I'm using my SATA Hard Drive as a coaster...

[kevinf311]

No kidding. A 40GB SATA Hard Drive now has a Half and Half (Harp & Guinness, sometimes called a Black & Tan) sitting on top of it.

It's not connected to my computer or anything, but it is on my desk and flat surfaces are of a premium.

A little bit of history on the drive: It was bought to be used in the Computer I built for my Grandparents, but was set aside because of difficulties in getting XP to recognize it. Somewhere along the way the plastic around the data connection was broken. I used the drive as a storage drive for movies for a bit last spring (amazing what you can do with a hot glue and some tape :D ). Unfortunately, when we moved, the cable came loose and I didn't attempt to reconnect it. As the surface of the drive is about the diameter of the liter mug I'm using (the problem[?] with making a Half and Half at home is that you use 2 full beers), it works quite well as a coaster.

Before you say (though you probably already have): "What in the heck is the point of this thread?"

I pose a question to you: What, if any, purpose have you found items around your desk (components or otherwise) that are far from the recommended use?

[miseljt]

I used a piece of RAM as a bookmark once. It was an old DIMM (128mb) and I just had it sitting around. So, if not a bookmark, what else good is it?

[PatrickMay16]

Oh! I tell you. One time my brother was playing with a 486, and I think he tried using chocolate as thermal paste.

[Sunflower1970]

My desk is usually covered in stuff, so trying to find an open spot to put a drink on (or whatever) is quite difficult. CD's in their case usually are a good coaster...I used my mouse once to kill a bug...also used an extra cable once to tie back my hair...was too lazy to go to the bathroom to get a clip...

I like the bookmark idea tho. I have some (very) old DIMM's laying around...It's a perfect use for 'em :)

[der_joachim]

My incoming snail mail box is on my computer, and I put some stickers on it just to be rid of them. Under my desk I keep a few speakers. They are huge and they are broken. My wife keeps her personal incoming mail on there, next to the stack of printing paper and the phone book and yellow pages.

At work I use a few copies of the book that our PHB wrote some 20 years ago as a monitor stand. That's okay. I have a more recent version of that book as well and I actually use it for its original purpose sometimes. My colleague uses a pair of 15 yr old Toshiba laptops as a monitor stand.

[Sammi]

Hilarious stuff guys :lol: Please keep it coming! :popcorn:

[%hMa@?b<C]

I once used my PC case as a way to viciously cut my finger to ribbons... oh.. yeah, that was not intentional :(

[Sunflower1970]

At work our computers are under our desk. It's in the perfect position that I can use it as an ottoman (which I'm doing right now) 8)

[Zuuswa]

I used a bunch of those AOL discs once for an art project. I melted them, cut them up, and then glued them together to make a giant fish. Now I have one that I melted into the shape of an ash tray . . . and use it as such!

[PapaWiskas]

I used a bunch of those AOL discs once for an art project. I melted them, cut them up, and then glued them together to make a giant fish. Now I have one that I melted into the shape of an ash tray . . . and use it as such!

As an ex-smoker, I hesitate to say this but, you do know that AOL is hazardous for your health, right? Think about those around you for crying out loud, do you think we want to be surfing and connecting to your 2nd hand internet.....

I swear the audacity of some people....really ticks me off.....:mad:

[RandomJoe]

I have a three-monitor setup on my current desktop. They are not the same screens - I have a 19" Viewsonic in the middle, with a 17" Samsung to either side. Of course, the 17" screens sit lower than the 19" does. I found that the base of the desk lamps I bought is just the right height to get the bottom of the 17" screens perfectly level with the bottom of the 19". Even better, the base of the 17" screens have a hole in the back, so I was able to take the lamp off the base, drop the FP base over the mount, then reinstall the lamp to the base!

I have one of those old "power pad" under-monitor surge protectors under my desk, with a few non-critical items plugged into it (everything else is on UPS). It's on end, leaning against the wall. I've found I can just set my foot on the top edge of it, as a sort of footrest.

A friend told me years ago that he and his roommate in college used a mid-tower computer as a sort of step-stool for getting to the top bunk of their bunk beds. Well, until the case collapsed! :)

Shortly after getting out of college, when I had no money, I had a decrepit and cheap monitor. It started going out whenever it would get warm. So I bought one of those flexible plastic clothes dryer ducts, scavenged a 4" case fan from somewhere, and used bread-wrapper ties to connect the duct to the top of the monitor, and the fan to the other end of the duct. (The fan was WAAAY too noisy to have it right in front of me on the monitor directly!) Ran that monitor for 2-3 more years!

Fun with Ethernet - it's really quite forgiving! :) I was working at a job where my control panels were in a hideously noisy and hot location. But I didn't have a long enought Ethernet cable to get into the next room. So I hacked the ends off a spare cable, stripped the wires, and wire-nutted them to a long run of thermostat cable! Probably 80-90 feet, but it worked! I kept the ends and the wire nuts in my "cable kit" for years afterward - used them with a variety of cheap wire for the same purpose. I got some funny looks from IT folks in a few places...!

[ZylGadis]

When I was a teen, I took a 256-kb chip of video RAM that I was not using, drilled a hole in it, and put it on a gold chain. It was the hype in my school for a few weeks afterwards, and soon you could see all kinds of ridiculous things people hung from their necks (like an old ethernet card). It was cool to be a geek, and my invention remained both the original and the prettiest one :)
Well, two years after wearing that (I was already in college), I discovered there was a green spot on my chest, and then realized the connectors of the chip were made of copper. It took some time for the spot to disappear, and I decided not to wear the toy any more. It's still fun to remember the feeling, though.

[igknighted]

It's not on my desk, but my old computer case is now a tv stand... works pretty well too. Im in college and my bed is on a loft, and theres extra space up there, so my tv is up there too. The case puts it just above mattress level.