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"Mark Frauenfelder presented one of the best keynotes at the Colorado Assn. of Libraries Conference in October in Loveland, CO. His presentation started with the roots of making, showed how we lost our way, and how we have returned. It inspired this all thumbs librarian to go out there and make something! If you get a chance to hear Mark speak, go! It is worth your time." — Ann Kling, Director, Clearview Library District
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"Mark Frauenfelder has a contagious excitement about the Maker Movement and our audience found his session informative, captivating, and useful for school leaders. The hands-on workshop was fun and challenging." — ISAS
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Mark's dynamic presence at our school engaged our entire community in a lively and hand- on conversation as we discovered the unique maker that resides in each of us. From his lively talks and discussions to his laughter filled workshops, teachers, learners, and families united in a shared understanding of the tools needed for our children to create the future they wish to see. — Leigh Mansberg, St. Mary's Episcopal School
I love talking about new technology!
I've given dozens of talks and keynote speeches around the world. My presentations about the maker movement and new tools and technology are a hit at museums, libraries, corporate events, and universities. With entertaining and surprising images and stories I present the rich history of making and our return to that culture, and how people have started making new tools and technologies that enable anyone to be a maker.
My most popular topic:
Individuals and small groups don't have to be passive consumers any longer. They can be active participants in the designed and manufactured world around them. I'll start by presenting a colorful history of 20th century making, leading to a look at the latest maker-made tools, technologies, and platforms that are driving innovation and giving individuals and organizations the ability to create amazing things more quickly and inexpensively than ever before.
I often combine my presentations with hands-on workshops for adults and children involving entertaining electronics and robotics projects.
If you're interested in having me speak at your event, please email me: mark@boingboing.net.
I also teach online classes about DIY projects and Arduino.
Mark Frauenfelder: Projects for Dad and Kids
Promo video for a workshop I'm teaching at CreativeLive studios
Kids' Workshop
I helped kids make "brushbots" at TEDxKids@Brussels.
Edmonton Public Library
My EPL 2014 Leader in Residence keynote
TEDxKids@Brussels
Keynote at TEDxKids@Brussels
"Made by Hand" talk at Google
I gave a presentation at the Google offices on the rewards of doing things yourself.
Wired was founded in 1993. I contributed to the first issue and joined the magazine later that year as Associate Editor. In addition to assigning and editing stories for the magazine, I also wrote a number of feature articles.
In 1995 I launched Wired.com as the Editor-in-Chief, managing a team of editors, designers, and producers to develop Wired's online presence.
In 1996 I became an acquisitions editor at Wired's book publishing division, Hardwired, and launched a science fiction imprint, Cortext, which featured the work of notable authors such as Bruce Sterling, Rudy Rucker, and Charles Platt.
I've remained on the masthead of Wired for over 20 years. Today I'm a correspondent for the magazine.
MAKE is the magazine that celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your own will. In 2004 I developed the prototype for MAKE and was editor-in-chief for 10 years.
In 2013 I partnered with my friend Kevin Kelly (co-founder) of Wired, and became Editor-in-Chief of website he founded, Cool Tools. As we say on the site, a cool tool can be any book, gadget, software, video, map, hardware, material, or website that is tried and true. All reviews on Cool Tools are written by the readers who have actually used the tool.
Kevin's independently published book, Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities, which contains the 1500 best tool reviews from the website, is in its third printing.
I launched Wink in 2014 with with my friend Kevin Kelly (co-founder of Wired) and my wife Carla Sinclair (co-founder of Boing Boing and founding Editor-in-Chief of Craft magazine).
The purpose of Wink is to review one remarkable book that demonstrates what paper books can do. This might be an attractive oversized book that wows your coffee table, a craft book that includes materials to get you started, or a how-to book sporting an unusually handy binding. It could be a pop-up book, an atlas with pull-out maps, a stunning picture book for children, an unusual tome printed on exquisite paper. Or it could be a hardback graphic novel whose illustrations pop better in ink than in pixels.
Wink is part of the Cool Tools Lab, which publishes Cool Tools, a website that reviews one cool tool a day.
I have seven published books:
Scroll down to find out more.
2014
My latest book is called Maker Dad. As the editor in chief of MAKE magazine, I've spent years combing through DIY books, but I was never been able to find one with geeky projects I could share with my two daughters. Maker Dad is the first DIY book to use cutting-edge (and affordable) technology in appealing projects for fathers and daughters to do together. These crafts and gadgets are both rewarding to make and delightful to play with. What’s more, Maker Dad teaches girls lifelong skills—like computer programming, musicality, and how to use basic hand tools—as well as how to be creative problem solvers. The book’s twenty-four unique projects include:
• Drawbot, a lively contraption that draws abstract patterns all by itself
• Ice Cream Sandwich Necklace
• Friendstrument, an electronic musical instrument girls can play with friends
• Longboard
• Antigravity Jar
• Silkscreened T-Shirt
• Retro Arcade Video Game
• Host a Podcast
• Lunchbox Guitar
• Kite Video Camera
Innovative and groundbreaking, Maker Dad will inspire fathers to geek out with their daughters and help girls cultivate an early affinity for math, science, and technology.
2011
Made by Hand: My Adventures in the World of Do-It-Yourself
"It's not merely good, it's foundation-shaking." -Seth Godin
From his unique vantage point as editor-in-chief of Make magazine, the hub of the do-it-yourself movement, Mark Frauenfelder takes readers on an inspiring and surprising tour of the vibrant world of DIY.
