LEDs and Sexual Innuendos - June 20, 2007

In the past couple months, I have become intrigued with LED technology, and I have been doing a lot thinking about how to incorporate them into my products. Before I get into how LED lights have anything to do with sexual references, I want to tell you about some specific LED gadgets that have caught my attention.

1. LED “Throwie”

This little thing invented by the Graffiti Research Lab is great for placing an LED(s) anywhere you want, and it lasts about 2 weeks until the battery power runs out.

2. Glowing LED “Ice Ball”

Some guy filled a water balloon with water and an LED, and then froze. Attach battery, and then relax. It’s easy on the eyes, and very very cool.

3. LED “Floaties”

These little guys would be a hit, but make sure you use enough helium, as the weight of the LED and power supply may bring the balloon down.

4. Infrared LED “TV Be Gone” Hat

Load a baseball hat with infrared LEDs and shut down any TVs in the area.

5. Altoid’s LED “Bike Light”

This is pretty sweet, save yourself $25 bucks, and maybe start some trend that will be rapidly adopted by bike riding hipsters!

So I hope that you enjoyed these little toys, all of which you should be able to make on your own for under $5. Now, I’m sure you must still be wondering how LEDs and sexual innuendos go together. Simple, I was reading up on how to wire LEDs with resistors, and I came across a electrical guidebook from a company called Transtronics. In the guide, they were explaining that resistors are color coded so that one can figure out their electrical level of resistance. Each color represents a number, and the sequence of the colors will tell you what its resistance is. However, to make sure it is easy to remember the sequence of colors and their associated numbers, Transtronics suggested this nice little mnemonic device. See the picture from the screenshot below. WOW! Need I say more? But let me ask you this, will you forget that?