<story><title>Isamu Akasaki, inventor of first efficient blue LED, has died</title><url>https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/04/02/national/isamu-akasaki-dies/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Aardwolf</author><text>I found myself taping over some blue LEDs because they were so bright at night!</text></item><item><author>edoceo</author><text>Oh, I remember when blue LEDs became readily available (late 90s for me) and I would mod all my stuff to blue.&lt;p&gt;Had this MS ergo keyboard, with the LEDs in the middle hump, came with green.  So, I replaced with these 2.5 hi-blues and I was blinded by my own Numlock-Beam.  Had to cross a resistor over there to take the edge off.&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I think HN should get a black-bar because the blue LED is so cool.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>randrews</author><text>I have a laptop charger with one that I taped over with kapton tape: the orange kapton is almost the exact opposite of the blue LED so you&amp;#x27;re left with a dim white indicator, no blinding brightness.</text></comment>
<story><title>Isamu Akasaki, inventor of first efficient blue LED, has died</title><url>https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/04/02/national/isamu-akasaki-dies/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Aardwolf</author><text>I found myself taping over some blue LEDs because they were so bright at night!</text></item><item><author>edoceo</author><text>Oh, I remember when blue LEDs became readily available (late 90s for me) and I would mod all my stuff to blue.&lt;p&gt;Had this MS ergo keyboard, with the LEDs in the middle hump, came with green.  So, I replaced with these 2.5 hi-blues and I was blinded by my own Numlock-Beam.  Had to cross a resistor over there to take the edge off.&lt;p&gt;Anyway, I think HN should get a black-bar because the blue LED is so cool.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>boomlinde</author><text>I hate them with a passion for this reason but on second thought maybe I can&amp;#x27;t really blame it on the LEDs themselves. People seem to give them too much forward voltage and don&amp;#x27;t always use diffusing packaging, which would have made them much more pleasant to look at.&lt;p&gt;Then again, I rarely see such problems with products with red or amber LEDs.&lt;p&gt;I have a synthesizer with blue LEDs that&amp;#x27;s particularly obnoxious. It&amp;#x27;s probably feeding them 5V and there&amp;#x27;s of course no diffusion at all. I&amp;#x27;ve taped all of them over with a layer of duck tape and they&amp;#x27;re still too bright.</text></comment>