Slashdot has nearly two decades of spotting and showing off interesting projects, inventions, technologies, and hobbies. Some of them are strictly personal, some are frankly commercial, and some are the fruits of ambitious organizations (or tiny teams) motivated by curiosity and passion, politics, or just plain fun. The site's new Build section (build.slashdot.org) offers, under one big virtual roof, everything from makerspace visits and interviews with technologists and innovators, to hands-on projects and inventions. Not everything you'll find in the Build section can be built with a soldering iron and some duct tape (worthy projects can come from a large company or a university just as easily as from a personal workshop, and different resources mean different possibilities), but all of it should prove inspirational: It's a big umbrella, and it includes biotech, new materials, creative use of sensors, 3-D printing, hardware built to be hackable, cooking, robots, and re-purposing equipment that, without a dose of practical creativity, might be consigned to a junk-heap. Just like the rest of Slashdot, the Build section combines reader-suggested, editor-curated stories with original content, such as video visits to the hackerspaces and makerspaces where some of the projects and technologies originate, and interviews with some of the people behind the (happily booming) culture of invention. Most of the stories that appear in the Build section will also appear on the main section of the site, but reading the Build section itself means getting a stronger dose of the geeky content that Slashdot's always focused on, as well as some section-exclusive posts. Expect the occasional small giveaway, and most importantly send along your tips and suggestions for projects you'd like to see explored here. What inspires you, inspires Slashdot.

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Image: Nick Kolakowski