Ask Slashdot: Projects For a Heap of Tech Junk? 210
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the build-a-robot-army-and-send-it-to-texas dept.
from the build-a-robot-army-and-send-it-to-texas dept.
yenrabbit writes "A friend has just told me he has 80 CRT TVs, a stack of DVD players and hundreds of VCR machines, all broken and all mine free of charge. I can already think of a few awesome components I can extract (flyback transformers for high voltage contraptions and so on) and have a few ideas, such as DVD lasers, that I can build. But what else can be made from such a treasure-trove of components, and how would one go about processing such a large volume of stuff with the least amount of effort? Also, I don't have access to online shopping so I'd also like a pain free way of salvaging many simpler parts such as resistors as well."
Another reader sent in a similar question: "The other day I went down to my University's property disposition center for the first time. In addition to mundane things like chairs and desks, it also had a wealth of technological devices, from old PCs and monitors to obscure medical and chemistry equipment. Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed. I just don't know what I'd do with a old gene sequencing machine or a broken oscilloscope. Any ideas for fun projects? Or better yet, suggestions on how I can figure out which machines (or their components) are worth playing with?"
Re:Two words (Score:3, Funny)
I'm not sure what anyone would do with a Beowulf cluster of VCRs, but I think it would be awesome!
Re:Time machine (Score:4, Funny)
Hmm...I'd almost agree, though IMO one should never give up the opportunity to throw a perfectly good CRT off of the side of a building. They make awesome noises when they hit the ground.
Haven't you ever had to throw a big piece of glass away, and you ask yourself: Why am I just going to "throw" this away without breaking it first? Honestly I rarely if ever throw away big pieces of glass without breaking it first, and I think everybody here agrees. CRT's are equally fun to destroy.
Re:Sometimes "free" is still too expensive! (Score:2, Funny)
Disposing of old electronic junk is easy and profitable:
1. Dig a hole.
2. Put your electronic junk in it.
3. Set fire to it.
4. Collect all the gold and lead that dripped into the bottom of the hole.
5. Profit!
6. ???
7. Die of cancer.
That doesn't seem right.
Re:You binned some SGI workstations??? (Score:4, Funny)
Windows 3.11 on a 286 with a Hercules graphic card.
And a 2400 bps modem. Hopefully you can still find a copy of Trumpet Winsock around somewhere!