I just got my first ever laser-pointer (I know, I know…) and have used it mostly too… point at things. But then I decided to make my young cousin a laser scope for his toy gun and that was way more fun then pointing at stuff.
So what other stuff can I do with my laser pointer?
Oh, and any idea on how I can use it to convince someone that they are being haunted?
What colour is it?
One cool thing to do is to combine it with long exposure photography.
eta: and/or cats.
Red.
And yeah, I was thinking about the photography thing earlier since when I move it really fast it leaves trails on the floor.
EDIT: ha, on the way home I ran into a stray cat and shined it at him but he ignored me. 
I need to find a house cat
One of the EOD guys in our squadron has a green laser light pen, and mostly he used it to demonstrate how it could make an intense bright green dot on the wall in the secretary’s office at the other end of our building (maybe a couple hundred feet long, with one long hallway)
From what I understand, combat controllers in the Air Force use laser pointers to guide laser-guided bombs down to their targets. They can even move the pointer around and the bomb will re-aim itself in mid-fall. You can get those bombs to do some neat tricks if you move the laser at the last second.
I don’t know if you have any laser-guided bombs handy, but if you do, I’d check with your landlord or your HOA before you started playing with it and a laser pointer.
Cats, yeah.
Actually - other animals too - I went to the sea life centre once and the otters were a bit sullen and withdrawn, staying right at the far end of the indoor part of their enclosure - I managed to coax them out and across a couple of plank walkways, right onto a little island right in front of the fence.
Earlier on in the same visit, I managed to convince my (then quite young) kids I could command fish - there was an aquarium tank with a large group of small fish - by concealing the pointer in my left hand, pretending to lean on the wall above the glass, I was able to project a moving spot on the gravel substrate, whilst gesturing accordingly with my right hand - the spot of light was almost invisible to bystanders, but the fish noticed it and gave chase - appearing to be under control of my hand gestures.
I’m sure both of these activities would have seen me unceremoniously ejected from the venue if the staff had become aware of them - although in truth, I think I did the otters a favour - they were so bored, I think they welcomed the diversion.
Green lasers are great for pointing out constellations, but since you have a red one that blows that idea.
I don’t think diode based lasers are good for holography, but you could try
Brian
Cats.
You can really piss off lecturing art historians.
Cats, definitely cats!. It’s like having remote controlled little furry missiles.
A few months ago I was at a home-stay in Mabul island where they have three young cats roaming free. Every time I opened the room door they tried to sneak in and rummage through my luggage, looking for snacks I suppose. I carry a small red laser pointer and torch in my camera bag so I can either use it to look for things inside the bag when it’s dark, or use the laser to point at something interesting when my GF is taking pictures.
So, after a day of chasing three very active cats out of the room I got wise, took out the laser pointer and every time I opened the door, when the cats started coming I’d shine it on the floor in front of the door, wiggling it a little. When the felines where mesmerized enough I’d quickly move it across the floor to the far end of the hall and out the back door. The cats darted behind it leaving me the chance to get out (or in) the room unmolested.
Now I wonder, if I could do something similar if I ever stumble across a tiger while trekking…
Once upon a time, when laser pointers were a new, novel idea, I got one.
I went to BIL2’s bachelor party with BIL1. B1 and I were at one end of a 40 foot table, and a friend of B1 and B2 was at the other end.
I was messing around by placing the dot on people’s ketchup bottle or salt shaker from across the restaurant then turning it off before they could find me.
The friend at the other end of the table motioned that he wanted to see this thing; they weren’t very common after all. I took it down to him, and came back to my seat, only to see him shining in his eye! He would point it away, then hold it back up to his eye, just smiling and having a ball. I waved frantically for him to stop - the music and noise prevented any chance of yelling. He just smiled and waved back, still shining the damn thing right into his eyeball. As I jumped up to rush down and try to save what’s left of his vision, BIL1 grabbed me and stopped me. “He’s got a glass eye, doofus. He’s just messing with you!” I wanted to punch him then, but it was pretty funny.
Last year, we took the kiddies to Myrtle Beach for spring break. We try different places every year, and I heard they had good golf, so we went. I was unaware that it was the redneck Riviera of the East coast. We were the only family in town that week with 4 matching tires and all of our teeth. But I digest…
Jr. took my green laser pointer to the balcony of our 22nd floor room one night, and shone it on the beach. It’s very powerful, and shone a bright green dot on the sand.
