John Bergin (Kansas City, MO) and I go way back. We first met, in the early 90s, through the zine publishing scene. I instantly became a big fan of both his art and his music. Over the years, I've had the pleasure of collaborating with him on a number of projects, such as the soundtrack to Dan Abnett's sci-fi novel, Traitor General (the Warhammer 40K soundtrack John mentions in the interview). I also had the honor of writing the introduction to John's graphic novel, From Inside. So I was thrilled when I heard he was making it into a movie, but wondered how on Earth that could even be possible. One man, one desktop computer, and endless hours or bit-twiddling. But if anybody has the wherewithal to follow folly to a breathtaking conclusion, it's John Bergin. From Inside, the movie, has done well at a ton of film festivals, and it deserves it. It's such a testament to what heights a person and a personal computer can reach these days. As John says below: "Get started today! Don't hesitate. Use whatever you have available." A maker motto to live by, for sure. -- Gareth
First off, can you give MAKE readers some background on yourself. Tell us about your day job? Your artwork? Your music?
I wrote and illustrated comics through the 80s and 90s. Some titles I worked on are Ashes, From Inside, The Crow, Bone Saw, Golgothika, and Brain Dead. I also did a lot shorts for publishers like Heavy Metal, Dark Horse, and tons of designs for album and book covers. I recorded a lot of music through those decades, too. My main musical projects were Trust Obey and C17H19NO3. Have done soundtracks for The Crow, Warhammer 40K, and collaborated with Jarboe from the Swans and Brett Smith from Caul. My trials and tribulations in all this are documented at grindertool.com and frominsidemovie.com for anyone who's interested in spending a few hours reading, watching, and listening.
How did From Inside come about? What made you decide to make it into an animated feature?
It started out as a graphic novel, published in the mid-90s. And ever since then, I'd wanted to keep the story alive and accessible. The issues it explores are timeless. Originally, it was a 300+ page graphic novel. That's a pretty heavy project to keep in print, and comics are a pretty small niche market. I poked around with e-publishing in the late 90s, but the technology just wasn't robust enough, the quality, and format. Eventually, desktop computers became powerful enough that it wasn't that hard to take it on myself as an animated feature. So, I guess my answer is because I wanted to reach a larger audience. It's done well and has played at dozens of festivals around the world. It won Best Animated Feature at SITGES.
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Mobile Manufacturing Unit -- This corporate factory tours the country, setting up in cities for a few months at a time. As the population welcomes a new source of goods, jobs and manufacturing techniques, it is celebrated as an event.
Self Replicating Street Stall -- The street Genie can print any product you might think of, including a working copy of itself. 
Math Monday: Paper plate geometry
By 
From the 
One of the ways in which I was able to combine my passions for crafting and space during my 
Last issue of the newsletter, I told the story of, back in 2003, brainstorming (aka napping) the idea for creating mini-development platforms using AOL CDs as the main build materials, only to get up from my nap, do a search and discover dozens of examples of these "CDBots." This was the first one I found (on Robots.Net).
Notice tarp taped to the ground, stocking feet, and cotton gloves, all used to keep the fragile balloon intact. Bright tape on the camera-carrying cooler helped them recover the balloon rig.
To the left can (barely) be seen cellphone and handwarmers, to the right (under the bungies) the camera and handwarmers. The warmers are used to keep the equipment from freezing.
That's Long Island to the middle-left, the Hudson River, bottom-middle, and Jersey, middle-right.
A "CoasterBot" I built for my 2003 book, Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building Robots
The goal of this series and the contest is to teach you how to build a simple robot and for you to learn all of the various aspects of design and the mechanical and electronic systems used in robots. Contestants will build "CoasterBots," mini robot development platforms, made using CD/DVD media as the main body components ("coaster" being slang for a dead/damaged CD/DVD). Your goal is to create a CoasterBot that can navigate a space on its own, avoiding obstacles, and that is designed so that additional sensor systems (proximity, heat, light, sound, etc.) can be added "on top" of this obstacle-avoidance behavior. Contestants are free to use the CD/DVD media in any way they choose. Extra points will be given for creativity and innovation in the overall design.
On Mashable, math teacher Rebecca Zook weighs in on the whole Computer Engineer Barbie (aka Coder Barbie) "controversy" with "Why Computer Engineer Barbie Is Good for Women in Tech."
The Lost Knowledge column explores the possible technology of the future in the forgotten ideas of the past (and those just slightly off to the side). Every other Wednesday, we look at retro-tech, "lost" technology, and the make-do, improvised "street tech" of village artisans and tradespeople from around the globe. "Lost Knowledge" was also the theme of 
Parts of a common type of Magic Lantern. [From 
Jen (left) and Fran (right) in their element in front of the type cabinets at Zeichen Press
Laser cutting the Phi symbol on the original Mystery Box. Phi is the golden ratio, which are the box's dimensions.
Prototype of a laser-cut absinthe spoon. It works! And, it may find its way into the Makers Market at some point.
March is a time when spring is dawning and we (at least those of us in colder climates) can't wait to bust out of our cabins and break the fever of breathing our own exhaust all winter long. Spring offers newfound possibilities for making things, for being creative. Combine the desire to get out and circulate, with the itch to create, the fact that it's also the month of the Academy Awards and the world focusing its attention on movie making, and... well... we thought it was as good a time as any to launch DIY Movie Making Month here at MAKE. 
