Making It · 4 Dec 2020 · 1h 09m
Jimmy Diresta, Bob Clagett, and David Picciuto discuss their current projects, including Diresta's restoration of a 1985 Chevy truck, Clagett's work on a go-kart engine, and Picciuto's experiments with resin 3D printers and leatherworking. The hosts explore the psychology of procrastination, identifying fear and perfectionism as barriers to starting projects, and share strategies for overcoming them by breaking tasks into smaller, manageable steps. They also debate YouTube content strategies, contrasting the benefits of short, frequent videos against long-form, comprehensive tutorials, while highlighting community resources like Anne of All Trades and Placed Atoms.
early-stage companies
Other shows on the same ground, closest first.
Hosts Elecia White and Chris White discuss personal projects and burnout, with Chris detailing his experience using CircuitPython and the MIKROE 8800 board to run Conway's Game of Life, and Elecia sharing her paper engineering class. They explore the psychology of creativity, the desire for obscurity versus recognition, and the operational strain of maintaining a weekly podcast schedule, announcing a potential reduction in frequency.
Hosts Carl and Corey discuss their numerous unfinished electronics and maker projects, attributing the stalls to lack of time, space, and technical roadblocks. Carl details an unused robot arm with an Arduino, a stalled custom automotive gauge project limited by PCB size, and a frustrating emulation setup using an ECS Liva mini PC. Corey shares his abandoned rear-projection multitouch table prototype and a 3D printer enclosure project, while also noting his own stalled Christmas light synchronization system plagued by a hot microcontroller.
Zack Freedman, the creator behind the YouTube channel Voidstar Labs, discusses his transition from freelance prototyping engineer to full-time content creator. He details his methodology for finishing prototypes by breaking projects into sub-assemblies to ensure progress is visible at every stage, and explains his strategic approach to YouTube content, including the use of a wearable teleprompter to maintain high pacing and persona. Freedman also shares insights on the challenges of the maker economy, the importance of testing unknowns early in the design process, and his philosophy on building technology that serves a clear purpose rather than just showcasing technical novelty.
Mike Pekovich, Vic Tesla, and Amanda Russell discuss strategies for managing limited shop time, emphasizing the use of detailed checklists and 'order of operations' to minimize setup friction and decision fatigue during short work sessions. The hosts address how to handle interruptions in large projects by breaking tasks into small, definable steps and using visual markers like grease pencils to track joinery locations. They also debate the value of deliberate practice, suggesting that building functional, low-stakes items like trays or boxes is more effective for skill acquisition than repetitive drills on scrap wood.
Hosts Blue and Johnny of The Pragmatic Embedded Podcast address a recent hiatus caused by being overwhelmed with work and family issues, clarifying that the podcast is a labor of love rather than a business. They announce that they have enlisted additional help to improve their publishing process, noting that they have a backlog of eight recorded episodes and ideas for many more. The hosts assure listeners that the show will continue and that they are committed to getting better at releasing episodes consistently.
The summary, chapters and topics are generated from the episode’s audio by this directory, not written by Making It. The episode itself belongs to its publisher.