Before you take a gander below at the glorious display of masculinity at its finest, we want to thank everyone who donated on behalf of our team in support of men’s health issues. The awkward stares, uncomfortable itchiness, and general creepiness was worth it, as we raised $740!

Here’s our mustached team on the last day of Movember:



In case you’re wondering, here’s their “before” shot (tragically, Movember claimed a few participants). Clean-shaven or mustached, they are a pretty dapper group!

Have you heard of this whole “Movember” movement? It’s basically guys growing awareness for various men’s health issues (like prostate cancer) by growing ridiculously awesome mustaches. That’s a win-win in our book, so we recruited a group of 16 SJ’ers to join the cause!

Our team’s “before” picture (disclaimer: this was shot on 11/2, so as you may notice, there are some blooming mustaches):



We’ll be back on 11/30 to post the sure-to-be-hilarious “after” picture. Learn more about Movember here and, if you’re feeling philanthropic, donate on behalf of our team.

Update: Here is the “after” shot at the end of Movember!

Name: Vanessa Hernandez

Position at ShopJimmy: Bilingual Customer Service Representative

One sentence job description: Exciting! You never know who you’ll talk to next. Keeps you on your toes.

Favorite LCD breakage story: My son thinking the monster from Jeepers Creepers was coming out of the TV (because of the clear picture).

TV model in your living room: 55LV4400

Family: My fiance Robert, my son Lorenzo, Robert Jr, and Aubry

Hobbies: Family time, going to the movies, shopping therapy ;) and traveling

Favorite restaurant: Texas Roadhouse

Go-to Pandora/Spotify station: Drake radio station

Beverage of choice: Strawberry daiquiri

In-flight reading material: The local newspaper, it’s crazy how much interesting and crazy things you’ll see in there!

Sports team(s) you root for: The Oakland Raiders and the Vikings

Three things you’d bring to a deserted island: My tanning lotion, iPod, and blanket (can you say relaxation mode?)

On a web dating service, you’d describe yourself as: NOT INTO YOU SORRY! lol

You can find me on…

Name: Mike Nelson. No relation to Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Position at ShopJimmy: Customer Service Hero

One sentence job description: Leap tall orders in a single bound.

Favorite LCD breakage story: I watched a video of somebody playing Xbox Kinect and they smacked their ceiling fan into the set. I watched it 10 times in regular-motion, and 10 more times in slow-motion.

TV model in your living room: KDL-42V4100

Family: Mom, dad, sister, nephews and nieces + step-families.

Hobbies: Writing, watching too many horror and sci-fi movies, attending beer festivals, getting sunburned at said beer festivals, and a little bit of cooking.

Favorite restaurant: It’s a toss up between Victor’s 1959 Cafe for breakfast and The Local for dinner, both in Minneapolis. The Local’s pot-roast sandwich is true art.

Go-to Pandora/Spotify station: Amon Tobin, RJD2, or Neko Case.

Beverage of choice: Bell’s Oberon Ale

In-flight reading material: Whatever books I have on my shelf, last flight was No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy.

Sports team(s) you root for: Miskatonic Cephalopods. Go Pods!

Three things you’d bring to a deserted island: Sunscreen, hovercraft, beer.

On a web dating service, you’d describe yourself as: I’d end up writing a novella about myself and nobody wants to read that crap.

You can find me on…

“Free 2-day delivery? I’ll dance at your next wedding for that!” – Carroll W.

Name: Caleb

Position at ShopJimmy: Graphic Designer

One sentence job description: I make the website look pretty.

Favorite LCD breakage story: Not sure that I have one. That’s usually not the kind of info that ends up in the inbox. :)

TV model in your living room: 42” Vizio. That’s about as specific as I can get.

Family: My lovely wife, three brothers and a sister all younger than me, and my parents.

Hobbies: A little music, a little art, football, reading, writing on occasion, some cooking, harassing my siblings, writing long winded and improbable responses to simple questions that Ryan gives me…

Favorite restaurant: This little Chinese place called New China in my home town of Bemidji, MN. Best pineapple chicken ever.

Go-to Pandora/Spotify station: I like a little bit of everything (except country). I don’t really have a go-to station.

Beverage of choice: Diet Coke

In-flight reading material: I usually just grab whatever I’m currently reading from home. Something sci-fi is always a plus.

Sports team(s) you root for: Vikings, Twins

Three things you’d bring to a deserted island: Probably a big gun (Everyone knows that deserted islands always have either monsters, hybrid beasts or dinosaurs on them. Why do you think the island is deserted? Man eating bear-sharks, that’s why.), some way to get off the island, and maybe my wife if she promises not to complain about the man eating bear-sharks.

On a web dating service, you’d describe yourself as: Rogue genetics professor with his own deserted island who loves exotic pets. Girls love a smart, slightly dangerous guy who has a soft side for animals..

You can find me on…

Name: Jeanne

Position at ShopJimmy: Jimmy’s Assistant

One sentence job description: JJJJeeeeeaaaannnnneeee.

Favorite LCD breakage story: TVs break?!

