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Suggestions for Functional Jewelry?
szyzyg asks: "I'm getting married and my girlfriend and I have been looking around at rings and not really getting anywhere. I have all sorts of high concepts about what this should represent and I keep coming back to the thought 'nothing which is useless can be truly beautiful'. So I've been fighting with the idea of how to make a ring which has some use beyond simple symbolism... concepts like using magnetic minerals to turn it into a compass, or engraving some sort of measuring mechanism into it. So here's the challenge I'm putting to the Slashdot bright idea machine: How do I make a simple piece of jewelry useful? Someone out there must have better ideas."
Add a little James-Bond-Esque laser to it. Just make sure she takes it off with the rest of her stuff before you tie her up. ;-)
Informatus Technologicus
What ever you get, do *not* engrave a date inside - too often it turns out to be a "best before" date.
For those who are not socially inept the wedding ring serves as a very simple communication device. It informs people as to who is 'off the market'. This same type of communication has been acheived by other cultures in different forms, eg a red dot on the forehead or a basil plant in the window.
Thoughts on tech, Software Engineering, and stuff
How about a secret compartment in which you can keep a cyanide pill?
:)
This is cool in a James Bond kind of way AND you will have a quick way out of the marriage if the mother in law gets too much.
People couldn't type. We realized: Death would eventually take care of this.
Earings that double as biohazard detectors
Glasses than can shield your eyes from nuclear blasts.
Watch/Dirty Bomb detector (don't leave home without one!)
that when put into the hearth, shows funny-looking script characters on the inside, resizes itself to fit the wearer's finger, and answers to the name of "Precious."
it would be
One ring to rule them all,
One ring to find them,
One ring to bring them all
and in the darkness find them.
On the other hand, mood rings are pretty cool, too.
Free as in mason.
You dont want your future mother-in-law saying "Well that Billy is a nice boy - but geesh did you see that ring he bought her? I thought those computer people made good money?" know what I mean? :)
If you want to make her one - go for it - but get a expensive one to put on her finger in front of the preach...
Duke
FreeBSD: Nothing runs like a daemon with a pitch fork.
it's pretty ugly visually, but if you're more turned on by functionality then this peasant sundial ring might be the ring for you.
:-)
It's cheap too
Eventually after lots of pain she came to appreciate her original ring more than the regular engagement ring, but it took many months and quite a few girlfriends to say "wow that is a nice stone".
Now about the use of the ring, it sends a message to her: I love you so much that I'm happy to waste a few grand on you.
Lastly, sometimes the most beautiful objects are those with no use at all. The caves of Lascaux painted 15,000 years ago are one of the most beautiful sights you could ever see.
** Try to argue that M$ is other than absolute evil or that Linux could be improved here, and you'll see what I mean
If you were really energetic... I suspect one could assume the existance of a straight edge and a string. With the right markings on the ring, I think you could turn it into a make-shift sextant. Hang the ring from a string, use the straight edge to line up points in the sky, etc. The small diameter of the ring would probably make it almost useless, but it would be a neat story. If you added a magnet, it could serve as a neat multi-purpose device.
Granted, I do not know too much about sextants.
Plus, you get the really awful pun...
Just go with the twist tie. They have plenty of uses; closing food containers, picking your teeth, manually opening CD-ROM drives, etc.
> 'nothing which is useless can be truly beautiful'.
Give her a diamond. They are very beautiful and you can make pick-up needles from them.
-- Cheers!
http://www.ibutton.com/
It allows you to store cryptographic keys, and more.
Design a ring that uses that as the facet, and you're all set. Very functional, very useful.
GPL'd web-based tradewars themed space game
I really do wish you luck, but did you run this past her?
Are you **ABSOLUTELY** **CERTAIN** she's OK with the idea of jewelry that "does stuff"?
Don't get me wrong - I'd love the idea of having a ring that could double as a compass or has a laser or maybe has a web server in it. But I'm not a chick for a reason. My wife would have killed me if I got her a ring that did anything except sit there and depreciate - that's why I let her pick it out. If nothing else, tell her that its super-power is that it also cuts glass.
Seriously, man -- stop the bleeding before it starts. THIS COULD BE A TEST! Chicks *love* doing kind of thing to us.
