UGN books UGN books
guidelines for electronic verbosity
Building electronic projects that interact with the physical world is fun, but when your homebrewed creations start talking to each other, things get really interesting! In "Making Things Talk", author Tom Igoe bestows the power of communication upon your favorite tech creations through simple projects that present the guidelines for electronic verbosity. Whether its microcontroller-powered devices, email programs, or networked databases, Igoe demonstrates the ability of electronics to interact in fun and interesting ways. Some examples include:
- The Pet Lover: Want to play with your pet while you're away? Discover the "Networked Cat Cam" and the interactive pet bed that sends you personal emails!
- It Takes Two: Wire your favorite stuffed animal and enjoy a game of "Monski Pong." Just be sure not to lose!
- Who's Out There: Broadcast messages to others on your network; build a battery–powered GPS that reports its location wirelessly; send data across the Web based on physical activity in your home, office, or backyard.
- Three Easy Steps: Set up communication between microcontrollers, personal computers, and web servers using three easy-to-program, open source environments: Arduino/Wiring, Processing, and PHP.
Arriving in bookstores October 15th and available online today at www.store.makezine.com, Making Things Talk is perfect for diehard "techies," but also serves as the perfect primer for people with little technical training, but a lot of interest. "The workbenches of hobbyists, hackers, and makers have become overrun with microcontrollers—computers-on-a-chip that power homebrewed video games, robots, toys and more," explains Igoe. "This book contains a series of projects that teach readers what they need to know to get their creations talking to each other, connecting to the web and forming networks of smart devices."
Tom Igoe teaches courses in physical computing and networking at the Interactive Telecommunications Program in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. He is co-author of the book Physical Computing: Sensing and Controlling the Physical World with Computers, which has been adopted by numerous digital art and design schools around the world.
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O'Reilly Media spreads the knowledge of innovators through its books, online services, magazines, and conferences. Since 1978, O'Reilly Media has been a chronicler and catalyst of cutting-edge development, homing in on the technology trends that really matter and spurring their adoption by amplifying "faint signals" from the alpha geeks who are creating the future. An active participant in the technology community, the company has a long history of advocacy, meme-making, and evangelism.
Maker Media is a division of O'Reilly Media devoted entirely to the growing community of resourceful people who believe that if you can imagine it, you can make it. Consisting of Make Magazine, Craft Magazine, Maker Faire, and the Hacks series of books, Maker Media encourages the Do-It-Yourself mentality by providing creative inspiration and instruction.
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