If I wasn't too scared of damaging the chip, I'd try that out.
Yeah - I think that kind of stuff borders on "art", as I've stated before; its akin to other Japanese art forms like origami or bonsai. Maybe when I get my shop fully in order I might try it myself.
Where it would be interesting to apply, though, would be into "advanced" forms of BEAM robotics...
As it is, I put EVERYTHING in DIP sockets just in case I ever want to re-purpose it (yes, even $0.10 555 timers).
Just the other day as I was organizing my IC parts, I had a few 555s (along with LM386s and other such 8-pin parts), and I was thinking "does anybody still use these"; its nice to see people still do!
I have so many old parts (lots of 74xx TTL stuff - most of it LS) that I wonder if I should keep or not; I figure I have to keep it, especially if I ever start to muck around with my Altair...might need 'em as spare parts...
