Needless to say, I think this has been the best course that I’ve ever taken at school. At least, so far. I honestly feel as if I could build a very simple calculator from scratch if given the appropriate tools. And you know what? I probably could. Giving me transistors alone would be tedious, and I would have one very large calculator on my hands. But, I would still be able to build it. In fact, you can make transistors on your own out of pretty simple things, but they would be pretty large. Which means that I would be able to build a very simple calculator out of nothing (provided that I know how to make my own transistors consistently). And that excites me. I feel like I’m learning something useful. It’s wonderful.

But my example of a simple calculator doesn’t even compare to a computer’s processor. No sir. In fact, even talking about it doesn’t do it justice. There is so much that goes on that it’s mind blowing. So I’m going to stop here. It’s very humbling to know how far we’ve gone as a race, and I can think of no better example than the computer’s processor as a testament to our achievements.

If that isn’t enough, there are even talks of quantum computing. What’s that? Well, I’ll explain it in a nutshell. You know all those 1s and 0s that your computer understands? You’ve probably seen it in movies, or heard of it being referred to as binary. In any case, binary only has two states. 1 or 0. On or off. What quantum computing does is add a third state. Both on and off at the same time. I tried thinking about this and only found that if I kept at it long enough my head would start to hurt.

Technology is amazing.

• This is a very powerful laser!
• Looking at it directly WILL blind you.
• Looking at it, even if its a reflection you’re looking at, WILL blind you.
• Lasers over 5mW are considered strong. Depending on the DVD drive, the laser diode will be over 200mW (100mW+ was needed to light a match, just like in the video).
• Operating a laser over 5mW requires a license from the FDA.
• This isn’t a toy. It isn’t a weapon either, but it can be used as one. Please use the knowledge you have just gained for educational purposes only.

I hope you enjoyed that. I myself, am planning to build one of my own. I know what I am getting myself into, which is why I plan on buying goggles designed to handle the specific wavelength of the laser. I need my eyes. And guys, if you plan on building one yourself, for the love of god, please be responsible.

Edit (May, 7th 2009): This was posted a while ago by a younger version of myself. While I don’t plan on building it any more, I still think the idea is pretty cool.