[a brief side trip from the game, I have a bone to pick with asphalt]
ha, tombs to put civilization to bed in. i can’t think of a better material for that!
know how they call chunks of concrete from depaving projects “urbanite”? what would you call it for ass-fault?
I’ve actually heard you can compost it–anybody know anything more about that?
Totally counts. Philosophical concepts, medical practices, etc. count, too.
I’m too tired to come up with ideas for this one right now, so I’ll let somebody else take a stab at zoo animals. Maybe literally if you need meat? Har har.
Yea, aside from keeping potentially invasive species from unbalancing the local ecosystem, I think I might go after them because I’d be the only one with that kind of pelt. Unless it was one of the elephants, in which case I think my entire tribe would be wearing elephant skin clothing for awhile 
yeah, i wouldn’t mind getting my hands on some ivory, that’s for sure.
Tiger skiiiinnnn… :o 8)
Incedentally, that link to the bicicle record player showed them using a paper cone. Ai read on a different video’s comments that this wears out the record fairly fast. Would that be a problem for the hypothetical clay-based sound-recording devices?
New challenge: electricly powered air filters
I’m imagining that the filter has a grated vent, like the kind you find on an AC unit.
The grate could be used to sort out objects according to size, such as removing dirt, sand, or pebbles from larger objects.
It would also have very useful construction applications because of its unique shape. For example, placing it as a vent in a fireplace or smokehouse, or fish-house to keep the air from getting too stuffy.
How about… ice cube trays?
i would thing you could prolly rig 'em up to use as musical instruments, maybe something along the lines of a guiro…?
Also, if you can find a decent fitting lid, you could prolly use them as containers for small seeds.
but prolly the craziest idea is to use 'em to make… Ice Cubes! ;D
How to Use the Solar Funnel as a Refrigerator/CoolerA university student (Jamie Winterton) and I were the first to demonstrate that the BYU Solar Funnel Cooker can be used - at night - as a refrigerator. Here is how this is done.
The Solar Funnel Cooker is set-up just as you would during sun-light hours, with two exceptions:
The funnel is directed at the dark night sky. It should not “see” any buildings or even trees. (The thermal radiation from walls, trees, or even clouds will diminish the cooling effect.).
It helps to place 2 (two) bags around the jar instead of just one, with air spaces between the bags and between the inner bag and the jar. HDPE and ordinary polyethylene bags work well, since polyethylene is nearly transparent to infrared radiation, allowing it to escape into the “heat sink” of the dark sky.
During the day, the sun’s rays are reflected onto the cooking vessel which becomes hot quickly. At night, heat from the vessel is radiated outward, towards empty space, which is very cold indeed (a “heat sink”).
As a result, the cooking vessel now becomes a small refrigerator. We routinely achieve cooling of about 20º F (10º C) below ambient air temperature using this remarkably simple scheme.
In September 1999, we placed two funnels out in the evening, with double-bagged jars inside. One jar was on a block of wood and the other was suspended in the funnel using fishing line. The temperature that evening (in Provo, Utah) was 78º F. Using a Radio Shack indoor/outdoor thermometer, a BYU student (Colter Paulson) measured the temperature inside the funnel and outside in the open air. He found that the temperature of the air inside the funnel dropped quickly by about 15 degrees, as its heat was radiated upwards in the clear sky. That night, the minimum outdoor air temperature measured was 47.5 degrees - but the water in both jars had ICE. I invite others to try this, and please let me know if you get ice at 55 or even 60 degrees outside air temperature (minimum at night). A black PVC container may work even better than a black-painted jar, since PVC is a good infrared radiator - these matters are still being studied.
From here.
Ok, next up. hmmm, how about … keys?
If filed down they might be usable as spikes, or, threaded on a string and used as Jewellery.
Next object: a playstation.
Its effectively a computer. So the cables can be used as rope. The metals can be extracted. The plastics can be used for anything requiring light weight materials (although not load bearing in this case) especially if they have to be water proof.
And zoo animals: two words: monkey butlers.
How about the interstate?
-Benjamin
[quote=“Hypnopompia, post:49, topic:679”]How about the interstate?
-Benjamin[/quote]
Havent you noticed that plants grow bigger just next to roads? Its because the rainwater runs off of the street, creating a higher concentration of water in a localized area. Streets are the new floodplains (for growing stuff, see).
New challenge: paper making technology (low tech methods)
Mmmm. I’m imagining the wild rice to be had in post-civ Minnesota/Wisconsin…
You could use a bucket and an old window screen to make paper.
New challenge: broken red umbrella with a small hole in it
Oh, this game sounds fun. Why did you stop playing it so long ago?
An umbrella - the metal pieces could be made into fishing hooks. The spring could be used to build small traps. The parts of the plastic cover that dont have the hole could be used to make something to carry water or store some things that cannot get wet (tinderwood eg). The plastic cover could also be used as a funnel. If you find aluminum foil, the whole thing could be made into a parabolic mirror to serve as a solar oven. You could hang the umbrella from a tree with thread attached to each wire, fill it with water and use it as a shower.
Nice Aurora, but you forgot to add the new challenge! 
Ah - ok. I’m dumb 
So next: A microwave oven
Oooh, I love the shower idea. I don’t know much about electronics, so I’m going to go for the simple, boring answer: storage. A friend of mine used his microwave to store non-perishable foods like cookies and bread during a roach infestation.
eta: I forgot to add my challenge. Garages will soon be obsolete. What will we do with all those garage door openers?
I don’t think garages will become obsolete. I think people will easily repurpose garages when cars go out of style, probably into workshops, stables, or other animal storage facilities/barns.
anyhow, back to garage door openers 
I wanted to post here, because i saw a new (to me) use for a CD: as a weight for a DIY drop spindle. A sad ending for my complete set of Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs, but at least I’ll always be able to tell the story of the time when Willow got all evil and vein-y as I spin my thread. Is that how the phrase “spinning a yarn” came about? Hmmmm…
Anyway, I guess garage door opener is too hard. How about… an empty aerosol can.
Empty aerosol can: It’s basically a can with a valve, so it could be a container. Since it can take a bit of pressure it could also perhaps be used to make high-temperature steam, although if it’s heated too much it could become a steam rocket.
Garage door opener: If you have power, it could be used to move stuff. Without power, there are strong magnets, wire, chain, and a spring. Lots of uses for those.
Microwave oven: it might be a bit difficult, but it could be turned into a forge for metalworking if there’s power. It could also perhaps be used as a high-powered transmitter if you could find a suitable antenna and receiver.
Styrofoam: Why not use it to float a boat.
Interstate: frying eggs on hot days?
Asphalt chunks: weighing down a structure.
CD: Grating for a spectrometer. The rest of the instrument could be made from birch bark, cardboard, or any other thin, opaque material and then we could have a useful tool for analytical chemistry.
Next item: a box of rubber stoppers (various sizes). There are a ton of uses for these.
This game is awesome, although I’m most interested in how things would be useful in a survival (city/suburban) situation.
Rubber stoppers - well, obviously they would be extremely useful to seal random bottles/jugs/containers for storing water. They’d also make great bobbers for fishing lines and nets. Could they be melted down and used for making water-tight/air-tight seals, like for canoes?
What about, an old aluminum can? (should be easy, but I’m interested to hear what you guys think of…)