9 Feb
2000
9 Feb
'00
11:45 p.m.
-----Original Message-----
From: thomas.h.lindberg(a)se.abb.com <thomas.h.lindberg(a)se.abb.com>
To: classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org>
Date: Thursday, February 10, 2000 6:37 AM
Subject: Re: Dumpster stories!
A coule of years ago we had two very tragic dumpster stories in Sweden,
three kids vere killed while reading magazines in covered
newspaper/magazine dumpsters.
The kids had seaked in through the narrow opening where we dump our old
newspapers/magazines and sat there while the truck came to pick up the
dumpster content. The dumpster was automatically emptied into a compacter
at the truck and all taken to the fragmentation site where the kids wer
found crushed.
The dumpster openings are now just about the size of a mail box.
I can't believe some list members here dive into dumpsters for computers.
That's dangerous. There could be dangerous,sharp items inside some. Toxic
residues (not all companies respect the environment), Legal reasons (maybe?)
not to enter one.
There are so many better ways to find old computers in much better condition
than something thrown into a dumpster with everything else piled on top.
john
PDP-8 and other rare mini computers
http://www.pdp8.com
Thomas
9 Feb
9 Feb
1:54 a.m.
John B wrote:
I can't believe some list members here dive into dumpsters for computers.
That's dangerous. There could be dangerous,sharp items inside some. Toxic
residues (not all companies respect the environment), Legal reasons (maybe?)
not to enter one.
There are so many better ways to find old computers in much better condition
than something thrown into a dumpster with everything else piled on top.
Being alive all by itself is dangerous, so danger by itself is not a
realistic way of measuring the value of something. If I had not gone
dumpster diving a few years ago to recover a carload of Vector Graphic
manuals, hardware, etc., it would have been gone. With the companies
permission (and help!), I spent the morning and most of the afternoon
checking out things. The value of having things like Vector marketing plans,
price lists, hardware, and software manuals, at least to me, is great!
Dumpster Diving is a standard practice at the TRW swap meet. The key to this
whole thing is *the hunt* :)!
10 Feb
10 Feb
12:56 a.m.
Dumpsters are less common in the UK, though we do have "bins"
and skips that can yield up interesting finds.
Check out:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1893626075/o/qid=9501
95643/sr=8-1/103-0416203-0784633
The Art and Science of dumpster diving - a bit tongue in cheek, but
some useful info nonetheless.
1:28 a.m.
On Thu, 10 Feb 2000 14:56:34 -0000
S.D.Birchall(a)pgr.salford.ac.uk wrote:
Dumpsters are less common in the UK, though we do have
"bins"
and skips that can yield up interesting finds.
I can report a recent find here at the Uni.
I saw a grey cable in the nearby skip (dumpster) which
turned out to be a PET IEEE-488 cable, standard connector
at one end and special PET edge-connector at the other.
And I have the PETs at home to connect it to!
--
John Honniball
Email: John.Honniball(a)uwe.ac.uk
University of the West of England
2:33 a.m.
There was an article in Wired a couple (few) years ago about guys who did
this professionally around the Toronto area (IIRC). They were making up to
$200k per year diving! The article was interesting; the author went on
some dives with them, talking about how they were actually spelunking in
the large (20'-40' dumpsters). I remember some of the hauls were like 500
laptop batteries, 80 used toner cartridges, etc. One nights haul was in
the tens of thousands...
Never had that much luck myself. The best I've done is a working Xerox
copier (with collating/stapling) that I resold for $100, and I once found
a really nifty rolling toolbox, as used in auto mechanics' garages, with
one drawer missing...
On Thu, 10 Feb 2000 S.D.Birchall(a)pgr.salford.ac.uk wrote:
Dumpsters are less common in the UK, though we do have
"bins"
and skips that can yield up interesting finds.
Check out:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1893626075/o/qid=9501
95643/sr=8-1/103-0416203-0784633
The Art and Science of dumpster diving - a bit tongue in cheek, but
some useful info nonetheless.
