It has been a little while since my last post here, but things have been as exciting as ever in the world of computer reuse! Here are some quick news updates.
The first thing I would like to mention is a bit on the sad side. My two speaking engagements in Amsterdam last week were canceled on account of the Icelandic volcano. I apologize to everyone in Amsterdam who missed the event and hope to make it there in the near future.
Secondly, I had a really fun time interviewing with the BBC world service a few days ago and you can now listen to the interview online. It was particularly nice because I got a chance to talk about some of the projects in a little more depth.
The commentary about computer reuse directly following my interview by Drew Hemment is pretty interesting and definitely worth a listen. He also talks earlier in the program about the Eyewriter which is this year’s winner of The Future Everything Award. This device was created by some of my friends and colleagues at the F.A.T. Lab. I highly encourage you to checkout their segment (and project) as well.
Inhabitat, everyone’s favorite sustainable design blog, gives a nice shout-out today to 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer in their Electronics Recycling 101 Guide.
The Bay Area Maker Faire is rapidly approaching and I can’t wait to go and present some of the projects, raffle away a Gamer Guitar and sign some books. So, come to the Maker Faire with your copy in hand and I will both sign and draw strange pictures into it! If you don’t have a copy yet, you will be able to get one in the Maker Shed while you’re there.
Lastly, for the most current updates, don’t forget to subscribe to me on Facebook and Twitter.
While you might not exactly get a gold medal by winning the Dead Computer Contest over on Instructables, you might be able to make yourself one!
It turns out that the Olympic medals awarded in this year’s winter games contain recycled precious metals sourced from broken electronics and appliances. Although, there is only a small fraction of recycled gold, silver and bronze used in each medal, it is great to see the Olympic committee concerned with the environmental impact of their event.
This also begs the question, just how many dead computers would it take to make an entire gold medal? If I had to give a wild guess, I would think the answer would lie in the tens-of-thousands range. (Un)Fortunately, there happens to be millions of unwanted circuit boards out there in the wild and they contain more gold than you may think. Perhaps, at future Olympics, the winners will stand on the podiums with medals comprised of entirely recycled precious metals.
I always like pointing out to people that the RAM Money Clip (p.116) I made for the book is gold-plated and came out of your standard dead PC. Dead computers are just loaded with gold and other precious metals. So, even if you don’t make your own gold medal, you can still be blinged-out with your own E-waste creations.
Do you have a great idea for reusing a computer that wasn’t in 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer? Or perhaps you have an awesome new way to improve upon one of the projects that was?
Well, if you do, you are in luck! I am currently sponsoring a computer reuse contest on Instructables.
I recently gave an interview for the New York Times Bits Blog. It was a pretty cool experience because it was recorded for this podcast. I believe this is the first time I’ve been in a podcast, which is pretty cool because podcast sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie. For instance…”Quick everyone, climb into the podcast, the planet is about to explode!”… or rather… “Elgredorn was a leader in the podcast, the most noble cast on the planet Tadpole II.”… You get the point.
For the past seven years, I’ve had a broken digital camera lying around. It is still able to take pictures, but it is almost impossible to use on account of a broken screen. The fundamental problem is that sometimes the menu will accidentally get turned on, and not being able to see the screen, I can’t turn off the menu and take pictures (without removing the batteries to reset the camera). I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with this camera as long as I can remember.
For a while I was considering converting it to a near IR camera, but I was reluctant to make another one after having already made one for 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer (p. 200). However, I changed my mind about this when I learned that it was possible to use the material inside floppy disks as a visible light filter (for viewing near IR light). This sounded really cool and so I decided to give this a try. Not only does this totally work, it also adds another level of computer reuse to the version demonstrated in the book (as it provides a way to reuse floppy disks in addition to cameras).
It has been fun going around shooting pictures and discovering all of the interesting results when I upload the photos at home.
Perhaps you have built a NES “cigar box”-style ‘Gamer Guitar’ (book p. 193) and learned to play a few tunes, but you have decided that it is just not loud enough. No matter how hard you wail on your guitar, its little acoustic chamber just can’t do that three-chord classic ‘Wild Thing’ any justice. What is a guitarist to do?
If you have diligently read 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer, you perhaps might already know the answer. As the project aptly titled ‘Acoustic Rock Revolution’ (book p. 184) demonstrates, you must amplify! Yes my friends, it is time to amplify your Gamer Guitar and rock out in your garage like a hurricane (or at least a tropical depression – exotic and angsty).
Using a handful of basic, easy-to-find, parts and tools, I’m going to show you how to perform this operation in a matter of minutes.
As part of my families ongoing campaign to embarrass me in public, they conspired with my coworkers this past Thursday to have a pizza party, complete with a personal visit by Dame Edna Everidge. I’m not sure how much coaxing was involved to get my coworkers to go along with this plan, but I imagine it wasn’t much. On the bright side, I got to indulge in pizza, ice cream, apple juice, cookies, balloons, bubbles, a plastic top hat, a broken robot “that you can never, ever, throw away,” and a personal performance by Dame Edna Everidge. The only thing that I can think of that would have made the day more complete would have been Cosmic Bowling. In short, best workday ever.
The fearless and ferocio… FANTASTIC!… I mean, the fearless and fantastic, editor of my book Megan Nicolay has provided us with some awesome behind the scene commentary about the making of 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer. It never ceases to amaze me as to just how many dedicated people worked countless long hours, and put in so much care and attention, into the creation of this book. Megan’s post about models, designers, stylists and photographers only begins to scratch the surface of the teams of people involved. There were also proofreaders, fact checkers, illustrators, art directors, sales associates, interns, shirt-lenders, publicists, and needless to say, editors (to name a few more). I just want to take this opportunity to thank of all those individuals involved in bringing to light 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer.
Many moons ago, I sent 62 projects made with a dead computer on a long dangerous journey across our great land. After countless trials, tribulations and glamor photographs, these 62 projects have returned – wiser, stronger and more experienced – in a series of meticulously packed boxes. In some ways it was as though they had never left. We caught up and reminisced. In other ways, it was as though they were strangers. We had both grown in the time since they had left and I also had moved to a different apartment.
Integrating my old friends into my new living room, in some cases, was easy. The Music Monster was right at home atop my stereo speakers. And the resistor pillow was happy lounging atop my recently constructed bookshelf bench. And, of course, with a few books to prop up, the Drive Bookends were not going to complain. However, a few of the other projects are going to need a little more time to settle in and find their place. The Scanner table has kind of been moping around in the middle of the living room, just looking for the perfect spot to rest. And the Keyboard Lamp is clinging to a CD rack for dear life and seems afraid to let go. Yet, I am confident that in a few weeks time, everyone’s nerves will be settled and we can all figure out how to live together once again. It will be just like the good ‘ol days. It’s good to have them home.
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