Trash = Treasure?

[SpAmRaY]

So who digs in the trash?

Anybody get their computer parts out of the trash?

What about eating out of the trash??

A coworker had taken the chicken out of a chicken strp and fries styrofoam container dinner and sat the container with fries intact on top of everything else in the trash. I quickly took it and ate the fries 

I've also found interesting computer stuff in years past that was thrown out.

[IvanIvanovich]

I not too long ago rescued a perfectly good old solid wood record cabinet (not my pic but it looks just like this)

It was at the building next door, it really sucked carrying it back up to my apartment by myself.

People and businesses throw away perfectly good things all the time. I don't see any shame in taking it.

[ComradeSniper]

Whenever I go to the dump there are usually some old electronics lying around. I always check the keyboards, haven't found anything mechanical yet.

[microsoft windows]

Almost every computer I own came out of the trash one way or another.

[demik]

I got my computer chair when countrywide went bankrupt and got bought out by bofa. They threw a ton of perfectly good office furniture out. Idiots!

With that said that was years ago and my chair sucks.

[Michael]

I used to get a lot of my furniture from the trash when I was in college. I got a badass futon with a real nice wooden frame, I think it retailed for like 700 bucks. All that was wrong, as it needed some replacement bolts. Good as new after that.

[noisyturtle]

Best trash find was a box that had a working Dreamcast(but no controllers,) a copy of Seabiscuit, and a stack of Playboys from the '90s. It was just so random.

My TV stand was also a trash pick from like 6 years ago.

[Hak Foo]

I got a big stack of '80s COMPUTE! magazines in the mid-1990s from a neighbour's trash.

[phetto]

One man’s trash, that’s another man’s come up, dont you know?

[rowdy]

I've found a few things, mostly old computers (most throw out again now), and mostly in the alley behind work.

I keep wondering where people find all these neat things, like Model M keyboards.

I keep looking.

[metalliqaz]

Almost every computer I own came out of the trash one way or another.

Not surprised you hobo

[bueller]

I pulled a $4000 watercooled PC out of a dumpster at work the other day, currently in the process of stripping it down. It's a funny story actually, I was outside having a cigarette and noticed this young bloke gingerly placing the system in the dumpster, when I asked him what he was doing he said that his boss told him to throw it out but that he could only take it if it was still there at the end of the day. He shouldn't have told me that.

I found out the back-story on it as well, apparently the machine was out of out data-centre and when the client moved locations they had servers provided so they didn't need the one in our centre. Non of the guys involved in the move had the balls to strip the watercooling setup out of it so they said to toss it not realising it had like $2000 worth of GPU's alone in it. That was a good end to a ****ty week.

[Photekq]

I pulled a $4000 watercooled PC out of a dumpster at work the other day, currently in the process of stripping it down. It's a funny story actually, I was outside having a cigarette and noticed this young bloke gingerly placing the system in the dumpster, when I asked him what he was doing he said that his boss told him to throw it out but that he could only take it if it was still there at the end of the day. He shouldn't have told me that.

I found out the back-story on it as well, apparently the machine was out of out data-centre and when the client moved locations they had servers provided so they didn't need the one in our centre. Non of the guys involved in the move had the balls to strip the watercooling setup out of it so they said to toss it not realising it had like $2000 worth of GPU's alone in it. That was a good end to a ****ty week.

Wow. That's a treasure for sure.

[bueller]

I pulled a $4000 watercooled PC out of a dumpster at work the other day, currently in the process of stripping it down. It's a funny story actually, I was outside having a cigarette and noticed this young bloke gingerly placing the system in the dumpster, when I asked him what he was doing he said that his boss told him to throw it out but that he could only take it if it was still there at the end of the day. He shouldn't have told me that.

I found out the back-story on it as well, apparently the machine was out of out data-centre and when the client moved locations they had servers provided so they didn't need the one in our centre. Non of the guys involved in the move had the balls to strip the watercooling setup out of it so they said to toss it not realising it had like $2000 worth of GPU's alone in it. That was a good end to a ****ty week.

Wow. That's a treasure for sure.

Yep, I was damn lucky to get it actually. Been off work for a month due to a death in the family and only went in to work for 5 minutes to pick up a package. So far it's paid for new tires on my car, a phone upgrade and will be paying for a Korean custom in the near future

[Photoelectric]

Living in a city with seemingly million colleges and universities in and around it, there's a significant percent of the population that rents and moves out in the summer, moving back in on September 1st.  So every September 1st, it's like a trash party: double-parked moving vans everywhere and LOADS of furniture and other stuff just lining the streets, being thrown out.  I used to take walks around and get stuff like floor lamps and lava lamps.  Much of the furniture was not really great quality--something students would use and reuse, but before I bought my apartment, I used to have a lot of mismatched second-hand stuff as well.  Now I utilize Craigslist.  IKEA furniture goes practically for free sometimes.  An Expedit 2x4 shelf currently behind me: $15.  A queen bed top shelf with built in side storage shelves unused in a box... $20 when they sold for over $100 in store.  etc.  Love (and hate) Craigslist

I've yet to find any useful electronics that way, however =/  My local goodwill store only seems to have rubber domes.  Dell Quiet Keys are common.  I once got excited seeing an Alps label on a keyboard... but it was also just RD =/

[Findecanor]

Oh, I am a real dumpster-diver...

* The office chair that I am sitting on.
* I am rebuilding the undercarriage of my Phantom case with plastic pieces cut from this and that.
* I have built a few shelves and a cabinet out of "reclaimed" furniture, floorboards and window blinds.
* About a dozen picture frames... until I decided to collect only frames that match.
* Leather I have reused for costumes.
... and lots more

No interesting keyboard, though ... yet. Only a Key Tronic foam-and-foil, but a person here got the sliders so it wasn't for nothing.

I am also a frequent visitor to flea markets and thrift stores. Keyboard finds so far: first-generation Goldtouch, HHKB Lite 2, Key Tronic ErgoForce, MS Natural Keyboard Pro. I keep hitting myself for the time that I passed on a Triumph-Adler typewriter with nice keycaps...
Most of all, though, I buy a lot of sci-fi books and DVDs at flea markets.