TV model in your living room: Sony KDL-46S5100

Family: Very loving immediate and extended family. Fantastic boyfriend, Nathan. 3 kittens and 1 spunky Pomeranian.

Hobbies: Baking, cooking, party planning, spending time with my family and friends.

Favorite restaurant: This is an extremely difficult question for me as I love all food and going out to eat… but if I have to choose, I would have say Amore Victoria in Uptown.

Go-to Pandora/Spotify station: Some combination of Taylor Swift, Tom Petty, Jay-Z, Celine Dion, and whatever Pandora fills the gaps with.

Beverage of choice: Sweet Brandy Old Fashioned with cherries or red wine

In-flight reading material: People, Cosmo, Skymall, trashy novels, anything to keep me from thinking about how high up I am.

Sports team(s) you root for: Jared Allen and anything hockey

Three things you’d bring to a deserted island: Boyfriend, all of my animals (counts as one, right?!), and tequila.

On a web dating service, you’d describe yourself as: I’m not good about talking about myself… but if you buy me dinner and lots of drinks, I’m sure you’ll find out more than you bargained for.

You can find me on…

What are you working on?

This Westinghouse model. It’s a real head scratcher.

Why is that?

Well, we’ve got all these different versions of the TV. And the different versions have different versions. Seriously goofy.

Don’t they all have different part numbers? Just do what we normally do and give them unique part numbers.

It’s not that simple. The main units do and don’t have consistent part numbers.

That makes soooo much sense… uh what?!

Well the board number T.RSC8.10A 11153 is on all of the…

So they’re all the same!

No, stop inter…

They have to be. The board number matches.

Enough. Listen. The board number and layout is uniform across all versions of this model. However, they aren’t the same. Each version has its own programming to work with the different panel manufacturers.

How do you know it won’t work?

How do you think I know? I tried it. Look what happens when you put a main from the AUO version into the Samsung version.

I see… well, they should label them differently with a sticker or something so there’s no confusion.

Oh they do, but the sticker causes more confusion.

Why? It should be clear that the sticker with the Samsung-esque panel number is for the Samsung version.

That’s what I thought at first, too. But the AUO version uses the Samsung number sometimes. But like I said before, they aren’t equivalents. Same happens with the CMO version. As a matter of fact, they all just have random panel numbers.

Seems strange. Well, what about these other numbers? They seem more generic. Are they relevant?

Not even close. They’re just as bad as the panel numbers. See how you can find the same number on the Samsung version and AUO version again?

Well dang! What do you plan on doing?

We have to emphasize the reasons we know they work together. And try to list them on the site in the least confusing manner.

How do we know what ones work where?

The ones that come from the same version with the same panel will only work in that same version and panel.

Ewww… what a mess. Is this the only instance of that?

Noooo… this is happening with a lot of models. Look at T.RSC7.11A 9537.

Yeah, gross. Even though all of those boards look identical, they aren’t the same?

Exactly. Look, these aren’t even for the same brands and models anymore. We’ve got RCA’s ranging from 26-46 inches. There is a plasma model for Viore. Westinghouse boards with more confusing panel info listed. It’s a real mess. We are doing our best to clean them up, but it takes time.

So it’s not just Westinghouse. All kinds of brands are jumping on board. Why do they all have the same board?

They’re all buying the same generic board from a third party and uploading their software to it. They are probably saving a lot of money doing it this way — sadly they aren’t marking them in a consistent manner. We have to be a lot more cautious selling these boards. We could get all kinds of customers claiming defective boards when really it is the wrong version. It’s pretty tough to narrow it down, but model and panel information should get people to the right place. Don’t trust the numbers on the boards, we only include them because we’re all programmed to search by them.

Well thanks for that. I sure hope these guys straighten out sooner or later and stop yanking everyone’s chain.

Me too!!

I know, there’s a certain professionalism expected when one is blogging about e-waste, and I don’t want to make light of what could easily be called a pandemic.

But this. Wow. Words freaking fail. (Which is why I made this sound when I found it: “Squeeeeeeee.”)

It’s a robot. Right? Guaranteed awesome. It’s made of recycled e-waste. Uber-awesome.

AND IT CAN REPAIR OR IMPROVE ITSELF USING MORE E-WASTE!!!!

Thanks, Jon, for slapping me back to consciousness when I fainted just now. Though you should know that when you “slap a person back to consciousness” you should gently smack them, usually on the cheek, not kick them in the ribs while screaming obscenities.

But that might just be a regional thing. Like calling soda “pop.” So, no worries.

But anyway, as I was saying: ONCE ACTIVATED, IT JUST ROAMS AROUND TURNING POTENTIALLY TOXIC WASTE INTO AWESOME…NESS!!! (Why do I keep fainting? Maybe my blood sugar is low.)

And it only cost $500 to build. (Not bad eh, Jimmy? Bargain basement robot army! I’m just sayin’. Why run a company, when we could go somewhere warm, topple some government and then literally live like kings? Think about it.)

