Richard Morgan's "Steampunk: Remembering Yesterday's Tomorrow" is an excellent, long feature on the steampunk phenomenon that was commissioned by the New York Times, but ultimately cut. He's put the whole piece online anyway:

Sara Brumfield, a software designer in Austin, Tex., agrees. “The Victorian home was a haven away from all the industrial changes. So machines would be invited into your home instead of just invading your home,” she explains, before admitting, “Look, I work with software all day. So much of the technology we have is not perfect at all; it’s just good enough to work. So we should stop worshipping it.”

She keeps her home steampunk and heavy on antique styling. Her website, The Steampunk Home, recently gushed over the analog dials on Kenmore’s new PRO Series refrigerators.

Her living room features a chemical flask as a vase, a brass steamship clock (a wedding gift), a three-foot-tall 1930s-era radio she found at a garage sale, an ornate brass lamp with red glass she bought at a bazaar in Istanbul, thick red velvet curtains, dark wood flooring, a dulcimer handmade by her husband’s grandfather and distressed Victorian floorlamps with frosted bowls. For a few dollars a pound, she scrounged a salvage yard for a sack of gears that she is using to replace the knobs on her bedside tables. Her bed itself is lit with a brass swing-arm lamp she bought at a thrift store for $10. Her pride and joy is a self-made sun jar in her kitchen, a shredded $6 solar light she put in a frosted hermetic jar to use as a nightlight (it charges during the day and glows at night).

Link (Thanks, Richard!)

See also: Steampunk in the New York Times

The New York Times fashion and style section has a nice piece today on the aesthetic influence of steampunk on fashion and art:

Devotees of the culture read Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, as well as more recent speculative fiction by William Gibson, James P. Blaylock and Paul Di Filippo, the author of “The Steampunk Trilogy,” the historical science fiction novellas that lent the culture its name. They watch films like “The City of Lost Children” (with costumes designed by Jean Paul Gaultier), “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” and “Brazil,” Terry Gilliam’s dystopian fantasy satirizing the modern industrial age; and they listen to melodeons and Gypsy strings mixed with industrial goth.

They build lumbering contraptions like the steampunk treehouse, a rusted-out 40-foot sculpture assembled last year at the Burning Man festival in Nevada and unveiled last month at the Coachella music festival in Southern California. They trawl eBay for saw-tooth cogs and watch parts to dress up their Macs and headsets, then show off their inventions to kindred spirits on the Web.

And, in keeping with the make-it-yourself ethos of punk, they assemble their own fashions, an adventurous pastiche of neo-Victorian, Edwardian and military style accented with sometimes crudely mechanized accouterments like brass goggles and wings made from pulleys, harnesses and clockwork pendants, to say nothing of the odd ray gun dangling at the hip. Steampunk style is corseted, built on a scaffolding of bustles, crinolines and parasols and high-arced sleeves not unlike those favored by the movement’s designer idols: Nicolas Ghesquiere of Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen and, yes, even Ralph Lauren.

Link (Thanks to all the dozens of people who suggested this!)

Last month, I mentioned Ann and Jeff Vandermeer's Steampunk anthology in passing, but the book deserves better than that. I've just spent several highly entertaining hours with my advance review copy and I'm knocked out. What a great piece of work this is, from the fascinating triumvirate of essays that recount the history of steampunk in literature and describe its contemporary appeal to the top-notch works of fiction inside, from forgotten proto-steampunk gems by Michael Moorcock and James Blaylock to contemporary pieces from Neal Stephenson, Jay Lake, Ted Chiang and Paul Di Filippo (among many others). Summer's almost here -- time to do some leisure reading, and what better place to start than here? Link

Jake von Slatt sez, "On Saturday May 3, on the main stage at Maker:Faire Heather Gold will leading a discussions about sub-culture through the lens of Steampunk. Participating in the discussion will be Cap'n Robert of Abney Park, artist, photographer and editor from SteamPunk Magazine Libby Bulloff and myself, Jake von Slatt. Please join us via the live stream and chat and lob us some of those tough and insightful comments!" Link (Thanks, Jake!)

Mary sez, "While looking for something else entirely, I stumbled upon this eBay auction for an Antique Steam Pulley Driven Workshop with Lights. Good heavens. It’s got a lathe, jig saw, drill… It’s like a steampunk Shopsmith, but it’s real." Link (Thanks, Mary!)

Heather sez, "A new painting & print from the fabulous Suzanne R Forbes is on Etsy. $10 of each print purchase goes to the EFF. "

Miss Eva G posed for me in her SOMA loft, dressed in her own fabulous steampunk finery, with an antique crossbow she brought back from China. The painting took several sittings with Miss E and then many hours of work painting in the detailed background. She is defending early implements of the computer revolution, Jacquard punch cards and IBM cards, a CDV of Ada Byron, and Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2. An apple core represents Turing, eaten up by the intolerance of his era. Also prominently displayed are so

me wonderful modern creations- The Steampunk Laptop by Datamancer and the Steampunk Flatpanel and Keyboard by Jake Von Slatt- who were kind enough to allow me use their work in the painting. The packet-sniffing rat under the desk is a nod to the EFF’s most recent victory; the EFF logo appears among the luggage stickers on the trunk. I added the bullet shells at the last minute when I learned that Miss E. is a crack shot.

