The Gr8 Internet Migratory Box of Electronic Junk, Codename: Big Box of Electronic Booty

TGIMBOEJ for short. I was astounded when I came across this seriously cool phenomenon. I mean who wouldn't be? You got a pretty decent size box, crammed almost full of electronic gadgets, gizmo's and junk, you take wheatever you want from within the box, then you put some (or all) of your old electronic booty in the box. Then all you are required to do is A. Pick another person from the list to mail it to next and B. Post a blog about your box experience with lots of goody pics. You can also add to the list of names, in form of an email addy. Thats it as far as requirements for receiving the box. So with that said, lets explore some of this box's contents

TGIMBOEJ
The Gr8 Internet Migratory Box of Electronic Junk
Codename:
Big Box of Electronic Booty

After a couple weeks of trying to find a way to get put on one of the existing boxes lists I decided to start my own. Though I am not an expert gadgeteer or even electronics guru for that matter. Albeit, I do have a thirst for gadgetry, especially making my own. I have for years and years, always had 'bright' ideas and putting them to paper in for of sketches and schematics etc. Lately, I have become more enthralled into electronics. Over the past year or so I have acquired two robots. One pet and one service. The latter of which I am willing to hack as there are many a hacks for Roomba's. The later models have a built in port for connectivity and there is even a BT (Bluetooth) hack for the lil guy.
So, whats in the box you ask? I will delay no further...(still trying to get pics just right)

Website Development Update,,,

Hello everyone, it has been quite some time since our last post here. As we started to develop our site tattoothebaby, we happened to acquire a few other sites, most still in-need of or in-development and or tweaking. We will soon be recruiting "help" so to speak for a select few individuals to get in on some groundbreaking ideas. The other sites I refer to are PCG33Ks.com, eDealaDay.com, Shopmit.com, BLBusiness.net, FinishLineTile.com, go ahead click on them, check 'em out. There are a few more as well, so this is why we here at tattoothebaby have been "slacking".
Although, we do have a ton of great ideas and are currently working on a plan to get them from paper to the web! Ever heard of the The Great Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk?

We here at tattoothebaby are starting a new version of the TGIMBOEJ...so, If you would like to be on the list feel free to email us anytime...

All TGIMBOEJ rules still apply and with this new box as well as tattoothebaby requests permission to post a copy of your "review" of the TGIMBOEJ. Have fun with it, I wil be posting pics of whats going in the box and reveal my plans for what I pulled from the box.

The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk is a progressive lending library of electronic components. An internet meme in physical form halfway between P2P zip-archive sharing and a flea market. It arrives full of wonderful (and possibly useless) components, but you will surely find some treasures to keep. You will be inspired look through your own piles, such as they are, and find more mysterious components that clearly need to be donated to the box before it is passed on again.

Recipient Conditions for The Great Internet Migratory Box Of Electronics Junk:

1. Take out and add as much electronics junk as you like (but keep it small enough to fit in a USPS flat-rate Priority Mail box).
2. Write up, photograph, document or otherwise publish in some way online at least one thing you took out (suggested flickr tag: TGIMBOEJ).
3. There is a little book in the box. Add a checkmark by your name to show that the box has been to you. Also propose a future recipient by adding their name and e-mail address to the book.
4. Within two weeks pass the box along to one of the people whose name is in the book. Before mailing it to them, send them this list and make sure that they want to participate.

If you get the box, who you should send it to?
A proposed recipient should be someone you suspect of having a critical mass of (or at least sufficiently interesting) electronics junk, should have a non-zero online presence, and should be reliable enough that you think they actually will send it off again within two weeks. (Naturally, bonus points for open source oriented hardware hackers.)

Why would you want to get a box of junk in the mail?
As Mark Frauenfelder observed in Make: vol. 12, there is a certain importance to keeping a junk box for future projects. We heartily agree. Perhaps a component in the box-- or the box itself-- will inspire your next project. Or just maybe it will have that frobnicated interoceter you've been looking for forever. Or maybe you just want to join our fledgling junk-sharing movement because it's fun.

Don't sweat the details.
Can you say "no" if someone offers you the box? Yes. Can you send it to the person whose name you wrote down? Yes. Can you send it to someone who already has a checkmark by their name? Yes. If the box gets too full, can you split the contents in two and send them in two different directions? Yes (but don't forget to add a new book to the new box).

all copy coded in blue (except my hyperlinks) was pulled from http://tgimboej.org/
I claim no ownership rights to what I copied, was used for instructional purposes only, thanks!


Hooch
tattoothebaby@gmail.com

Guess That Gadget!

Here is the very first Guess That Gadget! on tattoothebaby. A little background on Guess That Gadget!, most of the time the item will be something that we, here at tattoothebaby, happen to have collecting dust somewhere amongst our vast piles of, er, stuff? Sometimes we know what the item at hand does and sometimes, we don't. Feel free to email us pictures of your stuff and we will try to get it posted in the GTG! of the Week. Guess' can be left by comments or by contacting us. We will return all emails, eventually.
This weeks Guess That Gadget! happens to be a very handy device. It has a "Coghlan's" sticker affixed to its front and is embossed "Taiwan" on the back. It is fairly old as it is made of plastic and quite a bit of fading has occurred.
Tip #1- Most likely used by travelers. More tips and pics to come. Good Luck!

~hooch

04FEB08- Anonymous and Nick Guessed That Gadget! Thanks for participating in this weeks GTG! Stay tuned as there will be more to come.

Robot builds itself for special tasks

(Left) The rigid gripper used to connect s-bots. (Right) Three s-bots form a swarm-bot that can climb a step. Credit: Groß et al. ©IEEE 2006

Robot builds itself for special tasks from PhysOrg.com

In one of the latest studies on autonomous robots, scientists sat back and watched as their robot created itself out of smaller robotic modules. The result, called “swarm-bot,” comes in many varieties, depending on the assigned task and available components. As the current state of the art in autonomous self-assembly, swarm-bots offer insight into the potential versatility and robustness that robots may possess to perform missions beyond human abilities.

[Read More]