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Last Year's Gadgets Get New Life As... Jewelry

Will Sherman writes "Liz McLean Knight, a Chicago native, has applied her interest in electronics, computers, and music to a line of jewelry created under the name, Zelle. The catch? She almost exclusively uses spare computer and electronics parts in her work. Many of her pieces would be a perfect gift for your LAN admin, that cute girl in the IT department, or your favorite DJ. Among other things, she sells a belt made from IDE cable, necklaces made from capacitors, and a cuff bracelet made of midi cables. But can she turn my broken iPod into something wearable?"

31 of 249 comments (clear)

  1. Not all that new by lordkuri · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've had a keychain of a 4MB DIMM stick for years, and my wife has 8088 earrings =)

    1. Re:Not all that new by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      my wife has 8088 earrings

      Wow! I thought my wife had a lot of earrings!

    2. Re:Not all that new by Alex+P+Keaton+in+da · · Score: 5, Funny

      Please let this get popular....
      please let this get popular....
      Dude, if I could get away with giving my wife an old commodore 64 part on a rope to wear as a neclace instead of some gold crap, I would be soooo happy.
      Remember those clocks rappers wore around their necks in the early 90's? Maybe the next fashion will be CRT's haning around the neck....
      I am sure there is some way I could fashion an old dot matrix printer into a sex toy... just give me time

      --
      And All I Ask is a Tall Ship And a Star to Steer Her By
    3. Re:Not all that new by spauldo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yeah, I've got a celeron on my keychain. In my spare time I pulled the pins out of it. I used to wear a 78-pin SIMM on my dog tags, but that got too scratchy. My old business partner had a 30-pin SIMM on his.

      It's not just computer stuff. A good friend of mine wants to drill a hole in a d100 (a 100-sided "die" used in rpg's) to put on his keychain. I know several people that have d20's.

      Of course, my keychain is frikkin' huge, but it has to be or I'd lose it :) It's a pity the yen coins I had fell off of it.

      Anyone ever notice how hard the ceramic-like material that makes up a 1st generation pentium is? That's stuff's hard to drill through.

      --
      Those who can't do, teach. Those who can't teach either, do tech support.
    4. Re:Not all that new by obeythefist · · Score: 4, Funny

      Duh, the heatsinks would break her neck!

      --
      I am government man, come from the government. The government has sent me. -- G.I.R.
    5. Re:Not all that new by /ASCII · · Score: 3, Funny

      Where have you been? Having a TV on your belly is all the rage with the kids these days.

      --
      Try out fish, the friendly interactive shell.
  2. Cute girl in the IT department? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Which IT department is that?

    1. Re:Cute girl in the IT department? by Saeed+al-Sahaf · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's what I told them. "I'll take the job, but all my techs must be super models (or at least HOT transvestite porn stars) in tight leather hot pants.

      --
      "Who are in control, they are not in control of anything - they don't even control themselves!" - Glen Beck
    2. Re:Cute girl in the IT department? by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 3, Funny

      > Which IT department is that?

      The one with a secretary.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
  3. wonderful by Lord+Ender · · Score: 5, Funny

    This gets better every time it is posted.

    But seriously, anyone who would actually wear this stuff has enough old parts lying around to make his own SCSI cable, RAM-encrusted thong.

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  4. Another link by modifried · · Score: 5, Informative

    I ran across a link involving the same jewelry not long ago. In case (read: when) the main site gets slashdotted, or if one just wants to see all products without pagination, you can view them all here:
    http://www.zellestyle.com/catalog/index.htm

  5. hmm by hotgirlgamer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I really don't see this stuff catching on, diodes aren't a girls best friend.

    1. Re:hmm by Panaflex · · Score: 4, Funny

      I'd have to disagree...

      Men are like transistors.. they turn on easily, and when they're done they turn off. Problem is, they can't handle much current or they overheat and blow out.

      Women are like diodes.. they turn on, but only when things are going their way. Better yet, they can take the current and they run forever.

      -Pan

      --
      I said no... but I missed and it came out yes.
    2. Re:hmm by Everleet · · Score: 4, Funny

      But only transistors can perform complex logic.

      --
      It's tragic. Laugh.
  6. Strangely targetted? by Sv-Manowar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not quite sure who this line of goods is targetting, I mean anyone geeky enough to wear a necklace of capacitors is probably going to have the materials and the interest to build/have built one already and be enjoying its uniquity, rather than being off-the-peg 'geek fashion'. Still, its an option for those who wish to carry their array of spare cables and components with them at all times.

    1. Re:Strangely targetted? by st0rmshad0w · · Score: 3, Funny

      Wired subscribers?

  7. Re:Great idea by Lord+Ender · · Score: 4, Informative

    It is slashdotted, but I think we can assume the caps are in series or not connected to eachother. A large series of caps isn't going to be dangerous. Neither are individual ones.

    A large number of caps in parallel might be bad if someone intentionally charged them, but I can't see how that could happen accidentally.

    --
    A slashdotter who didn't build his own computer is like a Jedi who didn't build his own lightsaber.
  8. Another fathers day gift gone horribly wrong by SimplyBen · · Score: 3, Funny

    thank god i don't have any kids

    --
    if sign.nil? Sig.new
  9. More practical stuff... by bhtooefr · · Score: 3, Informative

    Keychain made out of old RAM - easy to do, just get a key ring and any old SIMM, DIMM, or SODIMM (I advise against a SODIMM, though. The EDO SODIMMs are worth their weight in gold due to inflation, the SDR SODIMMs are still kinda useful, and the DDR SODIMMs are really useful. If it's dead, OTOH...)