"Lawyers are for sucks."
- Doug McKenzie
My wedding ring is pretty geeky -- it's titanium with engraving -- dots and vertical lines representing 0's and 1's, which spell out my wife's initials in binary (in 5-bit letters). I got it here; the guy that runs the place is very open into making custom-made designs.
;-) Now only if I could find a titanium hat -- the tin ones are so 20th century.
I had thought about actually using it for something, like an encryption key -- for example if I started at a certain place on the ring, went a certain direction and counted up 7 or 8 bit ascii words, I could get a passphrase after a while, a pretty strong one. At this point all I would need to memorize for a theoretically very long passphrase would be the starting location, direction, and number of letters.
Even if the men in black kidnapped me and found my ring, they would still have a hard time figuring it out
Whatever else you might try to make it do, first ensure that your choice accomplishes the basics. It must:
Oh, and one more suggestion, something I learned the hard way: make sure that it doesn't have any sharp points sticking up. My wife's first ring (the diamond fell out at the beach one day, so she got a new one) had these fairly sharp points on the tips of the prongs around the solitaire. Every time she'd roll over to cuddle up in bed, I'd end up bleeding.
Note to ACs: I usually delete AC replies without reading them. If you want to talk to me, log in.
However, you can still buy a Java iButton and embed it into your own ring.
See here for details:
http://www.ibutton.com/ibuttons/java.html
Anyone remember the Java rings that were at JavaOne a few years back? Those were the DalSemi units...
-psy
A lot of people really detest the diamond industry. I for one hate DeBeers, even more than I dislike Microsoft. At least Microsoft doesn't use slave labour, murder people, and abuse their workers. It's hard to justify a shiny peice of carbon with an artifically high price on it when you look at all the human rights violations the companies that mine them cause.
I know there's sociatal pressures that say you need to have a diamond. And why? Because DeBeers invented it!
http://www.africanfront.com/diamondboycott.php
There's one link, I'm sure you can find more with a quick google.
How about you seen how many places of Pi you can engrave on it? It could be really handy if you ever need the 100th decimal place of Pi.
you could make it automatically hide or turn invisible when a nice looking woman walks by you
The concept that everything must have a function is indicative that you live in a capitalist society, which assigns value to objects which provide utility. That, which does not provide a function, is valued less than that, which does. I proffer, that a ring can be art for the sake of art without function and still have worth.
I assume you gravitate towards a utilitarian theme, as you are trying to avoid another vice of the capitalist middle class -- a flagrant display of wealth through the donning of ever-growing mass-produced gold rings with diamonds.
In an attempt to avoid both, my wife and I purchased our nontraditional rings at a modern-art museum. Thus finding something that didn't require the context of society to be of worth for its utilitarian appeal or it's perceived monetary value.
Good luck.
Linux : Mac
I find sundial rings appealing. You should find several at these sites:
o r a larger picture of the design is herel
http://www.villagecraftsmen.com/SUNDIALS2.HTM
http://www.uniquecanes.com/AstroKey1721.htm
Since this is something you'll be spending your life with, you might have one made by a jeweler. In that case, it could be designed for your latitude.
A cipher key phrase or a circular slide rule of some sort could be put into a ring also. Any slide rule should translate into a circular slide rule, but on the scale of a ring, it would be quite small, and so not terribly easy to use.
Not to be too much of a sanctimonious PITA, but how does your fiancee feel about this? This is an object that symbolizes your commitment to each other. While I wear a wedding ring that I made, I certainly discussed it with my wife, because this ring is about us.
You might try to find a phrase worthy of inscribing on the ring, if a plain band seems useless to you. That could increase the personal meaning. You might think of other designs you care about, or something you find unique and beautiful. Don't underestimate the importance of beauty and personal meaning.
OK, I spent enough time writing this that other people have made the same points. I'll risk redundancy, and say my piece anyway.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly.
A ring like this
Check out the creative use of rings on this page. Pictures of the ring in use near the bottom of the page.
