Who knows if you’ll be able to do this kind of stuff after 2012, when incandescent bulbs will be illegal, thanks to Bush and countless dimwits in Congress. This is sure something you don’t want to try with a mercury-laced CFL bulb!

Anyway, so I’ve wanted to make an LED bulb for some time. The first stumbling block was, ahem, time. The second was figuring out what to use for the actual bulb portion. As I was thinking of it this evening, I figured why not try an existing light bulb (expired, dead, non-working, etc.) and see if I could figure out a way to turn it into an LED bulb. One that is battery-operated, by the way; I’m not yet ready to begin playing with LEDs and 120 volts.

I searched on Google for how to “take apart a light bulb” and this was the first result. The instructions were pretty good, and I was fortunate enough to get it right the first time, which is lucky considering I only had one dead bulb to work with.

Cleaning out the powder took the longest. I got most of it out with a paper towel, but then had to resort to pouring a little bit of sand (salt would work too) inside and shaking it about. Finally, I rinsed it out with water, and that took care of everything.

Of course, after doing that, I realized that I should have tried to keep the powder coating intact, as that would have served to diffuse the LED light.

The wattage and company logo that were imprinted on the outside of the bulb were easily removed with a broken X-Acto blade. A razor blade would have worked as well.

So, I have a nice, clean, empty bulb now. I’d take a photo, but my camera is recharging. I have to wait for the bulb to dry before I can start the LED conversion.

At any rate, if you read through the comments on the aforementioned page, you’ll see a lot of neat things people are doing with dead bulbs, giving them a second life!

First, if you plan on doing this with LEDs, you’ll find these links handy (all of which were mentioned in the aforementioned comments):

• LED Calculator for Single LEDs
• LED Calculators
• Rewiring Cheap Christmas Light LED Strings for Low Voltage Use

I’m not the only one who wants to make their own LED bulb; check out this one with photos and instructions.

Also, with larger bulbs some people are making small aquariums for bettas or shrimp. Read through the comments on the aforementioned page, and you’ll get ideas from a flower vase to a ship-in-a-bulb.

If you decide to give it a try, remember to be careful. I wrapped my bulb in paper towels and then placed that inside of a plastic shopping bag. Any broken pieces went right into the bag and, had things went badly, all the broken pieces of glass from the bulb would have (most likely) stayed right in the paper towels and bag for easy clean-up!

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As I wrote last week, I have an Apple Newton MessagePad 100 and an eMate 300. For the benefit of those who may also have some variety of Newton, here are a few useful links.

NewtonSales.com
They have a small selection of stuff for your Newton. I found them while looking for battery options for the Newton. They offer a Newton NiMH Battery Refurbishing service for your Newton 2000, 2100 or eMate. You might want to give their service a try if you don’t want to do it yourself. (I haven’t used their service; I haven’t yet decided whether to attempt it myself or not.)

United Network of Newton Archives
Looking for software for your Newton? The UNNA is the best place to start. They seem to be among the last remaining Newton archives available and they are also claim to be the largest.

PDA-Soft
Looking for help with your Newton or other PDA? Check out PDA-Soft. They have a good selection of useful information, including detailed instructions for taking apart your eMate 300 so you can fix (or repair) the hinge, hopefully before it slashes the display cable.

I said that I’d write about the Newton eMate 300 in a future blog post. Well, this isn’t it. But, until then, if you want to learn more about the Newton eMate 300, read Tommy Thomas’ article, “My Great New Writing Machine: An Old Newton eMate 300,” on Low End Mac. It also provides some useful resources for current Newton eMate 300 owners.

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This past weekend, I took my Apple Newton MessagePad 100 along for the ride, with which I had hoped to compose at least one blog entry, but wound up just playing games on it.

Many moons ago, I wanted a Newton MessagePad. It looked so cool! And ahead of its time, as a recent battle shows. I started setting aside spare change and extra money into my “Newton Fund.”

After a while (and a tax refund, perhaps), I had enough money in my Newton Fund to get one. So, I did.

Shown above is my Newton, still alive and kicking.

I didn’t find the handwriting recognition to be as bad as others thought. It wasn’t perfect, but it was manageable. I also bought a modem to go along with it, which only added to the coolness factor. I was able to get on the local BBS as well as compose and send faxes!

At work, there was a time when I was doing both my regular job as well as the production. The production facility was separate and down the road from the office, so I used my Newton to keep track of jobs that needed to be done.

And, had I known anyone else with a Newton, I could have beamed them information with the infrared link. As it was, its only use was as a remote control for the TV. (Yes, it could do that too with the use of shareware.)

I never used the Newton as frequently as I had thought or hoped that I would. Its main downfall, in my opinion, was that it just eats batteries. I’m not sure what the specs are for battery life, but it’s pretty short. I do have the AC adapter, but plugging it in is not always an option.

Another issue is screen glare.

I believe that both of those problems were resolved in later versions, but I never upgraded to a newer MessagePad. I had hoped for one with a color screen before I would upgrade, but that never happened.

My Apple Newton MessagePad 100 is 14 years old this year. And I still carry it with me nearly every day, even if I don’t use it so often.

I also have an eMate 300, which I purchased off of eBay a couple years ago. It has a nicer display and is pretty nifty too, with more functionality than my MessagePad 100, which has an older OS and less memory. The eMate is supposed to have a longer battery life, but as the batteries no longer hold a charge and I have not obtained a new set, I cannot verify that. But, perhaps I’ll write more on the eMate in a future post.

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Would you have your thumbs surgically altered to make better use of handheld technology?

Whittling? If you’ve ever whittled, is that something you want someone doing to your thumbs?

On the one hand (no pun intended), I can understand the frustration in trying to use the incredibly shrinking technology of our age. But, to have your bones shaved to deal with it? To each his own, I suppose.

Perhaps it would be better, especially on touch screen devices, if the developers designed them such that the “buttons” could be of a variable size determined by the end user. Certainly a better option (for most people I would guess!) than surgery.

What do you think?

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Would you buy a powdered iPhone? Next question, would you pay more for a useless iPhone than you would pay for a new one?

The website, Will It Blend?, has put an iPhone in the blender to see what would happen. View the video here.

It ends up being a bent up frame and a lot of black powder and small chunks.

If you just have to have that for your collection, you can buy the pulverized iPhone on eBay! They also include a t-shirt, a DVD and a blender. Act now!

As of this writing, the bidding is up to $1,126.00 with 52 bids. Don’t miss out!

UPDATE (2007-07-21): Auction has been cancelled and relisted with a new title to avoid confusion. Click here for the new listing. Currently at $777.77.

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