I often find myself looking for products that simply don't exist. Long have I sought an infrared cat waterer, since kitty will only quaff running water, but to no avail.

But a visit to the MAKE magazine blog shows an eight-year-old boy in Australia has made such a device himself (the young man also has dyslexia and couldn't write the essay for the competition in which he entered the device. These kinds of stories kill me).

Also on the site are detailed instructions for creating your own feather writing quills -- no more impersonally typed letters for us!

MAKE is part of the larger O'Reilly Media network started by Tim O'Reilly, computer maverick and long-time advocate of open source software (think cool, free, small programs that everyone can modify). O'Reilly's raison d'etre is "changing the world by spreading the knowledge of innovators."

As long as said innovators are showing us how to make LEGO pinhole cameras, I'm in.

The main MAKE site is worth a visit too, for keeping up with people building fusion reactors in their garage. Unfortunately, I'm as devoid of technical skills as Harriet Miers is of legal experience, so I'll probably stick with making iPod puppet socks.

(If anyone makes anything from the site, send a photo to editor@thetyee.ca for potential fame and glory.)

Thom Wong is a law student who spends an unreasonable amount of time online. His 40 bLinks column runs every Monday and Thursday on The Tyee. What's he all about? Click here.

For previous 40 bLinks, click here.