Reading Jaysen in another thread made me wonder about other examples of low tech uses for high tech tools.
For example, this link offers a number of suggestions on unique ways to use a laptop.
Anyone else?
It was reported in the newspapers and on TV that in the Great Escape by 2,000 people from broken-down trains underneath the English Channel last week, the lighting along the tunnels — the only lighting — was provided by their mobile phones.
I have used my mobile phone as a torch not infrequently. With the last one, I simply used the light from the (admittedly bright) screen. The current one has a “light” function which uses the two LEDs designed as camera lights … they can be switched on and off … or even set to blink an SOS!
Mark
I have a few old towers holding up planks that I am using for equipment shelves. Milk crates are not available these days…
I have been known to use Sparc chips for space heaters. Just unplug the CPU fan and build a kernel…
That cup holder that all modern computers come equipped with… it’s a bit fragile, but otherwise works fine and retracts out of the way when you no longer need it.
Just saw a tech in the parking lot using a system board for an ice scraper. Looked like a PCI raid controller for an IBM X series server.
Just noticed a pair of 146GB 2.5" 7.5KRPM 2.5" drives holding a space heater at a suitable angle to heat the occupant of a cube a few halls over.
This is fun. I am not on the hunt for a cdrom demonstration or two.
We once made a high-glare light reflector for photographic uses out of CD-ROMS. Glued a bunch of them to a piece of cardboard.
No one here is that creative. So far the only thing is a cup holder on a desk. Quite disappointing.
Fluff
Now fluff, I think you are spending too much time is Le’D. Or are you as bad as they are?
I’ve seen many a monitor used as a white board for yellow sticky notes… not that I’d ever do that myself.
Wayback when, say about half-past the Bronze Age, I remember seeing old CP/M machines used as doorstops. (You may argue, quite reasonably, that old CP/M machines are not high tech. And they’re not, not now, but back in about a quarter to the Bronze Age, they were.)
And surely someone’s found a non-digital application for old floppies…?
ps
I’ve been seeing a lot of that, (though I’m not sure if they are really truly recycled old floppies) writing journals bound in floppy disks—one for each side.
I’ve used old mice to tease cats with. Apple mice don’t work so well for that, though, because they don’t have long enough cords.
I used my cell phone to light my way to my emergency candles last week when we had a (blessedly brief) power failure.
My cats have attacked our computer mice, too. Now, however, they’ve moved on to hunting down the iPod earbuds.
How could any miss the old MAC SE aquariums?
Cool! I’m sure the kitties would have loved a Macquarium, if I’d had a Mac SE and “modded” it in that way! As it is, some of my screensavers have been very handy as feline entertainment.