1 a.m.
On Thu, Feb 10, 2000 at 08:45:57AM -0500, John B (dylanb(a)sympatico.ca) wrote:
I can't believe some list members here dive into dumpsters for computers.
That's dangerous. There could be dangerous,sharp items inside some. Toxic
residues (not all companies respect the environment), Legal reasons (maybe?)
not to enter one.
There are so many better ways to find old computers in much better condition
than something thrown into a dumpster with everything else piled on top.
Yeah, but they're not as much fun :-)
-Rich
--
------------------------------ Rich Lafferty ---------------------------
Sysadmin/Programmer, Instructional and Information Technology Services
Concordia University, Montreal, QC (514) 848-7625
------------------------- rich(a)alcor.concordia.ca ----------------------
1:28 a.m.
At 08:45 10-02-2000 -0500, you wrote:
I can't believe some list members here dive into
dumpsters for computers.
That's dangerous. There could be dangerous,sharp items inside some. Toxic
Foo. I'm at more risk crossing the street than I am digging through a
dumpster. If I smell something odd, or see a patch of some unknown
substance, I back off. It's that easy.
I've been fortunate: Most of the dumpsters I've been able to plunder are
nothing more than waist-high tub skids.
residues (not all companies respect the environment),
Legal reasons (maybe?)
not to enter one.
What's the worse offense? Wasting perfectly usable hardware, and in doing
so contributing to the pollution of the planet, or rescuing said hardware
to continue performing useful work with it?
While I agree that there may be legal issues present, they're not enough
to keep me away if I think I have a chance to recover something usable.
I've never heard of anyone getting arrested for diving, just chased off. In
my mind, that's worth the risk if the target is worthwhile.
Suggested DD survival gear: Sturdy coveralls, safety glasses with
wrap-around side protection, safety shoes (steel toe) and a good pair of
gloves.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bruce Lane, Owner and head honcho, Blue Feather Technologies
http://www.bluefeathertech.com // E-mail: kyrrin(a)bluefeathertech.com
Amateur Radio: WD6EOS since Dec. '77
"Our science can only describe an object, event, or living thing in our
own human terms. It cannot, in any way, define any of them..."
2:08 a.m.
>A coule of years ago we had two very tragic
dumpster stories in Sweden,
>three kids vere killed while reading magazines in covered
>newspaper/magazine dumpsters.
>The kids had seaked in through the narrow opening where we dump our old
>newspapers/magazines and sat there while the truck came to pick up the
>dumpster content. The dumpster was automatically emptied into a compacter
>at the truck and all taken to the fragmentation site where the kids wer
>found crushed.
>The dumpster openings are now just about the size of a mail box.
I can't believe some list members here dive into
dumpsters for computers.
That's dangerous. There could be dangerous,sharp items inside some. Toxic
residues (not all companies respect the environment), Legal reasons (maybe?)
not to enter one.
There are so many better ways to find old computers in
much better condition
than something thrown into a dumpster with everything else piled on top.
Say, are you trying to reduce competition in your huntig grounds ?
:))
H.
--
Stimm gegen SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/de/
Vote against SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/en/
Votez contre le SPAM: http://www.politik-digital.de/spam/fr/
Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
HRK
3:29 a.m.
At 08:45 AM 2/10/00 -0500, John B.wrote:
I can't believe some list members here dive into dumpsters for computers.
That's dangerous. There could be dangerous,sharp items inside some. Toxic
residues (not all companies respect the environment), Legal reasons (maybe?)
not to enter one.
There are so many better ways to find old computers in much better condition
than something thrown into a dumpster with everything else piled on top.
yeah, but none are as exciting as dumpster diving. You never know when
there might be an Altair sitting under that next half a ton of wet card baord!
Joe
4:53 a.m.
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5:36 a.m.
On Thu, 10 Feb 2000, Tony Duell wrote:
In the UK you have to get the permission of the owner
of the
skip/dumpster to take stuff out. I've been lucky in that I've often been
allowed to do this.
