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Homeless Wires?

Posted by Cliff on from the shelter-for-destitute-and-forlorn-compware dept.

BladesP9 asks: "I'm in the process of moving. As such, I have stumbled upon no less than five boxes of wires and various parts. Everything from PS2, SCSI, FireWire, USB and God knows what. Having forgotten all about this stuff I know I will never be needing any of this again as long as I live. Not to mention the roughly 100 boxes of 10 pack 5.25 inch floppy discs. I could just throw all this stuff away, but I am feeling somewhat guilty about that. Is there anywhere I should look to donating this stuff? It doesn't seem like the kind of thing 'Goodwill' would really get use of, but I hate to throw away perfectly good hardware and media if someone could make use of it. I'm looking for suggestions. My wife has given me until the end of the week to find a home for it or I have to take it to the dump."

33 of 118 comments (clear)

  1. Extra stuff? by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 2, Funny


    I'll take it.

    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Extra stuff? by hsteck_ylf · · Score: 2

      Garage sale or ebay would be good bets...

      --
      If you are expecting something here, I don't know what to tell you...
    2. Re:Extra stuff? by bladesjester · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So is donating it to his local linux users group. At one point, I got roughly 100 network cards (mostly 3com isa) in among other things I got in trade.

      Only having use for about 10 (older machines +a few spares), I gave the rest to the local LUG. They were greatly appriciated because they had several older machinces still in need of parts.

      --
      Everything I need to know I learned by killing smart people and eating their brains.
    3. Re:Extra stuff? by NoMoreNicksLeft · · Score: 4, Informative

      Join freecycle and offer to give it away.

  2. Sounds like... by Muad'Dave · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A bulk-buy on eBay. Charge shipping + $1.00. Sort by cable type.

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  3. While you're at it. by Seumas · · Score: 5, Funny

    My wife has given me until the end of the week to find a home for it or I have to take it to the dump.

    While you're at it, why don't you take your testicles, too? You don't seem to be using them. You should be ashamed of yourself for admitting such a thing in public. You don't bring home money? You don't run your own house? I bet she made you give up all your cool rock band tee-shirts after she moved in, too?

    What a tool.

    1. Re:While you're at it. by b17bmbr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      perhaps you're not married. frequent sex will alter your appreciation of some computer cables.

      --
      My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
    2. Re:While you're at it. by Seumas · · Score: 3, Funny

      What does being married have to do with frequent sex?

    3. Re:While you're at it. by bear_phillips · · Score: 3, Funny

      He said he was married, so I think frequent sex is already out of the picture.

      --
      http://www.windmeadow.com/
  4. People will take it by over_exposed · · Score: 2, Interesting

    My company has always given stuff like this to local churches. While they may not specifically be able to use it, they may be able to spend the time prepping it for sale. Look at the retail prices for USB and Firewire cabling... They'll either be able to use this stuff or sell it off for a decent profit.

    --
    "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." - Patton
    1. Re:People will take it by BrianRaker · · Score: 2

      Local schools, too, will take in such equipement.

      --
      As I walk through the valley of death I fear no one, for I am the meanest sonova bitch in the valley!
    2. Re:People will take it by over_exposed · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Good call - my college had an intro class that used this kind of stuff all the time for a kind of hands-on museum display...

      By the way, nice sig :-)

      --
      "The object of war is not to die for your country, but to make the other bastard die for his." - Patton
    3. Re:People will take it by nuggetman · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Local schools, too, will take in such equipement.

      In high school, the director of technology let my friends and I clean out an entire room being used for parts storage. What we didn't throw out we got to take home. Trust me, schools don't want your old shit - they have plenty of their own to deal with.

      --
      ...and that's all there is to it.
  5. Try Craigslist. by Myself · · Score: 5, Interesting

    eBay isn't sensible for stuff that costs more to ship than it's worth.

    Post on Craigslist and get some local geeks to come pick it up.

    1. Re:Try Craigslist. by Seumas · · Score: 2, Funny

      Of course, the problem with that is that then there are people on Craigslist who will know where you live. If there are any people on the face of the earth that it would be frightening to have hold that information, it's the creepy people on Craigslist. ESPECIALLY the kind of creepy people that will come and pick up free ANYTHING (seriously, you could post free empty bottles of ranch dressing and some weird ass hippy or hillbilly or crankhead will come pick them up).

    2. Re:Try Craigslist. by hab136 · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Of course, the problem with that is that then there are people on Craigslist who will know where you live.

      So meet in a public place. Duh.

    3. Re:Try Craigslist. by Seumas · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But then you'd have to go outside. What kind of half-assed geek are you?! :P

    4. Re:Try Craigslist. by Sexy+Bern · · Score: 2, Funny
      AND meet people!

      AND converse!