Link (Thanks, Heather!)

Jake von Slatt sez, "The inexorable march of technology has rendered my 4:3 aspect ratio 19" LCD mod and my pump-less water cooled PC obsolete, so when I saw at 24" wide screen monitor on sale for $299.00 I grabbed it with the intent on making a Victorian All-in-One PC."

I connected the plastic top and bottom together with some lengths fo aluminum angle iron and then give them a coat of Krylon semi-flat black spray paint. When the paint was dry I masked off some of the trim using "FROG Tape" from Inspired Technologies - it works much better then regular painter's masking tape.

I hand painted the trim with a brush and small pot of gold paint which I then proceeded to spill into my lap. The Lady von Slatt has taken to calling me Goldmember.

Next I fabricated the back from perforated aluminum and pop-rivets.

Link (Thanks, Jake!)

Here's a great in-depth build report from a steampunk mouse project in Custom PC:

I'd decided to use mahogany for the mouse body to give it a satisfyingly rich colour that would go well with the brass I'd be adding later. I bought a 1/4-in sheet of wood (picture 3), measuring 3in wide by 36in from a Hobbies shop. Using what was left of the mouse base and PCB as a template, I cut a hole in the wood with a fretsaw, and then sanded it for a snug fit.

Sorting out the scroll wheel came next. It was constructed from clear plastic and illuminated by a blue LED (picture 4), which wasn't exactly appropriate for a Steampunk-themed design. I desoldered the LED and used 22mm copper heating pipe to fashion a new wheel. I cut a very short length of the pipe (around 7mm) and carefully smoothed the edges using emery cloth on a flat surface. The 'wheel' had to be gradually reduced in diameter until it was a snug fit, before using Araldite to glue the two parts together. I used a Dremel for most of this work, before sandpapering it to finish it off.

Link (Thanks, Alex!)

Watchismo's got some exclusive photos of the DeWitt Concept No. 1, a €400,000 watch that's like a cross between an AT-AT walker and a steampunk war-zeppelin control-center.

Selling for 400,000 Euros at the OnlyWatch auction before it had been shown to anyone, the DeWitt Concept No.1 was a beast to behold last week at Baselworld. Devoloped with French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, this gothic pirate spaceship of a watch is taking the steampunk oeuvre to new heights with its expanding riveted case, flying tourbillon, five barrels and a 21 day power reserve.

Link

Etsy seller Edmdesigns sells a wide variety of steampunky and clockpunky junque, from cufflinks to tie-tacks to rings to pendants, at reasonable prices Link

See also: Clockwork cufflinks, and their fantastic maker, Etsy seller Rivkasmom

Sillof (he of the badass Justice League of America steampunk action figure mods) has just unveiled his latest: a deeply awesome range of steampunk Star Wars action figures. Link (Thanks, Sillof!)

Etsy seller Rivkasmom has these gorgeous cufflinks made from old watch-movements on sale for $55 -- I saw a similar item at a posh London men's store on Jermyn Street last week for £400! Link (Thanks, Dani!)

It's too late to buy one of Etsy seller BuildersStudio's steampunky "Robot Bride and Groom Wedding Cake Topper Wood Statues with Base," but there's always the chance it'll come back before you need to get one on top of the cake. Indeed, you could just get one once they come back and wait for the kind of person who's willing to marry you with this as the centerpiece; surely that would be the best indicator of having found your heart's true destiny. Link (via Neatorama)

Steampunk Maker Jake von Slatt took exception to Merlin Mann's hilarious steampunk monologue and has followed it up with a video-response of his own, noting the upcoming steampunk anthology (which looks frankly awesome -- I have a copy on my desk and I've just skimmed it, but I had to slam it down before I got drawn into it at a time when I've got no spare leisure reading cycles) and Maker Faire. Link

Merlin Mann's hilarious steampunk comedy monologue had me laughing hard enough to burst my gauges. Link

Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: Steampunk mixes! Link

Today on the Worth1000 photoshopping contest: everyday objects underpinned with clockwork. Link

Art sez, "I've just completed my 'Siddhartha Pod' Steampunk Lantern. Entirely hand made and it took 2.5 months to produce."

The "Siddhartha Pod" Lantern, recently completed, is entirely hand crafted of solid mahogany, solid copper and brass. Without a doubt, the most labor-intensive lamp I've ever created.

Link (Thanks, Art!)

