PSA: I am neither suicidal nor dumb

Aug 31, 2008 03:21

Man, you take apart a monitor at a party and everyone wants to know what the hell you're doing ( Read more... )

hacking, playlets, cut that shit out, geek, hardware

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Comments 35

lwood August 31 2008, 10:44:10 UTC
*pops her head up from decade-old layout editing*

Mad Science? YAY!

-- Lorrie

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maradydd August 31 2008, 11:00:55 UTC
One of the next projects in the queue is turning an old 8" floppy drive into a centrifuge. (The salad spinner was cool and all, but when you need to centrifuge something for 15 minutes straight, your arm gets tired. Automation FTW.)

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bigby November 2 2008, 15:18:52 UTC
I would opt for a Bernouli drive.. i think they were higher torque units as well as being high rpm.

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Re: Professional geek on closed course! Do not annoy! maradydd August 31 2008, 10:55:48 UTC
HAHAHAHA.

I want a "Professional geek on closed course! Do not annoy!" T-shirt. There could even be various yellow-triangle-sign designs, like a welder, somebody with a soldering iron, someone in safety glasses holding up a smoking Erlenmeyer flask...

Though of course the logo would really have to go on the back, for those of us who hunch over our benches.

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barbarienne August 31 2008, 14:33:54 UTC
I think that would be a highly justified sign. I recommend it.

You'll have to post vid of the Jacob's Ladder when it's working. Very cool!

BTW, you're on my shortlist of "the folks I want nearby when the apocalypse comes."

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neoliminal August 31 2008, 17:59:48 UTC
Ditto.

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maradydd August 31 2008, 23:04:51 UTC
Oh, I plan to. :) In the meantime, there is video at the page which has the instructions I'm following. (I didn't design the power supply myself, but I designed the circuit it will be powering. The Jacob's Ladder is a nifty intermediate result, and useful for testing.)

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Re: Professional geek on closed course! Do not annoy! geekosaur August 31 2008, 14:56:40 UTC
I have to admit I'm kinda biased against spark gaps... comes of having hadf too many radio disruptions due to unrestrained sparking. (Ironic that radio started with spark gaps....)

Also, I consider things like this proof that we're descended from monkeys.

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maradydd August 31 2008, 22:59:16 UTC
I'm glad my mom was never particularly worried about that kind of thing. She was terrified that I would set the house on fire while cooking, and she got hella pissed when I spilled used phenolphthalein solution on the carpet (it's dark blue and stains permanently), but electricity was apparently okay.

Then again, my dad and granddad both are/were hardcore DIYers when it comes to electrical work. One of my fondest memories of my granddad is him and my dad fixing the automatic garage door at my aunt's place one Thanksgiving, a year or two before he died. He was in his late eighties, but he was right up there on the ladder, mucking around with wiring and telling my dad what to do. :)

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