technojunk

Drum Controller Parts Harvesting

Drum Controller Parts Harvesting

Today’s dumpscore included a Guitar Hero drum controller. I don’t have any use for it as a controller at this time, but I’ve been curious what is inside this category of devices. There were also about a half dozen guitar controllers for various game systems, but I wasn’t as interested in those today.

When I got home, I cleared off the table and grabbed a screwdriver. A half hour later, I had a nice neat pile of the electronic parts, and the rest of it was stashed away in the recycle bin. There was some neat telescoping tube in the stand, but I don’t have an immediate use for that stuff, and don’t have enough of it to create a storage category for future use.

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MAKEcation Family Challenge — Technojunk Teardown

MAKEcation Family Challenge — Technojunk Teardown

Our last major MAKEcation initiative this year is a family challenge contest, sponsored by Maker Shed, with some sweet prizes. Here’s your challenge: Choose a piece of technojunk, some cast-off electronics that you’re willing to take apart (modem, cassette or CD player, printer, VCR, scanner, answering machine, TiVo, etc.). DO NOT touch TV sets and […]

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Yet another HDD clock

Lovely hard drive clock. Unfortunately, the text is all in Polish, but you can derive a lot of the details from the hi-res images. HDDClock [via BB Gadgets]

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WEEE Man teaches with technojunk

WEEE Man teaches with technojunk

Image from WEEE Man WEEE Man is a massive pile of technojunk brought out of the netherworld of the e-waste stream. As an educational project, the WEEE (Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment) Man site provides useful resources for teachers and students. Their overview is a good place to start on the big picture of the […]

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Tech improv in Thailand

Tech improv in Thailand

[A mop made out of old socks] [Bike reflectors made from CDs] On Street Use, KK has some nifty pics of improvised street tech spotted on the streets of Thailand. The images are from a book of photographs by Thomas Kalak called Thailand – Same same, but different! Improvisation in Thailand

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Epic HP printer take-apart

Epic HP printer take-apart

When I was writing my TiVo hacking book, my favorite part of the entire project was taking apart two TiVos (a series 1 and series 2) and trying to figure out what everything did. I tested components, poked around inside the code, did countless Google searches on chip manufacturers and parts numbers, looked up patents, […]

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Technojunk salvage tips

Technojunk salvage tips

Here are some useful tips on salvaging components from old electronics. I especially like the idea of using the bottoms of water bottles to create clear, stackable parts bins. Tool Tip: How to Salvage PCB Parts – Link

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