When DHL delivered mail to Adafruit Industries last week, it wasn't a typical invoice but a gut punch: a $36,126.46 customs duty bill that had to be paid within seven days.

The bill comes from Trump's multi-layered tariffs that can stack up to 170% on certain electronics components. — Read the rest

RadioShack is back?! In this video, our friends at Adafruit interviewed Tai Lopez, who is revamping the storied brand.

On Monday, Rob wrote about the new Raspberry Pi 400 computer-in-a-keyboard. The computer by itself sells for US$70 and there's a full kit with mouse, guidebook, cables, etc. for $100. The rub was that you had to pay for shipping from the UK. — Read the rest

This morning, I launched a new series of posts that I'm going to be writing on Adafruit on the history of cyberpunk science fiction and how it has evolved, how it has influenced culture and technology, what it got right (and wrong) about the near future in its fictional speculations.

Adafruit greeted the news that Trump Treasure Secretary Steve Mnuchin had cancelled the plan to make the great hero Harriet Tubman the first African-American and the first woman on US currency with a video and tutorial for 3D printing a Harriet Tubman stamp that you could use to blot out the genocidal racist scoundrel Andrew Jackson on your money.

I had the pleasure of writing the cover feature, on Limor Fried (aka "Ladyada") and her company, Adafruit, for the latest issue of Make: (Volume 57). Since a lot had already been made about the company's impressive and popular open source product line and Limor as a successful female entrepreneur, I decided to focus on what I think is another rather unique aspect of the company: the fact that the open source ethos that informs the design of their hardware also informs their corporate culture. — Read the rest

The legendary hardware hackers speak for two hours about gender, participation and representation in tech, teaching electronics with papercraft, and the joys of open source hardware.

The fun-lovin' hackers at Adafruit banged together this teensy weensy MAME cabinet over a weekend; it's more of a kludge than a project, and they didn't document the build in its entirety, meaning that making your own is a challenge that the Fruits have thrown down before you.

Phil from Adafruit sez, "Adafruit released and shipped one of the only maker/hacker subscription boxes."

Kevin Kelly and I had a great time talking to Limor Fried, an MIT engineer and the founder of Adafruit, a one-stop shop for makers to buy electronics kits and components as well as learn and share ideas related to electronics prototyping. — Read the rest

From 2013, an adorable cross-stitch kit from Adafruit.

Our friends at Adafriuit, makers of cool electronic kits and components, have announced their first vinyl record: Frequency by Bartlebeets. They say it's the "soundtrack to your soldering." They are giving away the digital version at the link above.

It's a great, makerish Black Friday at Adafruit: free UPS ground shipping on orders of $75+; a free PCB ruler on orders of $99+; a free 5v Trinket on orders of $250+ and a free Raspberry Pi on orders of $350+!

Our friends at Adafruit are hosting a month-long program on Google+ "aimed at crowdsourcing the manufacturing and delivery of the Robohand prosthetic to people in need." The next hangout is this Friday 10/11 at 8pm ET and MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis will be joining! — Read the rest

The first episode of Adafruit's "Circuit Playground," a kids' puppet show about electronics, "A is for Ampere," just went live and it's smashing.

Last month, I brought you the delightful news that Adafruit was launching a kids' puppet show about electronics called Circuit Playground. Now Adafruit has begun to offer plushie toys based on the characters from the show, including

Cappy the Capacitor
Hans the 555 Timer Chip,
Mho the Resistor,
Connie the Transistor,
Ruby the Red LED and
Gus The Green LED. — Read the rest

The boundlessly wonderful folks at Adafruit are producing an online puppet show for kids aimed at teaching electronics. I could not be more happy about this without that I exploded.

Their new online show, titled Circuit Playground, will teach the essentials of electronics and circuitry to children through kid-friendly dolls with names like Cappy the Capacitor and Hans the 555 Timer Chip.

Congrats to our friend Limor Fried for winning Entrepreneur's Entrepreneur of 2012 award!

Recognizable by her signature vivid-pink locks, Fried (or Ladyada, as she is known on the internet) is one of the dominant forces behind the maker movement–a legion of do-it-yourself-minded folks who create cool things by tweaking everyday technology.

Phil Torrone sez, "Learn to make a speaking, card-reading toy! The Babel Fish helps you learn to say words and phrases on RFID flash cards by reading the card and playing an associated sound file loaded on an SD card inside. — Read the rest

Phil Torrone of Adafruit sent me a bag full of maker skill patches. When my 9-year-old daughter came home from school today, her eyes popped out like a Tex Avery wolf. I told her she could have them all, but she has to earn them! — Read the rest