...so make sure it reflects her, and not just your, sentiments. The idea that "nothing that is useless can be truly beautiful" is quite specific and quirky. I am a novelist, and I shudder to think that my stories could be "useful" in any way. Some things are intended to be beautiful solely in themselves. Your lover's eyes, for instance, are presumably quite beautiful to you without being handy to any purpose. It is this kind of beauty that the ring is supposed to represent, and not the functional beauty of Java classes, and therefore uselessness is part of the point.
A diamond, on the other hand, is not necessary, or desirable (I personally draw the consumer line at armies of slaves).
Rings with compartments were very common durring the late 70's and the 80's. They were used for storing cocaine.
OK, I got a few
earrings that can have a trebel hook installed at the campsite and be turned into a good shiny fishing lure. Note, I suggest cheap brand metal for these earrings. The evil underwater stump monsters will snag them occassionally, heh.
A ring that somehow can be used to store your login/passwords. No idea how to do that but seems like a spiffy idea. Watch battery, bluetooth chip, small memory of some kind, something like that.
Take a clue from the middle east and the way they store family wealth there still,convert some of your soon to be less valuable petrodollars into gold coins, said coins get kludged together into a necklace, so you have some real money for emergency/survival situations. 1/10th ounce coins are available now and would seem to be easy to make a necklace out of them, small enough to not be ridiculous, already broken down into barterable unit size, reasonably attractive as jewelry. The spooks in ww2 and the southeast asian games did a variant on this with issuing their guys necklaces made of gold where the links broke off easily, to be used for bartering their way out of enemy territory should they get shot down, stranded, etc. Gold is still "money" around the world, always a good backup to have some of your wealth stored that way.
Ever thought of becoming a Green Lantern? That has a ring that's both functional AND pretty!
Anyway, yeah. I agree with a previous poster; with most women, the best "functionality" a ring can probably have is that it cuts glass. Face it; while you may be thinking logically, and want something that costs x thousands of dollars to actually *do* something, love and lust never respect logic. Just get something pretty.
Oh, wait, there's one more functionality - Whenever she sees it, she thinks of you. And the pricetag. Ye gods, the pricetag...
"In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet and say to us, 'Make us your slaves, but feed us.'" -Dostoevsky
Jewelry is very functional: it advertises disposable wealth and social status. In that sense it serves as a piece of a larger key to open doors in circles you may not otherwise have access to... Even things you may not expect like recieving bank loans are easier if you have properly announced status. However, if your ring is too otherwise functional, it ceases to advertise either wealth or location in social heirarchy.
Jewelry also serves as a store of value... if anything happens she can sell the ring and live for a month. On the finger at all times is a very convienient location for a rainy day fund, especially if you have to leave suddenly with nothing but the clothes on your back and your children.
The ______ Agenda
... such a feckin freak. If your girlfriend is taking your obsession in stride she's a keeper. But I wonder if you're using up all that good will now --- save it for when you'll need to make serious decisions and compromises. To paraphrase Stein, a ring is a ring is a ring. So just buy one that fits well and looks nice and stop being a freak.
More like waytoolittlebrains.
Go with a diamond. It's a beautiful gesture of love to get her something that's so expensive yet so completely useless to you. It will always remind her of that, every time she looks at it. As for you, as other people said, your wedding band will communicate as a symbol that you're taken. It will also remind you of your love and commitment to her. Why would you want it to change channels on your TV, whatever else? You can get a remote on your watch or Palm. Keep it simple. The symbolism is enough function. Anything extra only reduces its true meaning.
Come on, seriously? Jewelry that DOES something? The functions are adornment and symbolism.
-- Recently married geek, who thought about this too, but realized that it the ring already has value and meaning in itself.
... in fact I'm afraid that if I put forward a practical idea I might be modded down as on topic.
;-)
Still, I have no idea if this is possible, but would it be possible to make two rings that can sense when they are near each other and change in some way? Let see now, transmitter, reciever, power source (tiny solar cell?) indicator (led? heating element? not a noice or a vibration otherwise it'll drive you mad being together) - it might be just do-able. The japanese are fond of those badges that do this.
Problem will be size of course, so perhaps this idea is not practicable, unless you both have big hands.
OK, then, perhaps you need something mechanical. Hmm. Perhaps something that you get when you fit both rings together? A key, perhaps?
