The do-it-yourself mentality is one of the things that built this country, and it is most certainly still deeply embedded into the fabric of American sensibilities. FedEx was dreamed up by a college kid. Apple Computer started out as a pet project of Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs that they birthed in Jobs’ garage, and Google was founded in a dorm room by a couple of grad students from Stanford University. The list of spunky and successful startups goes on and on. Do-it-yourself projects (DIY for short) have been brewing in garages, basements, and college dorm rooms for years. It was inevitable that these ideas found their way onto Web sites dedicated to DIY projects of all types, and the sites feed the growing legions of people searching the Internet for answers on how to do everything from knitting to building a computer to home remodeling. There is even a man whose DIY project is being considered the first cure for cancer.
There is a bevy of interesting, wildly entertaining, and even mischievous Web sites out there that offer articles, instructions, and video of DIY projects. Have you ever wondered how to make your own solar-powered bicycle? Or wanted some creative ideas for entertaining kids at a party? Or tried to figure out how to fix your car without sending it to a repair shop? The answers are out there. Here are a few I've come across...
http://www.instructables.com/
http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page
http://www.makezine.com/
http://www.diyhappy.com/

The Tech Club in 2008

As we begin the new year our challenge is to continue to movitate our youth to access and utilize the Internet and it's various technologies to enrich their lives, education and communication. We are interested in growing our Technology Club membership by March to about 8 students. As mentioned in my previous post we interested in students who want to learn web design, graphic design and/or Flash Animation amongst other projects. We've currently have two exchanges students from Korea, Jaekyu Lee and Geunjae Lee working with Cabrini Connections who want to get involved with the youth and show them some of the Flash and graphic design skills... We will have links to some of there work up soon! They are currently working on a Webquest that will allow students to explore interesting information about Korea.