Over on the mothership Ms. Spiers reviews MAKE a new magazine/book (aka “mook”. um, not so catchy, sorry.) being published by geeks O’Reilly. Says Elizabeth:

But the beauty of MAKE isn’t so much the practicality of it, but the way it translates what is nominally a subculture for a general audience, in much the same way Wired (wittingly or un-) did as it adapted. While many of the projects therein require a modicum of technical knowledge, culturally, MAKE is about everyday hacking—which is of increasingly greater interest to a general audience as consumers place higher premiums on customization. Music mash-ups, TiVo programming, made-to-order Nikes are symptoms of larger demand for a wide of consumer choices.

She also notes their smart web/dead-tree integration – MAKE Blog is a consistently good read (says the woman who reads a LOT of blogs.):

The tendency to restrain or compartmentalize the content for fear that the web will cannibalize print, or vice versa, limits the potential for full media integration. MAKE doesn’t seem to have that problem. The MAKE blog is a clear extension of the quarterly content with topically consistent projects and themes.

So, read Spiers’ essay and consider subscribing to MAKE.