Uh...same thing here, but trolls abound. I've never been given permission
to dig in anyone's trash; in fact, the mere mention of interest in someone
else's refuse has frequently gotten me threats of what would happen if I
went against their wishes. I no longer ask, I just wait for a moonless
night, put on the black turtleneck, and take a little flashlight with
me...
Someone mentioned the "anything goes" trash night. We used to purposefully
find interesting looking crap to put on the curb, then sit in lawn chairs
and wait to see who stopped by. We met some really interesting, friendly
people that way, and managed to barter for some cool stuff (I got an
original Oddyssey that way). It's fun to watch "ordinary" people trolling
around in stake-bed trucks loaded with all kinds of discarded treasures.
Aaron
9 Mar
9 Mar
1:39 p.m.
> I can't believe some list members here dive
into dumpsters for computers.
Hey, come on, dumpster diving is fun! Most of the time I find nothing, but
the few times that I do, it's all worth it.
AFA hazards, I'm exposed to much more hazardous things daily. Chemical
hazards:
In the darkroom: Hydroquinone (fatal at 1 tsp), acetic acid, sulphuric
acid. When I'm mixing the stop, it's 28% acetic acid. (Same stuff as vinegar,
but what you buy for food is normally about 5%). Cyanide. Bleach. 6 molar
HCl in Chemistry all the time.
Other: Possible interactions and side effects with medications I take
daily. An unexpected athsma attack. Staticmasters (Negative cleaning brush
with radioactive strip embedded in the bottom.) Asbestos fire curtains and
pipe insulations all over my school. Yes, it is cracked and dust falls off
all the time. Why? Because Milford is trash. No one cares.
Not to mention driving, falling down the stairs, choking on the caffinated
peppermints I eat as soon as I wake up... so climbing into a dumpster is
really the least of my worries.
The neatest things I've found (but was unable to take because of size):
Centrifuge (the size of a washing machine)
Non-functioning SEM (!!) [Yes, really a scanning electron microscope]
Associated non-functioning control computers and frame grabber
Kept:
An entire garbage bag full of 3.5" floppies (I'm still going off of that..
about 3 years ago)
Silent 700
Tons of misc. stuff
And so on. But it's really exciting to see what you might find in your
local inconspicuous dumpster!
Kevin
2:32 p.m.
Hmmm, thought this thread long dead.
Non-functioning SEM (!!) [Yes, really a scanning
electron microscope]
You know I've actually got pieces of one of these. Well, not the electron
microscope, as that's still at the College I got the stuff from, but the
computer that used to control it. In fact my PDP-11/73 is named after it.
That's right it was controlled by a PDP-11.
Can't imagine *anyone* throwing an electron microscope in the dumpster
though.
Zane
10 Mar
10 Mar
4:32 a.m.
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10 Feb
10 Feb
2:08 p.m.
I can't believe some list members here dive into
dumpsters for computers.
If you never dumpster dive, you will never find one of the really big rats
to keep as a pet.
What I love is when a dumpster prude walks by at a public place like the
end of a hamfest, and gives me the how could you look, then like three
other divers show up and we carry away all we can hold while the person is
still shaking their head. A prude is a person who doesn't do something they
at least have some interest in for reasons that examined coldly hold little
water. <no reflection on present company, please>
All I know for sure is that it suits me, and doesn't suit others.
9053
days inactive
9082
days old
14 comments
13 participants
participants (13)
-
a2k＠one.net -
af-list＠wfi-inc.com -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
dylanb＠sympatico.ca -
Hans.Franke＠mch20.sbs.de -
healyzh＠aracnet.com -
John.Honniball＠uwe.ac.uk -
kyrrin＠bluefeathertech.com -
marvin＠rain.org -
mikeford＠socal.rr.com -
rich＠alcor.concordia.ca -
rigdonj＠intellistar.net -
S.D.Birchall＠pgr.salford.ac.uk