    Keychain made out of an old/dead CPU - if it's ceramic, don't bother. If it's organic (like a P3, some socketed K7s, P4, P-M, or K8) or plastic (like some Pentiums (Classic and MMX), socketed Mendocino Celerons), it's fairly easy.

    Now, I just want to meet the girl that would wear the capacitor necklace... I've got dibs on her ;-)

    1. Re:More practical stuff... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      I've seen the girl who would wear the capacitor necklace.

      You can have her.

  10. Re:Great idea by dancpsu · · Score: 4, Informative

    Actually, the capacitor necklace is like one of those costume jewelry necklaces with a black (plastic?) hoop to go around your neck, and semicircular rings hanging from the front with other semicircular rings hanging from them. This is sort of like a short netting with the capacitors hanging down. So it appears that some of the capacitors would be in parallel, but I don't think they are actually attached electrically. Also there are only six of them, and they are probably in the 50-100uF range, so they wouldn't pack much of a punch.

    --
    "Scientists don't change their minds, they just die." -- Max Planck
  11. How is this remotely new or interesting? by RapmasterT · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I managed a software store almost 10 years ago, and we sold earring, keyrings, tie bars, etc all made out of PC parts.

    Hell, I'm holding in my hand a keyring made out of a pentium cpu die sealed in plastic. It's so old it's not even cool to carry around any more.

    so I'm asking, what exactly does it take to make a front page story on Slashdot? I submitted a report on Dotster.com compromising customer PII data and trying to cover it up, but that didn't even warrant a "go F*ck yourself".

    I'll bet if I skid marked my underwear and it looked like Steve Jobs hugging Larry Ellison it'd be the story of the day.

  12. Dupe! by slapout · · Score: 4, Funny

    Oh wait, it isn't. Sorry, I just got so used to it :-)

    --
    Coder's Stone: The programming language quick ref for iPad
  13. Re:286/386 Key Ring by snuf23 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I had a Pentium Pro key ring made by Intel which was pretty cool. It was metal with the Intel Inside logo on one side and the Pentium Pro's dies on the other side. The Pentium Pro had a seperate die for the cache and cpus which made it neater to look at than than the regular Pentium keychain.

    --
    Sometimes my arms bend back.
  14. "Ohms been thinking about you..." by citking · · Score: 4, Funny
    Many of her pieces would be a perfect gift for...that cute girl in the IT department....
    Somehow I think that giving a cute girl (whether she works in an IT department or not) a capacitor necklace would make for a pretty awkward moment. Especially if they weren't totally discharged....
    --
    "This food is problematic."
  15. Don't forget... by citking · · Score: 4, Funny

    Don't forget the perfect pick-up lines when giving your "cute IT girl" her jewelry:

    "I want to give you a RAM."

    "Can I discharge on you...with my big capacitor?"

    "IDE like to get into that belt. Get it? IDE?"

    "I'll help you flux that capacitor."

    "Here's some RAM so you can always remember me. Yup, all 2 megs of it."

    "Hey baby, wanna create some ESD and ruin a few chips? (wink wink)"

    "I like it when you talk SCSI."

    "I wanna C my P on U."

    Ok, I'll stop....

    --
    "This food is problematic."
  16. Other art from computer parts? by photozz · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Seriously, I can't be the only one who does this: http://www.deviantart.com/view/18247115/

    --


    Dirty Pirate Hooker
  17. This has been around a lot longer... by foxtrot · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...than most of you thought... Indeed, even longer than a few of y'all have been alive.

    In 1982, Khan wore a pretty cool necklace. [0]

    Definitely in the same vein as capacitors and IDE cables...

    -F

    [0] Geez, I need to get decent picture hosting...

  18. Coaxial Ethernet T-Connectors by xTown · · Score: 4, Funny

    True story:

    About a decade ago, I worked for a midwestern school district. We went around doing general IT work ("everything but pulling cable through the walls") in the schools. Every so often, we'd need to put in Ethernet hubs, and we'd need to hook them together with coax cable.

    We all carried a small supply of those little T-connectors and terminators. I chained some together and clipped them to my jacket. It made a nice little dangly. The "fashion" caught on.

    One day, my boss called me into her office at the end of the day, laughing. She told me I'd have to stop wearing the connectors on my jacket, because she'd gotten a complaint from the high school that I was walking around...wait for it...with a CRACK PIPE dangling from my chest.

  19. Actually by mindaktiviti · · Score: 4, Funny

    With CRT's that would just bring on neck injury lawsuits.

    LCDs however, imagine getting a 15" LCD with a wallpaper of Flavor Flav wearing his clock, all of that hanging from your neck!

    Can you tell me what time it is? YEEEEEEEEEAHHHHHHHHH BOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIII!

  20. heavy metals + jewlery != good idea by SuperBanana · · Score: 4, Informative
    Somehow I think that giving a cute girl (whether she works in an IT department or not) a capacitor necklace would make for a pretty awkward moment.

    Yep, when she gets sick from the heavy metals in capacitors.

    Seriously- someone needs to tell this woman that a fair bit of the stuff in electronic components is TOXIC, and very much so.