Molex Lights (Fireflies)

I did something stupid today; I promised myself to get one of those Molex Lights regardless. And what is a Molex connector? If you're familiar with opening and servicing a PC (and also successfully closing it back again) you will, at most times, fiddle with the cables from the power supply unit. And so, you will touch those 1 inch square plastic connectors that is used to connect to the hard disk and what nots. These connectors were made from a company called Molex.

And how did it happen? I could blame it on the Internet, I suppose but in actual fact, its all my fault. This happened when I was looking for a blue CCFL for the Polar Lights NCC-1701-A Warp Nacelle and from one link to another, I ended up searching for this Molex Lights aka Fireflies. Its nothing more than an ingenious design. In a nutshell, its just a very thin circuit board with surface mount resistors on it. And what this thing does is to make the Molex connectors light up. So, for someone who likes to modify their computer, and with lots of lights in there, this is the perfect item.

I finally tracked this thing to a local shop via
lelong.com.my. No sense getting this from
eBay. And their nearest shop was in SS2.
At the moment, they only have red and
greed LEDs. I was looking forward to
Blue or White.

So, for RM20.00, I got six of these in the package.
Note how small they are. And if I really wanted, I
could desolder and swap the LEDs with white or
some self-flashing LEDs. Provided I can find them
in Malaysia as these LEDs are the smallest SMT I
have ever seen. (OK, they are those, I think, meant
for Mobile Phones)

Anyway, the darn things were so small, I had to take
them using a macro lens. And since I do not actually
have a macro lens, I decided to improvise. (Note to self-
Do not aim this at the Sun when taking photos......).
Using the Art of Kiamsiap, got the shot. But you know
the saying, "You get what you pay for", its alright as I
did not pay anything, wahahahaahaah!

OK, this is the first shot. Not bad, eh?

And the subsequent shot. You can see the distortion
now. What I want to show you is that each of the 4
holes are actually using through-hole technology.
You can also see the small current limiting resistor
in the middle with the LEDs on both sides.

OK, here is a better picture. This time, I used a much
higher resolution and then crop it.

Anyway, this is how you install the Fireflies. Just slot
in to the "MALE" side of the Molex connector.

And this is how it looks when you switch on your PC.
Mind you, since the darn thing fits so well, I had to
sacrifice a small safety pin and turn it into a hook just
to get it out (because this is a normal PC with a normal
casing which means, you cannot see anything inside)

The Pirated Shotgun

I've forgotten how much this one cost as I got this about more than two weeks ago somewhere in Klang. Initially, I did not bother much as it looked like one of those early BB shotgun designs that flooded Malaysia last year. But when I took a closer look (because I was a busy body), I noticed that they have changed the grip to that of sawn-off shotgun. It was nice except for the butt end which was a bit too flowery.

Nevertheless, I got one on the spot. Heh.

So, Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to present you the Pirated Shotgun. Ah, yes, there is a double meaning to the word "pirated" here. One, this is an actual shotgun based on the xxx but scaled down and I'll bet the manufacturer did not obtain license from the company. Second, I am very confident that everyone has copied everyone and so, you can see the same toy but with differing variations. Lastly, although its of no importance, if this gun exist during those days, I think none of us would have survived and lived like we are now. (Maybe its more exciting.)

OK, this is the package itself. Do not be fooled by the
red plastic bullets. I'll tell you why in a bit.

Overall, the design looks quite nice except for the butt
end of the grip. But in real life, this gun does not make
any sense because although it looked like a pump shot
gun, there is another bullet cartridge at the bottom, as
if it can fire two types of bullets simultaneously.

Coming back to the red plastic bullets, they are the ones
with sucker pads at the other end. Which means, if you
go and launch it, it will stick to a nice flat glossy surface
for a few seconds before falling prey to Gravity. But in
this case, the gun was unable to fire these and so, into
the bin they go. No point keeping them and also they
might give ideas to the girls to stuff other sharp things
(apart from the darts) into the barrel.

So, why did I say that? Its because of this part which
looked very familiar. Although on the outside it looks
like a sighting add-on, its actually a cover......

...for you to but in some BB bullets. Once loaded, you just
pump the gun and fire. However, I am not interested in
it working as I will be (when I have the time) turning it
into something else. Right now, I'll just have to collect
more parts before I can do anything more.

The grip looks and feel OK but I might have to cut away
those "flowery" decorations. I mean, have you ever seen
a pansy Pirate?