Best suggestion so far is the guy with his SO's name engraved on one of those cool titanium rings. Sequence her DNA and write that on it!
~~~~~ BigLig2? You mean there's another one of me?
Get one of the really knobby rings with smooth edges and you will always be able to satisfy her. It would have real and symbolic meaning for your relationship.
It's also great for getting it caught on things and tearing your finger off! :)
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Install a microchip radio transmitter into a ring with a large key in it, or maybe just a bit of disk space, or a msg or something to that effect.
Then you can use it as a key for anything digital, or a micro storage device.
Personally I think that would really be cool to get, but then I am just a geek.
~ kjrose
We found a local jewler and asked if he could fashion two gold rings in the shape of a mobius strip (a one sided one edged object). We showed him, out of paper, what a mobius strip was and what it could do. A month later, and for a total cost of $90 (in the 80's) we had two rings with a half twist. To make the rings comfortable and keep the twist in a certain place he had slightly flattened the underside of the ring so that it wouldn't ride around on our fingers. (for those interested, to make a one sided one edged solid gold object he created the twist in a mold and then poured the gold into the mold.)
I always liked the mobius strip rings... there is certainly symbolism in them (no 2 sides, but 1 side... 2 people working together as 1, etc...). Nobody else had anything like them and they were quite attractive.
Aloha Nui Loa for your upcoming wedding - hope to see you honeymoon here on the active volcano in Hawaii.
Please mod me down. I never get that done anymore.
Don't forget that any technology that you put into the ring will probably become obsolete within a few years, so unless you are specifically planning on either upgrading the ring or upgrading your wife, I recommend going the traditional route.
What may seem novel or cool today will probably not seem so novel or cool 20 years from now. Remember that the ring is a symbol of your marriage. What ring you select should reflect what you value in your marriage and your spouse.
My mom always said, "Jim, you're 1 in a million." Given the current population, there are 7000 of me. God help us all!
Real women don't want a diamind:
Real women? Where have you found someone who doesn't want a diamond? I'd say you're out of the loop. Stop reading /. and go on a date. I don't know ANY woman who wouldn't want a diamond.
Void
void
Youll be lucky to get 1/10 of what you paid for it. GOld jewelery alwasy sells at a little bit above melt value, and noone buys diamonds for anywhere close to what they sell them for. This has been repeately documented, but hasnt sunk into the brains of the populaion yet. Want resale value? Buy gold, silver bars and coins.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
A diamond ring has the inherent functionality of being able to score glass. With a little practice, she can become adept at permanent warchalking on the windows of businesses with poor wi-fi security.
A ring is useful, it tells other guys to bug off or the guy who gave her the ring will come a calling.
Don't you look at a ladies hand, before you start hitting on her?
have some soft wax for her to carry around, stick a dab on whatever she needs to sign, stick her signet ring in it, leaves an impression of her initials, and poof, you have a legally binding contract. romans did this for nearly a thousand years, maybe more.
moox. for a new generation.
Jewerly does not have a natural mechanical function otherwise it would be a tool. However I believe McGuyver could build a high powered "laser beam" with a diamond.
-- ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space!
I have all sorts of high concepts about what this should represent and I keep coming back to the thought 'nothing which is useless can be truly beautiful'.
Just don't tell you fiance this when you have her in bed. She might start asking what her "use" is.
have your PGP sigs laser-engraved into it. When you give her the ring, include a jeweler's loupe on a matching necklace.
Life is like surrealism: if you have to have it explained to you, you can't afford it.
if anything happens she can sell the ring and live for a month
Very wrong unfortunately.
Diamonds have absoulutely no resale value worth speeking of. Have a look at this slashdot story
Yes a diamond could be used as a bribe, but you certainly can't live for a month on one.
Gold might be slightly better. Most jewlers will readily give money for 'scrap gold'. Althouh most survivalists will tell you how useless gold Kruger rands /soverigns etc are. Most banks wont accept them and jewlers will often just give 'scrap gold' value.
If you want jewlry as an emergency money source, try a necklace made of gold segments (or heavy gold chain) The segments can be broken off individually and sold / used for bribes.
Anyone quoted by a reporter knows how little they understand
Don't believe what you read is the truth.