    5. Re:Try Craigslist. by hab136 · · Score: 2, Funny
      But then you'd have to go outside. What kind of half-assed geek are you?! :P

      I'm the half-assed kind. A full-assed geek wouldn't go outside, right.

  6. Good Will Computer Works. by 486Hawk · · Score: 2, Informative

    Well if you are in the Austin area there is Good Will Computer Works

  7. Well ... by chris462 · · Score: 3, Funny

    This may be obvious, but ... eBay?

    Tell them you saw The Virgin Mary or whatever in it and Golden Palace will pay you thousands. ;)

  8. At the risk of sounding like a broken record by conform · · Score: 4, Informative

    Free Geek has a list of links to organizations, which (like Free Geek itself) promote computer reuse and recycling. The stuff you've got really doesn't belong in a dump, even if it's reached the point of being of no use to anyone.

    If you're not near any of the places listed, please consider shipping your stuff to one of them. Most are nonprofits, which means you can compensate for some of your cost with a tax deduction, and you can feel good about knowing that your old crap is either being given to people who wouldn't otherwise have access to it, or is being taken apart and disposed of properly, rather than taking up space in a landfill and potentially leaching nasty chemicals (mmm, heavy metals).

  9. Freecycle... by Atlantis-Rising · · Score: 3, Informative

    is always a good bet.

    --
    "It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
  10. Do what David Clark Did... by Jorkapp · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Hide them beneath the floor boards

    --
    Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
  11. A few places by mopslik · · Score: 4, Informative

    DIY Parts
    Craig's List
    FreeCycle
    eBay

  12. I want it by middlemen · · Score: 2

    Hi I am ready to take/buy the floppy disks from you !! contact me asap.. Thanks. walburn@gmail.com

  13. Try Freecycle by nile_list · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://freecycle.org/

    Kind of like Ebay! Except you get a warm, fuzzy feeling instead of money =)

    --
    Gnash Gnash Gnash
  14. Art by sho222 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Why not weave them into a nice artsy basket. I'm sure your wife would love that. Look here for inspiration.

  15. the dump may not be such a bad idea by wcb4 · · Score: 3, Informative

    Not sure about the dump in your locality, but where I live, just before you enter the dump per se, there is a steel building. There you will usually find hundreds of items that people think are too valuable to throw away, but they have no need for... I dropped off a few old computer chasis and an older printer, monitor and some cables one Friday afternoon. Found something else Saturday morning, and by the time I got back there, the stuff I had dropped off Friday was gone to a good home. See if there is something simialr in your area. If not, talk to someone about starting something like it

    --
    I reject your reality ... and substitute my own.
  16. What I do by Ratbert42 · · Score: 3, Funny
    First I try to "loan" things like that to other geeks. I know it's hard, but try to find a single geek. He'll probably still have it 5 years from now if you need it back.

    Or my other option is to smuggle it into work and put it in / on an empty desk, especially right after someone leaves the company. Problem solved.

  17. Local "antique" computer clubs by Roadkills-R-Us · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Check in local papers (including the cheap traders), and any local usenet ".forsale" groups.

    I advertised twice on austin.general with large lots of "junk", and within hours had several people wanting to come haul it off. One guy traded me a SCSI card and some install help for one of the lots, because he wanted to do something for it.

  18. Sometimes... just sometimes the wife is right. by hoggoth · · Score: 3, Funny

    For all of you posting about how he shouldn't take that attitude from his wife...

    Consider that maybe, just maybe, she is right.

    My wife has been after me for 12 years and three homes to throw out some old boxes of "important stuff." I put my foot down and refused to do it.

    12 years later I finally got around to opening those dusty museums of a ME I'd rather forget!

    Bell bottoms? Check.
    Sleevless velour "muscle shirt", size extra-small? Check.
    300+ floppy disks of Apple II games that I swapped for at fairs, but never actually played. Not once. Check.
    Mouldy hammock. Check.
    100+ pounds of wires, integrated circuits, resistors and capacitors scavenged from an ancient mainframe being throw out by my university that I was sure to use someday for some project. Check.
    One precious copy of Playboy with the one and only Nancy Drew, Pamela Sue Martin? Check.

    --
    - For the complete works of Shakespeare: cat /dev/random (may take some time)
  19. The Local Hamfest by N3Bruce · · Score: 2, Informative

    Check the ARRL for listings of Hamfests in your region. Offer the whole box or two up for a few bucks, or sell the stuff piecemeal for 25 or 50 cents a pop. Even if there isn't a hamfest in the area for a month or two, say you will sell your stuff there. You might be able to buy some time that way. The hamfest will also give you the opportunity to acquire new junk as well, so be prepared to defend any items that follow you home, or keep them in the trunk of your car until the coast is clear.