Somebody delete this.

first off, you will go blind from reflections by acting so irresponsibly, and secondly, the geckos will eat the insects if you left them alone.

I have killed many many ants with my focusable green, focus is the only time-efficient way to get one, each pass takes a leg off.

Please write the following word 500 times, Reflections, reflections, reflections.

Since you're so fond of pointing things out:
Please repeat the following words 500 times: (that's a colon, not a comma, punctuation is important too)
My brother, my brother, my brother.

I've been trying to impress upon him the dangers of the laser when the moron pointed it at my mom's head(not the eyes, but you see this crap isn't something you fool around with).

If your brother can't behave responsibly with a laser, then for the love of god don't let him use yours!!!!!! Handing someone who behaves like that something that belongs to you and is capable of causing damage, makes you an accessory to any damage they cause. There is a lot of legal precedent for this sort of thing.
There is a moral and legal issue at stake here. If you hand someone you know is not responsible your firearm and they play around with it like it's a toy, you can be held responsible for murder should they shoot someone with it. A laser is no different except rather then dead or badly wounded, the victim will end up blind for life. You are legally responsible for what you do with your own property. You have a legal responsibility to avoid giving dangerous things to people you know will use them dangerously. A lawyer simply needs to prove that you knew your brother wasn't competent to handle it safely. If a lawyer found the posts on this site, that would be enough to convict you.
If you aren't 18 yet, then it would be your parents who could go to jail, or be sued for someone losing an eye. However ending up in the foster care system is not exactly something you want to risk. Just play it safe, and don't let your brother touch the laser until he can handle it suitably.

...Then you shouldn't be letting him play with it -- that's your responsibility. Unless you *really* got ripped off, a $120 laser is going to be well above 5mW, and therefore dangerous. If someone pointed one of my lasers at anyone's head (even the back, and especially my mother ), I would never let them get within 10 feet of it again.

Also, you're not going to win any friends around here by making sneering, sarcastic comments to senior members.

Thanks guys!

+1 rep for that.

I see you already got some - rep for that, feel lucky I didn't add some more.

this is not the right way to refer to a guy who just wants to help and that could explain you many things... but I'm sure this is just an episode

First, getting the laser away from your brother would be a good idea. A laser will kill bugs, but near a window is a prime place for issues with reflections, so everyone in the room would need goggles. You are right about flies moving quickly. I have found that the minimum for flies is my 2W IR handheld, my 4W is better. Goggles are mandatory at these power levels. The next problem is that if you miss the fly, the laser blasts a hole through the fiberglass screening. To make a long story short, a flyswatter or a shot of raid both work better and easier.

WOW! Wayne, He is beautiful. What country is this little guy native too?

Leopard geckos are lizards native to Pakistan, India and Afghanistan where the terrain is dry and rocky.

I'm sure the Geckos this guy wants to fry are more bland, But I feel it would be animal abuse nonetheless.

What I don't get, all Geckos are insectivores and eat the other pests the OP mentioned.

So rather than engaging in risky laser activities, why not just let the Geckos eat the bugs, and use the laser for more constructive things.

awwww.. poor fly.

YouTube - Laser + Mosquitoes = Crispy Mosquitoes

Well, I could simply be a freak of nature, but I thought that the RATIONAL response to someone being patronizing wouldn't be a positive one.

I may not be friendly, but I don't cross over into the territory of "asshole" without provocation.

With regards to my brother, we're not talking about a little kid brother or something. He's approaching his 30s, and 8 years older than me. You'd think the older one would always be the more responsible.

I also don't understand how you would approach someone a full foot taller than you who bossed over you for over half your life. I mean, do I hold a knife next to his carotid artery or something? Because the general opinion around the household is that I'm always wrong.

The geckos I'm speaking of are of the pest variety, about the size of a large cockroach. I highly doubt they can eat other roaches. I don't make a habit of torturing animals. I did that enough as a kid, and I feel like smacking myself for it when I look back on it now.