Brass Knuckles: Beautiful and Functional yet Inexpensive
Four times the rings, five times the impact
How about a secret decoder ring? if you make the band in two parts--outer and inner, or something like that--which are movable relative to each other, so the ring can twist or something like that, with notches representing letters or some such, you've got your very own (or her very own, anyway) Lil' Orphan Annie secret decoder!
you could also use the engagement ring as one half of the decoder and the band as the other.
But surely the wedding ring is to show love for each other and not just another gadget. Why not just enjoy something that is beautiful but not necessarily useful
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
Engrave your Slashdot Username and Password on the inside. Then you'll never forget.
They make the woman you intend to spend the rest of your life with HAPPY! Isn't that usefull enough?
If you can come up with a better use for anything in the world let me know.
I found my inner child, then I got caught abusing it...
Now for you, the Java Ring might be just what you're after. Sold by MRI, you can get ones that store, encrypt or compute. It's FIPS-140-1 certified, 134K of SRAM, zeroizes on tampering. Here is the fact sheet.
Of course, you can get a nice plain wedding band, and ask her to get you the Java Ring for the other hand. Your call.
Required parts:
1 12-volt auto battery
1 flasher (turn signal) relay
14-gauge cable
1 gold chain
1 pig's heart, recently removed
String the cable decoratively through the gold chain, leaving all four leads exposed. Attach the pig's heart at the bottom of the chain using any method desired, placing the exposed leads on opposite ends. Attach the relay to the hidden set of leads, after which you must attach the battery. Watch the amazed and delighted reactions when your family sees the heart beating naturally.
The Java Powered iButton ring of course!
http://www.iowatelecom.net/~njohnsn/thejava1.ht
(I was going to say that a regular ring is useful, it's the chain that your wife uses to enslave you, but my wife hit me when I said that...
Awesome furniture, accessories and cabinetry in Santa Rosa, CA: http://humanity-home.com/
"Hell is other people
nothing which is useless can be truly beautiful
That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Ignoring the fact that beauty itself makes something useful (ever owned a nice CD or a painting?), how can you possibly say that the item you symbolically profess your eternal love with is USELESS??
Dear wife: I think it's much more important to give you this plastic decoder ring than a beautiful diamond. Because it's USEFUL! The diamond is USELESS! And by the way, if you don't cook and clean you're USELESS TOO!! Wait? Why are you crying? Come back!
Seriously, give her the rock like everybody else does, it's silly but that's what you do. And then get her a cool gadget for her birthday.
Embossed Holograms (the type that appear in credit cards) are produced by making a nickel shim from the original hologram (in photoresist) via electroplating Gold is sputtered on the resist and nickel is electroplated. If gold is built up instead a shim with the relief structure could be generated and incorporated into a gold ring. With a thin layer of protective material (perhaps a diamond CVD film) the ring could be extremely durable. A 3d image could be generated or a pattern that would be projected by a laser pointer. Very unique.
I replaced my original (white gold) wedding band with a Ti one; It is very functional; It will save my hand if I ever get a door/etc slammed on it. :)
Maybe you could make the ring out of a very powerful magnet; then you could erase floppies with a wave of your hand ;)
...
I know that this is so because it worked in the Abyss
or have it contain many many loops of copper wire, with 2 exposed "terminals"; just hook it up to a power source, and you have an electromagnet!
On a serious note, this discussion has me thinking; I would love to have my pgp key in my band; that is the most secure place I can imagine having it, and still be able to discard it if I want.
If one were really clever, they would make the ring with a little tiny processor in it, able to verify signiatures as well
Put a GPS and a 802.11 web server in the rings. That way each of you can keep track of where the other one is at all times. (At least as long as you stay close to a Starbucks).
How about...
- A flat part with a minute spirit level
- A rad-counter (would have to contain a replaceable detector material)
- A diamond - use to scratch glass, cars etc
;)
- A coil of dental floss
- An engraved protractor
- A Cap'n Crunch decoder ring (the ring as 2+ moving parts)
- (Tricky) make the ring resonate at an interesting frequency
- (Old school) a signet ring
- (Simple) marked edges - the ring can be flipped like a coin to make decisions
- A tiny, hence probably useless, circular slide rule (link)
- Neodymium!
