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From the MAKE: Flickr pool
Matt's long unfulfilled dream of an explosive audio player has finally been realized with help of a hacksaw, 1GB mp3 player and a inactive(pretty sure) hand grenade -
Final form of the mp3 grenade... playing music albeit with a busted ground on the 1/8th inch.. .easy fix... will finish that up... electrical tape into place... and then seal up with jb weld for epic win. Sansa 1 GB internal loaded with Kompressor mp3s purchased legally off amazon mp3s. This is the worlds most utterly badass mp3 player. So badass in fact that you can't use it as you might die a horrible painful death. Fear the newest weapon in the war of music piracy! ARRRRR!Ahhh … I'm quite certain Mr. Kompressor would be very proud. Hope Matt didn't have plans for listening to this thing on the train/sidewalk/gym/anywhere public. - Shots of the mp3 grenade! on Flickr and more of the story on NYCResistor
I feel that this project is in poor taste, and I really don't want to see this in the print publication. I have a five year old daughter that loves looking through Make Magazine and the Makezine blog. I don't relish the moment when she asks me what a grenade is designed to do when not serving as an MP3 player case. It's true that things that blow up are fun. However, things that were designed to shred the human body with bit of metal are not so fun. Pretty horrible, in fact. I wonder if the maker of this project has ever seen first-hand a kid or anyone that has suffered the effects of this type of weapon?
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@blakewest - hey blake, thanks for the feedback. we didn't plan on putting this in print so you won't need to worry about that, as far as the site goes, it's good that you're on the internet with your 5 year old together, not every single project on the MAKE site might be appropriate for a 5 year, so you can skip those - we've had machine guns made from balloons and other vintage weapons like cannons or bombs made in to furniture.
while these are all weapons i think the trend of makers turning these "things" in to enclosures or furniture or whatever is not a bad thing, maybe we're moving away from wanting to hurt one another and just simply want to make things...
make mp3 players, not war...
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My first impression was the whole making swords into plows thing.
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@jammit - bingo, exactly.
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I think this tastes delicious!
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Just a comment about it being an inactive grenade.
Practice grenades are marked with a blue handle. This is a WWII style "pineapple" grenade, no longer in use, and is usually found pretty easily on the surplus market.
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@blakewest Chill out. In the event that your kid asks "whats a grenade" you don't have to go through the gory details of the horrors of war. You just say "its a weapon" and leave it at that.
Do you live in constant fear of her seeing a gun at some point too?
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What if some child were to happen across a live hand grenade and thought of it as a music player. Looking for the input for their headphones they may inadvertently remove the pin, and subject themselves to horrible lacerations and third degree burns. Clearly the person responsible for this trap has never been in the company of children.
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@Kelly No I don't live in constant fear. I think I've just been less insulated from the reality of what weapons like grenades do than your average maker. Also, my kid is far too curious about the world to accept an explanation like "it's a weapon".
Perhaps it is true, however, that if she's old enough to ask and not let go until she gets a real answer, that she's old enough to get the real answer. I don't know if @Kelly is a parent, but the issue of what to tell my kid and when about the horrible side of the world is something that challenges me and my wife every single day, esp. now that she can read and google.
I also get the idea about turning a weapon into something with a peaceful use. However, this line from Matt's flickr post kind of thwarts that idea: "This is the worlds most utterly badass mp3 player. So badass in fact that you can't use it as you might die a horrible painful death. Fear the newest weapon in the war of music piracy! ARRRRR!"
I'm just saying.
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This comment thread has made me rethink my plan to design an exploding mp3 player.
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For all of you who think its in poor taste:
WHO CARES. This was made by someone who is creative in their own way, and you should appreciate that.
MattJoyce, please read before you post, 2 posts before you explains how this is an old model of a practice grenade. If your child is to come across a "REAL" grenade (if you're in the US) there are MUCH bigger problems at hand!
I love this idea, I think the artist did a great job, and I appreciate his/her creative artistry.
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To me what's in poor taste is bad parenting.
Spend time with your children, read this article together, teach them what a grenade did, and why it's great that this one no longer does that. And obviously, that they should never ever ever ever touch one, unless they're training for military service.
Completely sheltering your child from all the horrible realities in the world is futile, and in my mind counter productive. What really teaches your children what is right and wrong is how you react emotionally. So talk with your kids and show them the negative emotions associated with weapons and their purpose.
If your child who is young enough to not know what a grenade is, is reading this by themselves, you need a lesson in parenting.
That's just my two cents.
P.S. I have one of these at home, it is indeed a practice grenade. An old WWII Pineapple grenade with the trigger soldered shut and the bottom cut off so it can not be effectively packed again.
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This serves to prove that someone will figure out a way to complain about anything. Hook your 5 year old up with pbs.com. It might be more on her level. My 3 year old would love to play with the knives in the kitchen but due to my incredible powers of parenting I don't have to take him to the ER and get some stitches. "I don't want to have to explain what a grenade does." So don't. That grenade plays music. Enough said.
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Great way to get yourself shot. And by the way, it would be an unfortunate, but a perfectly legal shooting. Someone goes walking to the train, listening to some tunes with thier MP3 on thier belt....People panic.
It doesn't show any particular skill, just that you can take an MP3 apart and put it in a can.
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What is everyone's problem with criticizing? It's a unique piece of art, and that is that. If you have nothing good to say, don't say anything at all. If you think one should not see this, don't let them see it. Simple as that.
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