Laser safety isn't lost on me, as I did order laser glasses with my Nova. My right eye is already crippled because I played around with a red laser pointer from 10 years ago as a kid, and I kept staring at the sun. I assure you that the stupidity is behind me now.

I'm also curious as to what you might be referring to when you say that I should use the laser "for more constructive things".

I don't do any construction or hunting, and I'm afraid to point the laser at the sky because there might be a plane I couldn't see. From what I could tell, most people use their lasers for recreation or entertainment. Any potential use for a laser will NOT require more than 5mW of power, or will require much more power than what a handheld laser can produce.

Actually I myself use a handheld laser for time to time in delicate wax modeling at my work.

someone else built an x-y table with just a phr

Built an XY-Table, Need More Firepower

Granted, the x-y table is hardly handheld, but the laser head in it is easily portable and no larger then any pen laser. (nor more powerful, as shown by he wanted more power to burn with. Said power is easily achievable still withing the handheld power range

Other handheld laser uses abound, your limits are your imagination.


As for the response of you don't want to torture animals, geckos, regardless of size, are small animals NOT "other roaches" as you put it. Perhaps you could use a lesson or two in biology. Using a laser to kill anything larger then the beam is going to take a bit of time, and is most definitely going to torture them while you do it. So I would suggest just drop that idea completely

Also the responses told to you by members of the forum are more "admonishing" then "patronizing." To be patronizing we would have insight into what knowledge you have first, so that we could disregard it and patronize you. Instead people have chosen to effectively scold you for the casual talk about your brother aiming your laser at windows. We will assume you don't know better, and explain that it's reckless endangerment to do so, or to give your laser to someone you are aware will do so.

You have to understand that there are no second chances with eyesight. You said you already have a crippled eye yet you seem to not understand the alarm people have when you talk about situations that you are letting happen.

There are no excuses if someone loses an eye. You can't go back and say "but I thought my brother would be responsible" That sort of thing doesn't cut it for someone blind for life in one eye. Damage to both eyes isn't out of the question either. It's more then possible for someone to be blinded for life by such carelessness. What would you say if such a thing happened? "Sorry?" I know for me it wouldn't matter how much someone apologized. If I was blind for life, the apologies wouldn't make my vision come back. And no excuse would help either. Treat the laser like it's a firearm. They are not toys. Since both you are your brother are legal adults, you are very much as criminally and financially liable for any damages as he is if you lend him that laser knowing full well a lack of responsibility. Don't even bring it near your brother.

Nicely said, +rep.

I don't agree with killing anything with lasers, how would you like too be put under a giant laser?

I just tossed a plus rep as well.

Nice post!

A lizard is a lizard, regardless, so maybe it won't eat roaches, but I guarantee it keeping your ant and fly population under control.

In southern states the common Anole is very abundant, and it's well known that in just Florida alone, they keep the fire ant populations in check, their excrement provides essential fertilizer to the soil, and they themselves provide and excellent source of food for Corn snakes and black racers.


Had me fooled there, You open right up with stories of your brother frying bugs on glass, Glass is reflective, then you tell us he pointed it at moms face, how exactly is this considered safe practice?? I would kept that laser well out of brothers reach immediately following the mom in the face incident, yet you let him have at it again to zap a fly, what kind of drugs you guys on anyways??

If burning up living creatures is the most constructive thing you can think of to do with a laser, then I doubt you really should be allowed within 100 yards of one.

Just my 2 cents..... Flame me down if you want, I really don't give a rats behind.

Hey, nice job on building up a reputation here!

I +repped this guy?

Hmm... I appear to constantly misjudge people here.
I really is how you say,
Chatting over the internet and talking in real life is a totally different matter.
You really cannot judge people based on what they write on internet (that goes both ways).

I am against killing ANYTHING with lasers. Seriously.
I never even burned ants as a kid with magnifying glass (I did watch a friend do it and tried it but disliked it immediately poor things, what have they done to deserve this?! )

Why try to use lasers for something that Raid and flyswatters do much more better job ? They are much more cheaper too!