- An induction coil - for when she needs to make a quick electromagnet
- (Cute, but not useful yet) a strand of your DNA - this way she can clone you
- (Awful) an engraved copy of your pre-nuptial agreement
;)
How geeky is this woman exactly?Who knows, the gift that keeps on giving... Honey can you open my beer for me after you get it ?
I have mod points and I am not afraid to use them
you could sell it and buy something for less money, using the extra for computer stuff!
A friend of mine has a necklace marked as a Golomb ruler. This is not really "useful" (except in the sense that if you were stuck somewhere and really needed a ruler, this is the optimally short piece of equipment to use), but it is a neat mathematical curiosity.
http://www.distributed.net/ogr/
I had a *really* good experience with these guys: www.dcjdirect.com You can give them a good idea of what you want and they'll do the rest -- and they're fast, efficient and reasonably priced. I sent them some ideas by email -- we went back and forth on it a few times, and then they made it in about 4 days! Really pretty work too. They also have some neat titanium stuff pre-made. -Bill
** Try to argue that M$ is other than absolute evil or that Linux could be improved here, and you'll see what I mean :-)
/. readership has exactly the opposite view of things.
I would argue that most of
If you want something cool, look at getting her a puzzle engagement ring. Those things are cool AND fun.
Either give her two rings, or make a composite double ring and have them engraved with the appropriate log scale numbers. Theoretically, you'd have a teeny-tiny slide rule! Well, OK, it might not actually be practical, but it would look pretty cool!
// todo: implement sig
Other posters have already suggested that the piece of jewelry be used to store keys for cryptographic purposes. But I have to ask, why use a cumbersome piece of jewelry for that?
I've often thought that mechanical locks and keys have some intrinsic beauty, and they are functional, not requiring electricity, etc.
So why not commission a locksmith to make your and yours a special houselock with exceptionally beautiful keys? Or, if you prefer, car keys?
BTW, about this "must be functional" fetish. Take a piece of advice: don't go compliment your spouse with such gems of flattery as
"Provided by the management for your protection."
There are many legitimate comments here regarding Diamonds and human rights.
If you are not interested in getting a diamond from DeBeers or some terrorist organization, start asking family members.
Especially grandparents who got screwed by banks during the depression, or who "ran a business" during the prohibition.
I know several different couples who each got engaged, got the engagement ring, had lunch with the family, grandparents, godparents, etc. and came back with several old pieces of jewlery and some diamonds. They never asked, some of the family memebers were holding onto the jewlery for a special occasion, and when the engagement was announced, the jewlery came out of the woodwork. They then took the diamonds and incorporated them into their special-made ring.
Note: These diamonds weren't spectaular, high value diamonds. They were average grade. But I'd take have a low-end diamond given to me by my grandmother over a high-end diamond from a DeBeers' sales clerk any day. Wedding rings are about sentiment and family, not about value.
"Can of worms? The can is open... the worms are everywhere."
.... have an use, 15000 years ago, the paintings also.
Arts in any era fullfill many very important social functions.
Diamonds do, but the horrifying background of how that trade works should put off all but the most indecent people.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
... what part of "immoral trade" can't you understand?
OK, second hand or antique, but not new. Please.
IANAL but write like a drunk one.
May not be an issue for yours, but mine rides horses, so anything that wasn't completely streamlined runs the risk of getting stuck in a rein, under a saddleblanket, etc.
Go custom, based around some personal story of hers, preferably about a ring she never got. I got my wife a horseshoe nail ring denied to her by her Mom when she was 12.
If it works for her, it'll be just fine for you . Total cost, including small diamond ~= $400, IIRC.
ceci n'est pas un sig.
I like the ruler idea, but I have something a bit more subtle in mind.
Make it a biometric identifcation device that functions by gauging the size of her ring finger. That way you can tell if someone is trying to impersonate your wife, as while you could use cosmetic surgery to make someone look like your wife, I doubt they'd think about changing her finger size. Sort of like Cinderella's slipper, it will only fit her. After all, she is your princess now, isn't she?
Kurdt
I'm not anti-social. Just pro-technology.
