electronics | JayceLand

As you all know, I quit working on the tricycle I was planning to ride to Burning Man this year. Doing that meant my time was more-or-less free in the last two weeks, so I thought I'd dig into another project I wanted to do for a while now. A friend of mine gave me a fake-fur purple coat that just barely fits (thank goodness I've lost a few pounds!) My original plan included a heart-shaped light around where my heart is that would flash to my heartbeat, and then animate light tubes outward from there to cover the whole coat. I since switched to colored LED's which were more readily available and more reliable. I didn't bother trying to get the heart monitor working either (at least not yet), so it's all done with variable timing to give the illusion.

So first it was getting a way to make 50 color LED's light up like I wanted, then to make them show different colors, and finally, to animate them into patterns. Without too many disasters along the way, I got it all working.

Here's a link to a YouTube video that demonstrates what it can do. See you all soon!

I met with the 15 or so people from MEETinROCHESTER at Regional Computer Recycling and Recovery (RCR&R) (7318 Victor-Mendon Rd., Victor) for the tour of the recycling facilities. We met with Director of Client Services Charlie McKernan who showed us around. He says their shop holds itself to high standards of recycling and environmental responsibility. They also have a fancy internal tracking system that can track parts from their source systems right to where they get recycled. The facility itself was a tech-nerd playground — a warehouse full of vintage computer systems. I was dismayed to see them go, but I do understand that for industrial applications, they are terribly inefficient. At least they are getting selected for resale and/or disposed of in a good way.

Thankfully for all of us drooling at the piles of neat stuff, they do sell working systems out of Rochester Computer Recycling Store (395 Central Ave.) and through their Electronics Café eBay Store. They accept computerized consumer electronics — mostly computers, but things like DVD players and TV's as well but not hairdryers or bread-makers — from individuals to corporations. They even do secure data destruction.

It's remarkable that such a cool place exists right here in town.

JayceLand

Tag Archives: electronics

Evening Wear at Burning Man

Touring Regional Computer Recycling and Recovery