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Makers & Providers

By Scott | Published: October 11, 2010

What is a Maker? What is a Provider? While these are conventional English words you would find in any dictionary, here at ProvideYourOwn, we have more in-depth meanings for them. This website is all about supporting, encouraging and inspiring folks to become Makers and Providers. To see what we mean, let’s look at each term in kind.

Maker

mak-er \ˈmā-kər\ n

1. a person who makes (something); fabricator; constructor

This term has been popularized by the folks over at Make magazine. This publication has spawned a fast growing following. Their purpose is to celebrate and provide information to people who make their own things. Their slogan is “technology on your time”. In their magazine, they mainly address making and/or hacking technological stuff, often with an artistic or crafter slant.Roblox HackBigo Live Beans HackYUGIOH DUEL LINKS HACKPokemon Duel HackRoblox HackPixel Gun 3d HackGrowtopia HackClash Royale Hackmy cafe recipes stories hackMobile Legends HackMobile Strike Hack

Here at ProvideYourOwn, we take a slightly different perspective. First, we love both the term and the idea. We also fully support the practice of empowering people to make and alter (hack) stuff. Where we … Read the rest

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Why Provide Your Own Food?

By Scott | Published: October 10, 2010

While to some this question may be obvious, to many it is not. Food in America is both abundant and cheap. Go to any grocery store, and you will be presented with a cornucopia of food. Fresh produce is always available even when out of season. Sandwiched in between the meat/eggs/dairy section and the produce aisle is the bulk of the store, teaming with every kind of convenience and pre-made food imaginable. A person doesn’t even need to cook anymore – just a trip to the kitchen freezer, one can usually find a pre-cooked meal ready to be heated and eaten. So why should anyone even cook their own food, much less grow and process it?

Here are some reasons to ponder:

Independence

Independence is what being a Provider is all about. Americans don’t realize just how dependent we are on large corporations for one of the most basic and essential needs for life – food. Our food supply is carefully managed and controlled, with the power over it concentrated in only a few hands. Production is carefully controlled by just a few large corporations, processing and distribution by those same corporations, and the retailing by another small set of … Read the rest

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Materials for the Maker/Provider

By Scott | Published: October 9, 2010

If we are are going to break free from total dependency on manufactured goods, we will need to make uncommon use of materials – materials we don’t normally think of using or materials that are new to us. Materials that will permit us to make a lot of different things ourselves, and in using them, we can craft our stuff to suit us better – whether we are hacking existing items or making something from scratch.

There is a great sci-fi book by Jerry Pournelle called . This book describes a race of people which are differentiated into specialized breeds. While such a concept (eugenics) is abhorrent to us here at ProvideYourOwn, the book is fascinating nonetheless. One of the breeds among this race is an engineering class. Not only are they brilliant tinkerers, but they have an array of materials and skills with which they are constantly making, rebuilding and/or hacking things to suit their needs. No rummaging through catalogs or wandering the store aisle; ending by buying something that only partly meets your need. No, these folks would cobble together exactly what they needed from a combination of miscellaneous parts and some very versatile materials. I think that … Read the rest

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The Coming Energy Revolution

By Scott | Published: October 5, 2010

With ever rising energy prices and the constant talk of peak oil, the future appears to be very grim. Entire segments of our society are so sure of the demise of modern life that they are already planning for a post-oil era – a time when energy is scarce and expensive.

I hate to be the one to disappoint them, but while we are entering a post-oil era, it is not an era of scarcity. Just the opposite. Instead of reverting back to horse and buggy in the not too distant future, energy will become so abundant that the need for crude oil will go the way of the need for whale oil. How can I make such a fantastic claim, especially when all the facts seem to be to the contrary? The answer is simple – there are massive changes under way that will dramatically change the way we obtain, store and transmit energy. They are plain to see if you know where to look, but very few people are looking. Instead, they are focused on the old sources and paradigms. The new sources and paradigms are gaining steady headway and soon will overtake the old ones. When … Read the rest

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The Art of Painting Signs

By Scott | Published: October 3, 2010

Maybe you have never needed to paint a sign before. Or maybe you have, but have been too intimidated to try. Well, fear no longer. I found this great article by Rob Rohde-Szudy detailing some techniques the author tried and what he found successful. His application was painting a design on his boat.

Here’s an excerpt to get your mouth watering:

A little history

Here we are touching on the old and dying art of sign painting. When Ole Evinrude was selling his first outboard motors, every city had sign painters. It seems like a mundane trade, but these guys were artists of the highest caliber. Don’t believe me? Try painting some lettering on a vertical surface. Try to make it look really sharp and professional. Go ahead! I’ll wait.

See? I told you it was hard!

These professional sign painters painted lettering all day, every day. They could paint signs as fancy as anything we can do on a computer with nothing more than a collection of brushes and their highly-trained eyes and hands. Actually, some of the fonts you see on your computer came from styles painted by sign painters. Now, of course, computers and modern printing methods

… Read the rest
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