My spouse's wedding ring is faced with alternating inset emeralds and diamonds. The gems were purchased at auction (go to diamond auctions IN THE RAIN not when the weather is nice) so nobody was murdered or oppressed in order to supply them to us, and our money did not go (directly, at least) to murderers or oppressors. A local artisan friend set the stones into a custom gold band.
My ring is a 1901 woman's wedding band resized to fit me; soft, matte-finished 18-K red gold about a quarter of an inch wide and very very thick.
Their functions are beauty and portable wealth.
Their resale value is higher than what I paid for them, which is not true of most such things.
you know - the RFID tag that can be detected and is very small and tiny - put it near a RF emitter and it sends out an ID code.
Rig that up to your computer room entrance. Then when she walks near it - it will automatically lock the door or unlock it depending on the mode that you've got it in: PORN or NO-PORN.
There's a gorilla from Manilla whose a fella that stinks of vanilla and has salmonella.
Have some of us 'g33ky' girls don't want diamonds.
I know I've pretty much decided that I will dump anyone that tries to give me a diamond. If they don't know my opinion on them by that point, then how can they know really know me.
Yea, yea it might hard to explain to the family... but if people want to find fault they will. Now what I think would be really sweat would be a ring with a holographic crystal.
Get your head out of the computers and dumb movies and get on with living a life. Save your fantasies and neurotic attempts to find deep meanings in ordinary things for your dreams... or nightmares.
This same type of communication has been acheived by other cultures in different forms, eg a red dot on the forehead...
I read this post just after the James Bond / Laser one above, put two and two together, and got 'what cultures spend all day point rifles at each other after getting married?'
When ppl had no mirrors they used the surface of water. Their images were blurry and ugly... So they felt the need to make themselves precious.. with.. JEWELERY... :) .. so they could fell pretty again.. but when the first mirrors appeared they forgot about the reasons why they invented these little metal attachments to their bodies..
:)))
Today I browser porn and on every damn picture i see jewelery.. They have even Jewelery in their pussies and assholes...
The whole Jewelery thing is FUBAR!!!! and expensive...
Imagine bluetooth enabled rings with unique ID's.
When you get within range of each other, the wedding march plays from a built in (extremely small speaker). Or at least "our" song.... and I'm hoping "our" song isn't the Theme to Star Wars or something.
Or for the polygamist, a ring with an LCD and bluetooth enabled which tells you the names of all the wives within range. It's probably a faux pas to call Lurleen Brandine or vice versa.
---- The geek shall inherit the Earth.
My wedding ring had our anniversary date inscribed on it. Believe me, that ring turned out to be VERY functional!
The diamond ring is the human male's antlers. It's there to complete the mating ritual and keep the mate interested. It's easily recognizable, it demonstrates the necessary ability on the part of the male to provide for the young and defend territory, it's completely useless, it requires a vast investment of resources to purchase, and it is harmful to other members of the species. Many of those features happen to be implemented by the diamond cartel, but that makes little difference to its purpose. And, if you ask me, compared to antlers, it's a lot less of a nuisance.
I agree are amazing, but the chances that you'll ever get to see them are pretty slim. (Unless you're an academic.)
The caves are closed to the public to prevent humidity and bacteria from destroying the fragile paintings. However, Lascaux II, a milimetre-accurate replica, is open nearby. And it's every bit as awesome.
While the main theme is animal (and the Bulls' Chamber is incredible), there's also an astronomy element which might appeal more to geeks. This link is a BBC site explaining how maps of various constellations are visible in the paintings on the roof of the Bulls's Chamber - and painted 16,500 years ago!
A few months ago there was an Ask Slashdot covering alternatives to diamonds, asked by someone knowledgeable about the problems that diamonds have. (De Beers monopoly, slavery, etc.)
There were a lot of interesting suggestions. Jewelry-wise, if you want functionality, a diamond is the way to go (If you don't like DeBeers, go synthetic.) Hardest substance on earth, could come in handy... I can't think of much that's as durable and lasting as a diamond and small enough to be jewelry.
Others suggested going simple with the jewelry. Maybe just get her a cheap silver band, but at the same time hand her the keys to a nice new car... (Does she like convertibles? If yes, does she have one? If no, there's your gift idea.)