The Aetheric Dynamo from steampunk sculptor Dan Cohen is a notional ghost-catching apparatus of great loveliness:

The primary purpose of this machine is the attraction and capture of a lower Aetheric Shell, otherwise known colloquially as a ‘ghost’ or ‘spirit. The secondary function is the transformation of the Shell into remote aetheric antennae, and the transduction of aetheromagnetic energy into electromagnetic current.

Link (Thanks, Dan!)

This gorgeous steampunk headset status-indicator uses gears, magnets and illuminated panels to warn cow-orkers that you're on the phone and don't bug me.

I work in an office cubicle and regularly use a headset (the second best office tool ever invented). Every so often, my coworkers would sneak up behind me and start jabbering away not realizing I'm on the phone. I needed a way to alert them that I'm preoccupied...

So because of those reasons, I made this Steampunk Headset Hook. While not in use my headset just sits on the hook. When I receive or make a call I remove the headset from the hook and the LED backlights a sign that says, On Phone Sorry. This alerts anyone walking into my cubicle that I'm on the phone. I know it is kind of dumb, but at least it gives a purpose for a joule thief circuit.

A side benefit of this project is that I work in California where battery recycling is enforced. Our office has small cardboard containers throughout that are used to collect used batteries. These containers are rarely collected and are almost always 1/2 full. So essentially I have an unlimited supply of "dead" batteries at my disposal. This Joule Thief will never go hungry.

Link to video, Link to stills (via Make)

East Bay hardware hacker Tom Seppe refitted a 1967 Tote-Gote offroad motorcycle to run all-electric, then modded the chassis in steampunk finery, including gorgeous inlaid panels and a whistling steam-boiler hanging off the back-end. Be sure to catch the video!

When I was building it, I took a fire extinguisher tank. It all came down to aesthetics. I was looking at my drawings, figuring out where it would go. The steam boiler came from an aesthetic need, form before function. And the fire extinguisher fit what I wanted. So I cut a hole in the bottom of the tank, slipped a pipe in it, welded it on both sides. So that then I had a chamber with a through tube, which became the flame tube. It's not very efficient; there should be more coils in there. But on the other hand, if I crank it up really high, then you get flames shooting out the back of the bike. Which is cool.

Link (Thanks, Jake!)

I'm absolutely taken with the latest clock from master clock-sculptor (and my former neighbour) Roger Wood, Toronto's virtuoso mad steampunk genius. Link

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets our Joel has located one of the true shards of the holy dodecahedron of the original church of happy mutanthood: an ornate, steampunk mecha made from Legos. Life is sweet.

This model, by "Morgan19," is called the "Dardenbahst," a mecha with custom-painted golden touches which just gets better the more I look at it. It's far more functional and possible-looking than most. He even made a nice schematic image which you can see at the link below.

Link, Discuss this on Boing Boing Gadgets

Miss Monster has sculpted these scratch-built steampunk animal skulls that blow me away. Fetish masks for a firelight ceremony in a parallel universe. Link to bear skull, Link to wolf skull (Thanks, Ananth!)

Jake von Slatt sez, "I have always described Steampunk as the intersection of technology and romance and the email I got last night from Maker Dave Veloz proves it! Look what he made for Jenn, his lovely bride to be and fellow Steampunk aficionado!"

Awww -- that's one happily married couple, all right! Link (Thanks, Jake!)

This gorgeous steampunk CD players started life as a mass-produced $14 CD player. But by entombing the dead medium of CD audio in a handsome, artisanal case, Prof. Zuntaras has transformed it into the kind of thing that would enliven any parlor. Check the link for lots more photos and a video of the player in action.

For the discriminating gentleman who is ready to step up from the gramophone or wax cylinders, Professor Emilio Zuntaras humbly offers the Bi-Orbital Spectral Audiometer. Superior sound quality and, at just over 50 pounds, it offers full portability.

Link

Issue Four of Steampunk Magazine is out -- free to download and print at home, or buy a handsomely printed object from the publishers for a mere $3. In this ish, steampunky stories and biographies, an interview with New Weird shakers Ann and Jeff VanderMeer and makers Donna Lynch and Steve Archer, DIY millinery, making a Jacob's Ladder, learning to plate stuff with brass, and the straight dope on Victorian hallucinogens. 82 pages!

Trance Devices were popular in Victorian times for their ability to unlock the imagination. Poets, artists, and thinkers of all fields dabbled in the varieties of trance. Trances were commonly induced by hypnotism, among other methods. One of the more inventive trance-inducing devices was called the “witch’s cradle”. It was a swing-like device in which a person hung from a series of ropes balanced in such a way that it was impossible for the person to reach equilibrium. The individual was put in the harness in a darkened room and left to sway, turn and spin about in complete darkness, never coming to rest. Soon the person was “freed of various psychological ailments. What is less known is that they orientation” and started to hallucinate like in a dream. Link (Thanks, Jake!)

This beer-barrel R2D2 sculpture comes from Deviant Art's Amoebabloke, who's hoping to find a buyer who isn't just a rich collector. Link (via Gizmodo)