Times may be hard economically, but you don't need to give your electronics-DIY enthusiast friend a naff present, thanks to MAKE's sub-$US20 Electronics Gift Guide. In fact, some of the items listed are so neat I'm tempted to gift a couple to myself right now... There's a DIY battery-powered USB charger kit good for iPhones, a tiny persistence-of-vision LED display, solar-powered theremin and more. My personal fave is the Drawdio music-making pencil. There're a few LED decoration projects there too: I think my Christmas tree may end up glittering with some DIY LED goodness this year. [Makezine]

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Telepresence robots pop up in different guises, including the Rovio (which lacks a screen to truly telepresence your image), but now there's this DIY project to follow to build your own. At core Sparky the robot has a Mac-Mini, motorised carriage and a Make controller board—though you can use an arduino—and some custom software that works around Skype. Buy the gear, or cobble together your own from spare odds and sods, and you too can work at work while simultaneously sprawling on your sofa in your undies. Like we do. [Instructables via Hacknmod]

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This sassy little thing is the brainchild of L. Scott Hudson, who recently participated in MAKE's Dorkbot Austin robot building event. This gal is kind of like the Twitter box bot we wrote about this week (also a MAKE find), but it's got the added bonus of moxie. It also gives you step-by-step self-assembly instructions in the video. See? Robots are ready to start building themselves. Earth: Doomed.

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We love the whacky creativity of the Maker Faire here at Giz, and all you DIY gadget enthusiasts out there will be pleased to hear MAKE has just put out a call for Makers for the upcoming Austin Faire. You've got until September 4th to get your application in, and the faire itself will be happening October 18th and 19th at the Travis County Expo Centre. [MakerFaire via LaughingSquid]

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Wired's Man in Barcelona, Charlie Sorrel, has made a rather wonderful e-book reader using his iPod Touch and a Moleskine sketchbook. The version you see here is Mark One, and he's already working on Mark Two, as the flap he created after the touch kept falling out of the notebook isn't really practical enough. Sorrel claims he did this to look cool and hip in Barna's bars and cafes and thus get the girls, so I'm looking forward to the follow-up post detailing his successes and failures. How-to video is below.

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Digital Wheel Art, a wheelchair painting program to help disabled people make art was on display at the Maker Faire event in NYC tonight. Creator YoungHyun Chung was inspired to create the device after seeing children with cerebral palsy whose limited movement stifled their artistic expression. Here's how it works, plus a video of the system in action.

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Here's a brain machine made from an old pair of shades with customised lenses by Okini393939. Stick 'em on and you have an instant meditation session thanks to the flashing lights and sound. I particularly like the instructions he put on the inside of the lenses—check it in the pic below.

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Using a US$115 Daisy open-source player, and a tin with a London tube map on it, Mchaceortiz made himself an MP3 player with a difference. The six way-retro switches on the tin control the volume, track selection and play and pause, and you can see another shot of it opened up after the jump.

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DIY gadgeteers, fire up your engines: the dates for Make magazine's first 2008 Maker Faire have been unveiled as May 3rd and 4th. The San Mateo County Fairgrounds in San Mateo, California will again be the venue. Expect to see all sorts of wonderful (and weird) DIY science, arts, crafts and engineering projects in action, just like last year. We'll be keeping you posted, of course, but if you want to go there in person remember that discount ticket sales end April 25th. [Maker Faire]

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The new version of Botanicalls can now talk to Twitter. It uses an Arduino electronics board connected to a notebook, and some soil moisture probes crafted from a couple of galvanised nails. Your plant can then send out a Twitter alert when it's thirsty, detect when its been over- or under-watered and let you know about that, and it can even signal its thanks. So, if you're off on vacation and your office-mates have abandoned your desk greenery, your plants can now automatically point the (green) finger at them. [Botanicalls via Make]

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