Sure, he might not be the best looking robot ever, but not everyone can be the beautiful and charismatic Arcee (see image below). And if he can repair himself, what’s to stop him from (whoa, getting a little light headed), you know, after a few upgrades, (gimme a minute, I’m a little woozy) building more robots!?!?!

Editor’s note: We are trying to revive Chris again. He’s lying on the ground with his eyes rolled back in his head, grinning like a madman.

Wow. It’s dark out already. Huh. So anyway, it just keeps getting cooler. The designer plans to add multiple recharging options, like solar or kinetic, that would all go to a single battery. So it would even run on renewable energy. He’s like an eco-juggernaut!

I’m heading back to the warehouse now. So if you realize the world just got conquered, you may want to send me a gift basket or something.

Or feel my robot wrath! (I’ve always wanted to say that!) You can read more about it here.

2nd Editor’s note: Chris has been forcibly ejected from the warehouse and is currently sitting at his desk mumbling something about destiny.

Today is a special day, friends. Exactly* five years ago, Jimmy founded ShopJimmy.com out of his garage with no more than a few TVs and a dream. We want to celebrate by thanking you for your support and business this past half-decade!

According to WebMD, here are the milestones we should’ve achieved by now…

1. Speak clearly using more complex sentences. (Have you seen one of our email threads?)
2. Count ten or more objects. (We counted 272,783 TV parts today. Check this one off the list.)
3. Correctly name at least four colors and three shapes. (We’re confused. Pass.)
4. Recognize some letters and possibly write his or her name. (Someone just sent an email with “B” as their signature, so we’re still working on recognizing letters.)
5. Better understand the concept of time and the order of daily activities. (Jimmy sends emails between 1-4 am. Regularly.)
6. Have a greater attention span. (Hey, look! A shiny object!)
7. Follow two- to three-part commands. (Backlight inverter. Backlight inverter slave. Next.)
8. Recognize familiar words, such as “STOP.” (But there’s only one more milestone?)
9. Know his or her address and phone number. (Ladies, my number is 612-50… just kidding.)

*Well, not exactly. Our official birthday is 1/30, but we’ve celebrated it on 2/1 the past few years. I guess we’re still working on that whole counting milestone.

Name: Kara

Position at ShopJimmy: Accounts Receivable

One sentence job description: For all you billing customers, I’m the lady who asks for your payments.

Favorite LCD breakage story: Sad…I don’t have one. :(

TV model in your living room: Samsung LED. So glad I didn’t get asked 3 weeks ago!

Family: In due to time…I’ve got the boyfriend, which I think is a good starting point.

Hobbies: Working out, home improvements, being creative and finding time to relax.

Favorite restaurant: Good Earth

Go-to Pandora/Spotify station: Lately country with an emphasis on Zac Brown Band.

Beverage of choice: Crispin Cider – haven’t heard of it? You’re probably part of the cool people who can still eat gluten.

In-flight reading material: Reading? I prefer a long nap.

Sports team(s) you root for: Good ol’ T-Pups (Timberwolves)

Three things you’d bring to a deserted island: Knife, matches and a Martha Stuart Living Magazine.

On a web dating service, you’d describe yourself as: Fun, spontaneous, driven and not interested in finding someone on the internet.

You can find me on…

We updated our site’s design recently (with more changes to come soon) and think it’s pretty cool. We thought it’d be fun to see how far we’ve come these past few years, so we dug into the SJ archives and discovered this gem: our design circa June, 2009. It doesn’t look too shabby, right?

Look who we caught in our warehouse filling his bag with TV parts for this weekend…

P.S. For those who haven’t seen the movie, Elf, here’s the scene that our blog title references (at the 0:30 mark).

I think we can all agree that consensus is a difficult thing to find these days. (Heh. See what I did there?) Another thing we can all agree on is this: Cancer is bad. Very, very bad. Even worse than crossing the streams.

And while I was perusing some old Scientific American articles, I happened across something really surprising.

Now, while we’ve noted that improperly disposed TV parts can cause cancer, did you know that some TV parts can fight cancer?

It’s true!

The way DLP tech works is it uses an optical semi-conductor called a digital micro-mirror device (DMD) to digitally modulate light. It does this via thousands of micro-mirrors to project an image, displaying 1024 shades of gray and — in some of the more high end sets — 35 trillion colors. Yep, with a “T”. That looks like this: 35,000,000,000,000.

Based on the above capabilities of DLP chips, which are one of our most popular parts (we’re working on getting more, I assure you), doctors are now using them to help focus radiation blasts during treatments to keep the healthy tissue surrounding a cancerous tumor, well, healthy.

They are also developing DLP-based imaging technology that would allow doctors to look at what are essentially holograms of our internal organs, including any tumors, and more accurately plan injection sites and surgeries.

This is done by projecting two-dimensional cross-sections of individual organs at 5000(!) images a
second. Since our feeble brains can’t process images that fast, we see a fully three dimensional rendering that can be moved and viewed in 360 degrees. (Most movies are shot at a measly 24 frames per second that we still don’t notice. Are our brains lazy or something? C’mon!)

The future is, well not exactly now, but like, super soon.