Talk:LED Throwie

Ummm... someone was kind to add a picture... but its not working! :/ --220.238.150.184 11:33, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

it works

it dosn't matter if they are cheep to produse!
Stop adding that they can negitivly impact the inviroment! almost any cheep, mass manufacturable good can be an inviromental risc. its a given. Youo don't need to be a ginues to figgure that one out.


 * stop removing legitimate information from the article simply because YOU think its obvious. a paragraph explaining the environmental concerns of such frivolous devices is perfectly apt in this article. besides, we aren't all "ginues" like you now are we? --Deglr6328 04:44, 25 July 2006 (UTC)


 * I agree that it doesn't belong. Put similar comments in articles about plastic cutlery, plastic bags, batteries, condoms and McDonalds toys, then we'll talk. Aaadddaaammm 07:28, 3 October 2006 (UTC)


 * Do you really need the difference between condoms and throwies explained? The manufacture of the battery, the powerful Nd magnet and the led are all hugely energetically expensive in comparison to something like a plastic fork. --Deglr6328 20:22, 3 February 2007 (UTC)

Yea a little more NPOV, please

 * I'm a flaming pinko commie liberal* (mostly) and even I thought that the environemental comments were a little skewed. Almost anything cheap and made of plastic or any other material produces toxic pollution, which is why it's all made in Mexico and China where the goverment doesn't mind killing it's own citizens. Putting a comment on every item about how it's polution value is not worth it's inherent worthlessness is a value judgement not appropriate in this article (Although there are others where it would). Also Lithium and Lithium Compounds while being toxic, are not highly toxic like heavy metals for instance.


 * (*anybody can claim to be progressive so I would like to prove it with the following links:

Air America Radio, Cannon Fire, Power of Narrative, Crooks and Liars, and Media Matters.)


 * Tiki God 13:37, 26 July 2006 (UTC)

Blinkies are identical to Throwies (magnet too)
Someone put 'sans magnet' for the link to Blinkies. Most blinkies do have a magnet, and are nearly identical to Throwies, only that they are manufactured. I guess this is my fault for not having a picture for Blinkies, but every time I upload a pic (no matter how banal or mundane) someone kills it within the hour AND DOESN'T BOTHER TO TELL ME WHY. Anyway, the biggest difference is that by making them yourself, one can control how they're made (like stronger magnets, bigger batteries). Also this is EN.Wikipedia not FR.Wikipedia :P


 * Tiki God 23:42, 30 July 2006 (UTC)


 * Oh, I was unaware that most had magnets on them. I have only seen them with out them.  my bbad.

Please no Revert Wars
I have to admit that the original environmental comments about lithium batteries were a little over the top, which is why I toned it down but kept it. Now I see you 2 deleting and reverting the NEW toned down version. One thing I noticed when looking up lithium toxicity is that the EU has a much more stringent view about toxic substances, which can make it hard for Europeans to understand the difference between something toxic and something HIGHLY toxic/carcinogenic/teratogenic. Ask a European about Lithium and he will tell you it's right up there with Arsenic, Lead, and Radon Gas. Make no mistake, Lithium is moderatly toxic causing kidney and liver damage at about 15mg/Kg body weight, and leaving it around to leak on stuff isn't good for anyone (especially children). I do an event once yearly, where we hang hundreds of things like throwies on trees in a park and we would never dream of just leaving them there to leak after the event is over. I read that whole Graffiti Research Lab site (it's a cool site) and nowhere do they mention (not once) collecting the Throwies later. Like I put in the new toned down version you can just use IEC LR series batteries (coin cell alkaline) and avoid the whole problem.

(The first person to point out that LEDs themselves contain Gallium and Arsenic without also pointing out that the ammount is microscopic AND is hermetically sealed in plastic (which won't decompose for a thousand years), gets slapped with a trout!)


 * Tiki God 00:13, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Also I believe it would be important to note on this issue that most throwies are collected long before they go out. I have placed hundreds of throwies in high and low places, and they are usually gone when I return. In my experience mostly kids interested in "rolling" will snag these as soon as they see them. MCP 18:37, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

Slap me with a trout, but: http://www.nema.org/gov/ehs/committees/drybat/upload/SpentConsumer_Lithium_Batteries_and_the_Environment.doc states the common sense that discharged lithium batteries pose no threat to anyone, and that indeed, if there is some distant, N-th order impact, the batteries are designed to minimize it. mdf 14:57, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

whats up with the page?
when I went to this article, it showed up like there was no article that existed under this name. I went to the history, and it shows the current version full of info. I went to edit this page, and all the info is there, so I clicked save page, and then it worked, and now the info shows up for me when I go to LED_throwie. Why would something like this happen? Is this an error I should report to admin? I mean I know its fixed now, but could a bug like this happen again in another article? Thanks, --Will G. 21:58, 18 September 2006 (UTC)


 * Possible reasons:
 * Wikipedia was having problems from software updates. This happens a lot late at night.
 * Someone blanked the page, and it took an admin a whole 30 seconds to unblank it.
 * You need to set your browser to refresh pages from the net and not it's internal cache.
 * I'm sure some others could add some reasons. I wouldn't bother an admin unless it starts happening all the time. Good Luck!


 * Tiki God 16:38, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Does the dead rat throwie HAVE to be linked?
That is extremely disgusting, and I doubt that anyone is going to be looking for how to make one. If they are, they can use google. Plus, that is pretty cruel doing that to a dead rat.Lizzysama 21:28, 6 December 2006 (UTC)

I am pretty sure that the rat was dead before they started. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 159.104.212.36 (talk) 11:11, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Removed Section
I removed the section on making an LED Throwie because Wikipedia is not a how-to guide. Dazcha 10:16, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

dumb circuit
It is appropriate to mention environmental aspects because the intended use of these things is to leave them in the environment -- to litter them.

Whether or not the how-to section is included, it should be mentioned that connecting an LED directly to a battery violates the LED specifications (no resistor or other current limiter) and the results are unpredictable, depending on the battery voltage, color of the LED (which correlates with LED proper voltage), etc. The LED and/or the battery could break, get hot, melt, burn, or even start a fire.-69.87.204.36 13:36, 27 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Come now, this is total nonsense. These "throwies" are not intended to be precision equipment, sold per MILSPEC, with official signatures and 15kg of paper behind each unit:  they are easily produced, trivial, one-shot throwaway toys.  If this violates the sacred LED specifications, no one cares.  If this slightly changes the color, no one cares.  If this results in a high degree of unit-to-unit variability, no one cares.  If all of this, and more, offends the sensibilities of some electrical engineers, no one cares (though any EE will, given the problem, will do as has been done).  As for "fire":  http://www.fdk.co.jp/cyber-e/lithium_e/ct03_e.html has a number of educational graphs and facts.  Note, in particular, the temperate as a function of time while the battery is laboring under a short-circuit.  Do not the environmentalists have bigger fish to fry?  mdf 15:19, 30 October 2007 (UTC)

Reorganizing LED-related pages
There are 23 different LED-related pages, and I think there should be less than half that many. I've started a discussion on this at Talk:Light-emitting_diode; please come and join in. -- Dan Griscom (talk) 03:13, 3 March 2009 (UTC)