Frauenfelder spent a year trying a variety of offbeat projects such as keeping chickens and bees, tricking out his espresso machine, whittling wooden spoons, making guitars out of cigar boxes, and doing citizen science with his daughters in the garage. His whole family found that DIY helped them take control of their lives, offering deeply satisfying alternatives for spending time together. Working with their hands and minds helped them feel more engaged with the world around them.
Frauenfelder also profiles fascinating "alpha makers" leading various DIY movements and grills them for their best tips and insights. He offers a unique perspective on how earning a few calluses can be far more rewarding than another trip to the mall.
2007
You use the Web to shop, do your banking, have fun, find facts, connect with family, share your thoughts with the world, and more. But aren’t you curious about what else the Web can do for you? Or if there are better, faster, or easier ways to do what you’re already doing? Let the world’s foremost technology writer, Mark Frauenfelder, help you unlock the Internet’s potential—and open up a richer, nimbler, and more useful trove of resources and services, including:
EXPRESS YOURSELF, SAFELY. Create and share blogs, podcasts, and online video with friends, family, and millions of potential audience members, while protecting yourself from identity theft and fraud.
DIVIDE AND CONQUER. Tackle even the most complex online tasks with ease, from whipping up a gorgeous Web site to doing all your work faster and more efficiently within your browser, from word processing to investing to planning a party.
THE RIGHT WAY, EVERY TIME. Master state-of-the-art techniques for doing everything from selling your house to shopping for electronics, with hundreds of carefully researched tips and tricks.
TIPS FROM THE INSIDERS. Mark has asked dozens of the best bloggers around to share their favorite tips on getting the most out of the Web.
2007
The Computer: An Illustrated History From its Origins to the Present Day
From handheld smart phones to vast scientific simulators, computers are integral to our lives and are developing at ever-increasing speed. In The Computer, uber-technogeek Mark Frauenfelder traces the evolution of this vital machine from its earliest roots through its exciting application in code breaking during the Second World War, and from its initial use in the workplace and home to its current status as a ubiquitous—and increasingly portable—part of twenty-first century life. This highly illustrated social history of the computer examines its profound impact on every sphere of life.
2005
Bookstore shelves are lined with tomes dedicated to the finest things that life has to offer. This is all well and good, but the real entertainment is to be found not in the cream of the crop, but at the bottom of the barrel. The World's Worst is a celebration/indictment of nearly 50 infamous and little-known exemplars of the awful. In thoroughly researched, scathingly funny essays, author Mark Frauenfelder avoids the obvious and digs deep to tell the fascinating tales of the worst people, places, and things on Earth for the reader's amusement and edification. Half of the entries are also mischieviously illustrated by the author. Addictively readable, and sure to appeal to fans of the popular Worst-Case Scenario and Darwin Awardsseries, The World's Worst is hilariously unafraid to wallow in the mire.
Selected Horrible Highlights:
Most Unappealing Fetish
Most Disgusting Coffee Drink
Most Horrific Self-Help Technique
Least Adorable Pet
Saddest Fate for an Island Nation
Worst Molasses Related Disaster
2002
Chronicle Books 2013
Within these tantalizing pages lie the keys to the mysteries of science. For here, in strange and delectable detail, are dozens of hitherto secret experiments for concocting slimes and putties, inventing miniature robots and transport devices, growing crystal gardens, and many other useful creations-all crafted from widely available household products. Where did these wondrous projects originate? Apparently in a shadowy toy research laboratory that once operated out of a tiny island in the South Pacific. The Zoober Laboratory has since vanished, but we recovered its crown jewel-a secret notebook: a source of astounding information, fabulously illustrated. Lets just be thankful the pages are wipe-clean.
1995
The Happy Mutant Handbook: Mischievous Fun for Higher Primates
Riverhead 1995
A whole generation has grown up with computers and cable, VCRs and voicemail. It's not surprising that a brand-new culture has blossomed--with its own jargon, its own style, and its own definition of fun. This is a full-color treasury of brain candy, eyeball kicks, and reality hacking projects, with tips on everything from joyriding on the information superhighway to running your car on kitchen grease.
As an artist and designer, my work has appeared in group and solo gallery exhibitions throughout the United States. I designed Billy Idol's "Cyberpunk" CD cover, video box, and print advertisements. I've illustrated several books and many articles in national magazines. View my art samples.
I started Boing Boing as a print zine in 1988 with my wife Carla Sinclair.
Today, Boing Boing is the Web’s favorite site devoted to technology, entertainment, and culture. Boing Boing publishes a daily mix of short articles, long features, original videos, and podcasts that are shared globally by its dedicated fan base of tech and lifestyle influencers. An Internet mainstay, Boing Boing has won two Webby Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bloggies. Time Magazine has named Boing Boing one of the “Best Websites” multiple times. Fast Company has called it "one of the most popular blogs on the planet" and the New Yorker said that Boing Boing is "read by geeks the world over."
The site's writers/editors are career journalists who have contributed to the New York Times, Washington Post, Wired, Scientific American, NPR, CNN, and many other news outlets. They’re frequent guests on television and radio programs, including The Colbert Report, CNN, The Rachel Maddow Show, PBS Newshour, and Martha Stewart, where they provide expert opinion about online culture, entertainment, and technology.
Continually growing and evolving, Boing Boing's archives now contain more than 150,000 posts and the site is read by millions of readers every month. In a public speech to the prestigious Gridiron Club journalism organization, President Obama commented that he checks Boing Boing daily. The site has been a clue on Jeopardy! Twice.
