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Rick’s Binary Birthday Tattoo

Rick (@rwelphinstone) recently got his first tattoo: a binary representation of the most important dates in his life. Contained in these 384 small circles (and separated by 6 small triangles) are his birthday, his wife’s birthday, the birthdays of his two sons, his wedding day, and the day his father passed away. It’s interesting to see what different geeks encode in binary tattoos.

Jim Swales at Ink Game Tattoos in Ajax, Ontario dropped these dots on Rick.

Posted in Tattoos.

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6 Responses

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  1. Rick Elphinstone says

    Hey, that’s mine! :) Thanks for posting it, Ed. I’m really happy with the tattoo, and I’m in good company – Jim Swales has tattooed the immortal Samuel L. Jackson! I was asked, “what happens when you have more important dates to add?” I replied, “I always have another arm!”

  2. Timothy D.G. says

    Omg… why are the lines so far apart from each other!

    • Rick Elphinstone says

      I had designed it with less space in between, and when the artist wrapped each line, it was much too difficult to get closer – the lines each looked very squished and out of place. I like the way it worked out. You never know – I might add something in between the lines some day.

      • Timothy D.G. says

        Ok now that makes sense.

  3. Dougthebug says

    I know this guy won't want to hear this but that tattoo is horribly done. The dots/circles look like crap and the lines wave all over the place. If the artist did tattoo Samuel Jackson, i guarantee you its not a tattoo he is proud of based on how this turned out.

    • @RWElphinstone says

      I'm certain it's not the design nor artistry – I'll say outright, it's really the photo (and, truth be told, the photographer – me) that's at fault. The lines are straight, and the dots show up nice and strong. I really should send in a better pic. I've actually been back to Jim's place for another tattoo since then, and he's very proud of the work. He's told a bunch of people about it, and has a pic of it up on his site as well.