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Title: Maker's Notebook
ISBN: 0596519419
Author:
The Staff MAKE Magazine
Publicate Date: 2008-05-13
Publish: 2008-05-13
List Price: $19.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Hardcover
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $11.44
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $11.76
Amazon Merchant Price: $13.59
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| Customer Review: |
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1: pretty good, needs a pen holder
It's a good notebook. Not sure how often I'll use the diagrams in the back, but I had visions of reading them during particularly boring meetings. One quibble: they should add an elastic loop to hold a pen. How hard would that be?
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2: very cool
I've yet to complete a project yet, but i've drawn up at least 20 good ideas. I went to the website and added the back pocket they described. I love this book.
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3: A very cool and classy way to record your observations and learnings...
Ok... this might be the most unusual book review I've ever done. I'm about to review a book consisting of... blank pages. Ah, but what blank pages they are! :) It's the Maker's Notebook by O'Reilly Publishing and the staff at MAKE magazine. I was given this as a gift from a friend, and I don't think she could have given me something that appeals more to me on so many levels.
The Maker's Notebook is designed to be a durable, long-lasting lab notebook for your projects and experimentations. As stated in one of the chemistry books I reviewed, it's imperative that you document your work in such a way that it's reproducible as well as leaving a chain of evidence of what you did to get to the final result. While you can do this with a number of blank notebooks, the Maker's Notebook fills the need in a classy way. It's hardbound, so the durability will be better than something with a light cardboard cover. The pages inside consist of graph paper with room at the top for project/idea, date, notes/signature, and a place to record the starting and ending page(s) of the experiment notes. And since each page is numbered, there's never any question as to whether pages have been removed or not. Beyond those core features, there's a touch of the practical and whimsical. There's a built-in ruler on the inside cover that's handy, and the last dozen or so pages have "important" reference information... common weights and measures (and conversion factors), area codes and international calling codes, common glue bonds, the robot laws and rules, caffeine amounts in common caffeinated drinks, common English to 1337 character substitutions, and so forth. Throw in a ribbon to mark your place, a rubber band to hold the book tight and hold loose items, and stickers to brand pages and/or the cover, and you have a complete tool for documentation. There's even a white space on the edge binding so you can write a title and still read it on a bookshelf!
I'll admit I'm a junkie for these types of things. Clean, empty pages... waiting to be filled... so many promises. In this particular case, I plan on using my notebook to take notes as I learn about my new digital SLR camera. I was convinced even before this arrived that I needed to take notes to become good at photography. Now I have the perfect place to put them.
My guess is that even though this is the first Maker's Notebook I have, it won't be my last...
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4: AWESOME!!!
This is truly the best thing i have bought from makezine and amazon. Highly recommended.
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5: A very useful notebook designed to inspire and to work
I was very surprised at how much I've liked browsing through MAKE: Technology on Your Time. The reviews of the magazine/book are glowing or negative, and I can't think of anything really to add. It's not that I actually make any of the complicated things people write about, but it is inspiring to know that ordinary people still enjoy creating. And the letters and short pieces are often inspiring and helpful for the sort of simple project that I'm interested in undertaking. (Suggestion: buy a sample issue before subscribing; you may find this "mook" too geeky for your taste.)
The editors of the magazine asked subscribers to the magazine and its website what they would like in a notebook. This handsome volume is the result. The volume is basically a set of quarter inch graph paper pages printed on good stock, with an appendix of helpful and amusing information. Whether you subscribe to the mook or not, you may find the notebook very useful.
I've found a number of uses in the first ten days:
- A sketch of a new garden around a pond we just opened.
- The layout of a porch we've decided to upgrade.
- A chart of my reviews on Amazon.
- The layout of two pages of my stamp collection.
From time to time I've amused myself reading the appendices. The editors and the readers have come up with a really very pretty and useful notebook. I'm buying a couple of extra copies as gifts, particularly for friends who enjoy seeing mine in action.
Robert C. Ross 2008
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