Lasers are used for fun. If you think killing animals with lasers is fun, seek professional help.

We all make mistakes sometimes, after all we are only human.

Don't be so hard on yourself.

No, I really do constantly misjudge people!

Remember when I tried to convince you guys to give mrgoogfan a second chance? He ended up proving me wrong!

And there was this Slipstream dude who I though is a nice guy, turns out to be Arenared (never heard of the guy before, someone enlighten me? ) who was banned.

Now this!


I totally agreed when he said that cutting on smoke saves money that can be spend on lasers (very good point) but he turns out to not know that much about lasers and ... let's leave the torturing animals part out here.

Damn!

Again, that sounds like special circumstances. I doubt your average person is a wax sculpture or we'd all be one.


Perhaps it's simply a case of different points of view, but I find it strange that anybody stretches out so much consideration for mere insects.

And yet, try speak to an adult that way in real life and you look me in the eye and tell me that there's no possibility whatsoever that you'll get a sharp smack upside the face. At the very least your response will NOT be a positive one. It might work with people you know well, but a complete stranger isn't going to take it well.

Again, am I supposed to demand it back with the reason that he can't be trusted with it? Adults usually aren't fond of someone whom they see as a kid telling them that THEY'RE the ones acting like an irresponsible moron, no matter how much tact you put into it.
Perhaps you have a personal preference for lizards(judging by the snakes link in your sig, that's a very likely possibility), but I wonder how the average person feels about having a bunch of tiny lizards crawling and BREEDING all over their house(and on occasions, crawling on the persons themselves), and leaving their tails everywhere. Maybe I'm just being paranoid, but the thought of having one next to my head when I'm trying to sleep makes me hate them with an extra ZEAL to it.

Also, I'm not discussing the idea of dissecting them and setting them on fire or anything. If the laser simply blinds them(which is probably the most likely possibility), I'm not going to spend the next hour trying to roast them. I'm going to crush it flat and toss it out the door, which is already what I do. I just hate leaving the mess on the walls, and I don't want to use Raid next to my dishes. And would you consider it more cruel than using an electric fly swatter? Because Raid doesn't work on anything other than bugs.


Again, you try treating someone much older than you like a child and see what kind of reaction you get.

I simply took a dark piece of wood, held the laser in front of it until it smoked, and asked him to speculate upon the effects on the human eye.

I've actually expanded to popping balloons and watching the beam on the clouds(no longer than 2 seconds at a time in case of passing air traffic).

And yet again, nearly all practical use of a laser is under special circumstances(job related, as we all can't work in forensics). Will NOT require more than 5mW of output, or will require a MUCH higher output than what a handheld laser can produce.

With what you just said there, I can't understand why you place so much importance on reputation on the "internet".

It's not reputation on the internet... it is YOUR reputation by the peers
on this Forum... The Reps you earn/accumulate here have no bearing
anywhere else...

Having explained that... By reading the posts in this Thread you seem to
know all about Laser Safety... yet refuse to listen to more experienced
members here about it and you don't seem to practice what you know
about it...

I also see that you are frustrated by the common sense responses by the
members and you need to refute their sound advise like a 12 year old...IMO

You don't need to take anyone's Laser Safety advise if that's what you
prefer....

But don't come here and tell this Laser Community stories of your own Family
members doing stupid unsafe things with a Laser and expect us not to respond...

Blatant Non Laser Safety practices will not be tolerated by this Laser Forum
community and will be responded to... as you have already found out...

Enjoy your stay...


Jerry

This is correct, I am a zoologist and I always tell my students to learn about the food chains and on the real dangers of various organisms. For example, mosquitoes can be vectors of many diseases, geckos and bats will eat hundreds per day and are harmless to peoples. Recently I had a gecko (Tarentula mauritanica) that lived behind the my wardrobe