DIY soda recipes

Here are some DIY soda recipes. I'd really like to try that ginger ale at some point.

Potato bins

How to construct a build-as-you-grow potato bin. Start with a base and some potatoes planted within it and then just keep building up and dumping in dirt. Come harvest time, the box will be full of potatoes.

I'm told a rule of thumb for potato harvests is 10 pounds per pound of seed. I got 25 pounds for my one pound, so I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed about the results of my first year planting potatoes. Still it's nowhere near the 60 pound average that Greg Lutovsky's customer's experienced. In hindsight I think I got lazy in hilling my potato plants as they were growing. Sometimes I would let them get to be 8 or so inches tall and jungle-like before dumping more dirt in and covering the stems.

Make your own x-rays: buy a dental

Make your own x-rays: buy a dental x-ray machine on eBay and use it with Polaroid film. Mit photos.

DIY book publishing

37signals has published their latest book, Getting Real, as a PDF download that they are distributing themselves. After more than a day, they've sold over 1750 copies at $19 apiece:

That's exciting. These numbers demolish the sales pace of our first book, Defensive Design for the Web, which was released through the traditional publisher/bookstore model. DIY publishing: There's a new sheriff in town.

If you do the math, that's ~$33,000 in sales in one day. I don't know what the advance would be on a book like that, but they've got to be approaching it, and if/when they reach that figure, the profit margin on subsequent sales will be much higher than the royalties paid by a publishing company. Interesting experiment.

Glee Gum sells "make your own chewing

Glee Gum sells "make your own chewing gum" kits for $10. "It's really easy: Soften the chicle gum base, either in the microwave or on the stove. Then you add the sugar, corn syrup, and the flavor packets, knead it a little, and WOW! You've made your own gum!"