Immediately, it was joined by 1, then 2, then 4, then more red dots, all pointing at the same trash can. He moved it away to a chair, and the dots followed. Everytime he would change targets, the red dots would chase the green. Then, he would just race it up and down the beach, tracing shapes and stopping on things, and the red dots would just chase the green no matter what. We looked over the railing straight down, and could see kids (and grown-ups) hanging over their railings at different floors. We all just laughed and waved at each other, then went back to annoying people on the beach.
Good times.
Downside of a green laser, especially a strong one - it points to you as well, especially at the beach with the moisture in the air at night. I walked over a mile south of the hotel, then radioed back to Jr. to hit me with it. Zap! Like a green string, it showed me exactly what room he was in! There’s no hiding or lying when you do that; it stands out like a bright green sore thumb! If you’re off-axis by about 15 to 20 degrees or so, you can’t see it, but inside that 30 degree slice, anyone can see exactly where you are. No wonder the Feds catch people who do this to airplanes.
“Hey Bob- you see the laser beam there?” “Yeah, looks like a white pickup at the Wal-Mart. Call company security & let them know.”
I would get every mirror in the house and try to point at stuff while bouncing off the mirrors, like that old mcdonalds commercial where MJ and Bird play Horse.
I’d also try to see how many bounces I could get off 2 mirrors.
But, the laser sight for a toy gun is the best. I would make a laser-guided rubberband gun.
Yep, it was really fun to add laser sights to my cousin’s toy guns. Of course, since the guns don’t actually fire anything, I probably would have had fun with him anyways (I took him to a grove and we went hunting for zombies. Kids have great imaginations.)
Felt like Call of Duty.
Dogs too.
My daughter tapes it to her BB gun.
Get an empty can. The bigger the better but at least the size of a #10 tomato can.
Remove the bottom and stretch the remains of a balloon over one end.
Fasten a piece of mirror or other reflective material to the membrane.
Aim laser at reflector from some distance and be amused at the patterns the reflected beam makes when you shout into the can.
I once read that it was possible to eavesdrop on conversations at a distance by demodulating a laser beam bounced off a subjects windows. This was an experiment to see if it was possible using resouces at-hand. We never got to the demodulation phase.
It kept us entertained for several minutes.
The other thing that was fun was to shine the beam at distant road signs. They would light up like magic!
My puppy loves chasing the green laser beam.
Take a clear large plastic bottle. Say 2 liter. Put a nice hole in the side near the bottom (but where the plastic is flat. Have a water source feeding into it from the top. What you want to create is a nice arcing stream of water that is a solid “tube” so to speak. Aim laser beam through plastic bottle into the hole/stream on the other side.
If you do it right, the light will be trapped in that stream of water (due to total internal reflection) and you won’t really see it in there (assuming clear water without significant bubbles). The light however, will escape where the tube breaks up or the surface it splashes on. Its like splashing light. When done properly in a dimly lit room it can be pretty neat.
Suspend a small mirror so that it rests against an old speaker cone. Turn off the lights, turn up the music, and aim the laser at the mirror. Your own light show! My high school physics classes love this one.
A backyard astronomer friend of mine used to use his to turn off the street light that lit up his yard. He would hit the photo sensor on it with the laser for a few seconds, enough to convince the light that it was still day time. Probably took a pretty steady hand, though, or some sort of aiming mount.
I’ve done the “stupid animal tricks” bit with mine. 2 of the cats love it. They come running when they hear that click. #3 ignores it most days.
Road signs, license plates, and tail lights light up like magic when you can hit them. Use caution so you don’t blind oncoming traffic, of course. I once had an oncoming carload of teenagers hit me with one while driving. It was only for an instant, but still unnerving.
Cats and even dogs like chasing the spot. (Not our Midnight, though. She’d look at the spot, look up at your hand with the laser pointer, and effectively say you’re doing that, and ignore it.)
Two guys actually got a patent on the idea of using a laser pointer as a cat toy. Not for a cat toy using a pointer, but for the very concept. It shouldn’t have been granted in the first place, and almost certainly wouldn’t have withstood a legal challenge, but they did get it – I’ve been through the legal documents. Unfortunately, they didn’t keep up the payments (Federal law requires a series of payments through the life of the patent – a wrinkle added in 1970 that I hadn’t known about until I researched this), so their patent lapsed.
I’d caution anyone against any playing that would lead to the possibility of the laser being shined into people’s eyes. And there are infinite possibilities for this when you consider how many reflecting surfaces there are. So i don’t think laser sighting scopes on toy guns is a good idea. I’m also annoyed by jerks who put the lights on athletes in competition, performers, or speakers. And shining a pointer into the faces of drivers and pilots is just stupid and, in some cases, against the law.
DON’T Do IT