aroraborealis (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
aroraborealis) wrote2010-06-27 03:41 pm
aroraborealis) wrote2010-06-27 03:41 pm
CharlieHack
I ride the T every work day, and most weekend days, and for all that I complain about how it could be better, I love being able to do most of my getting around on trains and buses. I don't, however, love having to keep track of my Charliecard, not specifically because of it but just because I have so many little bits and pieces of life I have to carry around every day: Charliecard, phone, wallet, keys, etc. Sometimes, I'd like to be able to leave the house with, say, JUST my phone and my keys. But I always want my Charliecard with me, because, hey, I never know when I'm going to want to hop on a bus and go somewhere interesting.
Wouldn't it be nice if my phone could be my T pass? Well, I realized, there's no reason it can't be. So I tried sticking the card under the skin I had on my phone, but it turns out the card is too big and bulky and is too stiff to conform to the shape of the phone. Rats. Except! I don't need the whole card, right? Just the RFID tag and antenna. So I set out to do that.
I needed a Charliecard, a non-plastic container, and some acetone:
ETA: It's a good idea to make a note of your Charliecard number before you destroy it. I just put it in as a memo in my phone. I've never needed the number of my card before, but it would annoy me to find that suddenly I did and couldn't retrieve it!
I used way more acetone than I really needed; just enough to cover it would be plenty:
Then, I waited. I don't know why I expected this step to take a couple of hours, but within a couple of minutes, the card looked like this:
And after about 20 minutes, it looked like this:
So I swished it around and plucked out the important part:
At this point, I wanted to be sure it would still work, so I tucked it into my book and brought it along on my commute the next day. I tapped it on the fare machine as if to load it up with money, and lo and behold! It worked! So I put my July pass on it, and brought it back home to stick it under the new skin for my phone:
ETA: Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
spike, I now have a photo of the finished product:
Because I just have a protective skin, rather than a case, you can tell there's something underneath, but not in a problematic way. At the point that you just have the RFID hardware, though, you could do any number of things with it, whether put it inside a skin or case for your phone, or apparently kids in London make bracelets out of it. For me, the cell phone/T pass combination is ideal. I'm so excited!
Feel free to share this around with anyone you think might find it useful for inspiring. Also, I have a lot of leftover acetone if anyone needs any ...
Wouldn't it be nice if my phone could be my T pass? Well, I realized, there's no reason it can't be. So I tried sticking the card under the skin I had on my phone, but it turns out the card is too big and bulky and is too stiff to conform to the shape of the phone. Rats. Except! I don't need the whole card, right? Just the RFID tag and antenna. So I set out to do that.
I needed a Charliecard, a non-plastic container, and some acetone:
ETA: It's a good idea to make a note of your Charliecard number before you destroy it. I just put it in as a memo in my phone. I've never needed the number of my card before, but it would annoy me to find that suddenly I did and couldn't retrieve it!
I used way more acetone than I really needed; just enough to cover it would be plenty:
Then, I waited. I don't know why I expected this step to take a couple of hours, but within a couple of minutes, the card looked like this:
And after about 20 minutes, it looked like this:
So I swished it around and plucked out the important part:
At this point, I wanted to be sure it would still work, so I tucked it into my book and brought it along on my commute the next day. I tapped it on the fare machine as if to load it up with money, and lo and behold! It worked! So I put my July pass on it, and brought it back home to stick it under the new skin for my phone:
ETA: Thanks to
spike, I now have a photo of the finished product:Because I just have a protective skin, rather than a case, you can tell there's something underneath, but not in a problematic way. At the point that you just have the RFID hardware, though, you could do any number of things with it, whether put it inside a skin or case for your phone, or apparently kids in London make bracelets out of it. For me, the cell phone/T pass combination is ideal. I'm so excited!
Feel free to share this around with anyone you think might find it useful for inspiring. Also, I have a lot of leftover acetone if anyone needs any ...
no subject
I marvel at how little stuff people needed a hundred years ago, or how much we need now. I keep my bag to what I think is minimum plus a couple small items like throat lozenges and it's still more than I could fit in pockets. What happened?
I know some of the answer, based on what I keep with me:
- car keys
- two car keys, actually
- work key
- several work IDs on a lanyard
- official work ID in special case
- wallet w/ cash, subway pass, credit cards, DL, library card, insurance info, emergency work contact info, ID related to spouse's work
- business cards
- eye drops, eye cream, throat lozenges, chapstick
- sunglasses
- cell phone
Most of these weren't called for - nay, even existed - a hundred years ago. Frex, I carry *six* photo IDs, only one of which isn't necessary on a daily basis.
A hundred years ago I might carry house key, cash, glasses, throat lozenges, subway tokens.
I must be living a hundred years ago
no subject
Also it's likely that you would have (social patterns being what they were) carried far more than just house key, cash, glasses, throat lozenges and subway tokens.
It seems likely, for instance, that you also would have carried a pen knife or similar tool, and maybe a pipe or some other tobacco fetish - even if you don't currently smoke, a hundred years ago chances were far better that you might.
Nevertheless, it's a really interesting observation!