) paddle, you won’t be the first, but you could find some help from a growing number of makers on the web or at a hacker lab near you.