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Don't forget synthetics.
retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
Id mod you up if i could.
All Troll + "offtopic" mods are meta moderated as "Unfair", because you abused the system.
What about a puzzle ring? I got my fiancee an engagement ring from this guy.
People work in the diamond industry for money. Without a job their families or themselves starve.
So, not buying diamonds does not hurt the industry so much as it does the individual worker. And their $5 a day is a lot compared to the rest of the continent which makes about $15 per month.
It's all relative.
c.
Just because a woman would like jewelry doesn't make her a heathen or a greedy slob. Quit demonizing women when you would easily spend $4,000 on computer equipment.
Human slavery exists in Africa and it has nothing to do with diamond mines. In almost every continent young girls as young as six years old are sold into prostitution. Neighboring tribes capture people or conquer a people and sell them into real slavery, with no wages, in Northern Africa.
If you are attempting to be politically aware, why not protest the involvement of the World Bank or International Monetary Fund, of which the U.S. is the majority, which enslaves developing nation with high-interest loans that only causes crushing debt....the debt that makes it impossible to build infrastructure, schools or services for its people.
It would be nice if naysayers on Slashdot would say no to that kind of enslavement rather than complainign about having to buy a jewel for their lover and best friend on some kind of misguided attempt at social awareness.
good luck,
c.
Tongue stud. 'nuff said.
i must be the only dork who still performs a manual spell-check. *agreed on symbolism/communication factor. *& from original: "I have all sorts of high concepts about what this should represent and I keep coming back to the thought 'nothing which is useless can be truly beautiful'." ...but what does /she/ want?
---------- "it's a prison"
Some have posted comments about not wanting to buy diamonds as it often supports slave and child labor, murder, corrupt governments, etc. There is a new market for "conflict-free" or "socially aware" diamonds. The diamond industry is working to take steps to keep black market diamonds from entering the market. Right now, any diamonds that are mined and cut in Canada are very popular because, they do not come from conflict areas. There's quite a few different companies that one can buy a "socially aware" diamond from, which includes a guarantee to be conflict free. In the northwest, they can be bought from Ben Bridge Jewelers, who sell diamonds from a conflict free Canadian company called "Ikuma". As far as functional... An Italian jewelry designer recently released a piece called "Love Signs". Here's the description: "The creation consists of a highly polished yellow gold disk pendant on a thin lariat, the other end of which consists of a diamond-studded stylus. One can close the lariat with the stylus, but not before the "giver" of the product writes his or her own inscription on the pendant using the diamond as a tool." Perhaps not ideal for an engagement, as it isn't a ring, but VOILA! A necklace and a diamond pen in one! (It's cool looking, too.) The company that designed this piece is called "Nanis" and can be contacted at: Italian Jewelry Guild 8383 Wilshire Boulevard Suite 518 Beverly Hills, CA 90211 My opinion is similar to what many others have already posted. Something does not have to be useful in order to be beautiful. On an evolutionary note: the aspect of art and making objects which are pleasing to look at is a large part of what seperates humans from other animals. Part of the anthropological definition of an advanced society is that they create objects of beauty that have no functional use or purpose. The existence of jewelry-like objects is tesimony to how advanced a culture is. They have the brains and tool-making skill to acquire the necessities in abundance, thus allowingly their brains to stretch further and create objects of beauty, not function. As an advanced species, we seek to create art/jewelry for beauty's sake. If it functions as a tool, that concept is lost. Aside from that, the ring is also not useless, as it stands as a symbol of love and committment. -Lili
when you wrote that.....i thought of a bubble with a magnet ball inside it, and then have a massive mag...wait a minute this is a geek couple...if they have magnets in their hands they'll fux0r the next computer they touch! bad idea i suppose...AVOID MAGNETS!
GENERATION 26: The first time you see this, copy it into your sig on any forum and add 1 to the generation.
Those braclets that Wonder Woman had were nice. Handy if your finance will be defending the world from evil. Esp. handy if she's a school teacher.
You might even be able to get them with a matching gold lasso that makes people tell the truth... Oh, wait... maybe that's not such a good idea.