Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Green Lighting: the DIrtY MIRT

Have you ever sat at an interminably long traffic light, or caught every red light between points A and B, and thought, "Boy, I wish I had something that could change all these lights to GREEN"? Well, such a device exists, and it is called a MIRT (for Mobile Infra Red Transmitter). A MIRT uses Infra Red technology to trigger the Pre-Emptive sensor on a traffic light, causing it to change to green. With such a contraption within reach (say, sitting in your glove compartment or resting on the passenger seat), one could actually achieve what every commuter dreams of: to always have a green light. Bad News MIRTs are sold only to "Authorized Users" who have to cough up $300 or $400 to get one. Good news You Do It Yourself types can build your own DIY MIRT for less than 20 bucks: Wondering if it's legal? It probably isn't. But the good author of these instructions has covered that question for you in the writeup. (Still, it's alwasy best to check State Laws for yourself.) Wondering if I have one? I don't. But I love reading about cool DIY tech projects that are not only cheap, but also have a practical application (even if I am not going to apply it).

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