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Do you have a link or a company name? I tried googling, but iPad noise is drowning out anything but this rather intense hard-hack.

There are several TWiT podcasts, and some of them only partially meet the criteria of the person who submitted the question. Let's review the criteria: "entertaining, informative, and, most importantly, thorough," not dumbed down, "dive deep into projects and discussions instead of simply skimming the surface."

The two TWiT podcasts that meet all the criteria that come immediately to mind are Security Now and the (unfortunately now defunct) MacBreak Tech. Security Now is very technical and educational, and it doesn't dumb things down, but instead it manages to explain very technical topics in ways that make them easy to comprehend. It's mostly about computer and information security (naturally) but it also gets into networking and other related topics as well. MacBreak Tech was mainly focused on Macs as the name implies, but I learned a lot of things from the podcast that don't just apply to Macs specifically. I think all the old episodes are still available, so browse through the titles and descriptions and download anything that looks remotely interesting.

Other TWiT podcasts that the asker might enjoy: This Week in Law and FLOSS Weekly. This Week in Law gets in depth about the legal aspects of computer technology and the computer industry. FLOSS Weekly is all about Free (Libre) Open Source Software and consists largely of interviews with lead developers of major open source software projects.

Another decent computer security podcast is Security Bites from CNET. Security Bites is not nearly as in-depth as Security Now as the episodes are very short and more focused, but the show is worth listening to as well.

If you don't mind the shameless self-promotion, I'm one of the hosts of MacMod Live, which deals with Mac modding and peripherally-related topics. MacMod Live doesn't always get super technical, but MacMod.com has a lot of interesting stuff too if you're interested in computer modding.

All of the above are audio shows (sorry if you're looking for video content specifically). Occasionally we do videos on MacMod Live, and those get posted in the same podcast feed as our audio shows.

There are several TWiT podcasts, and some of them only partially meet the criteria of the person who submitted the question. Let's review the criteria: "entertaining, informative, and, most importantly, thorough," not dumbed down, "dive deep into projects and discussions instead of simply skimming the surface."

The two TWiT podcasts that meet all the criteria that come immediately to mind are Security Now and the (unfortunately now defunct) MacBreak Tech. Security Now is very technical and educational, and it doesn't dumb things down, but instead it manages to explain very technical topics in ways that make them easy to comprehend. It's mostly about computer and information security (naturally) but it also gets into networking and other related topics as well. MacBreak Tech was mainly focused on Macs as the name implies, but I learned a lot of things from the podcast that don't just apply to Macs specifically. I think all the old episodes are still available, so browse through the titles and descriptions and download anything that looks remotely interesting.

Other TWiT podcasts that the asker might enjoy: This Week in Law and FLOSS Weekly. This Week in Law gets in depth about the legal aspects of computer technology and the computer industry. FLOSS Weekly is all about Free (Libre) Open Source Software and consists largely of interviews with lead developers of major open source software projects.

Another decent computer security podcast is Security Bites from CNET. Security Bites is not nearly as in-depth as Security Now as the episodes are very short and more focused, but the show is worth listening to as well.

If you don't mind the shameless self-promotion, I'm one of the hosts of MacMod Live, which deals with Mac modding and peripherally-related topics. MacMod Live doesn't always get super technical, but MacMod.com has a lot of interesting stuff too if you're interested in computer modding.

All of the above are audio shows (sorry if you're looking for video content specifically). Occasionally we do videos on MacMod Live, and those get posted in the same podcast feed as our audio shows.

Or you can build one of these and not have an underpowered G4. As the unit was practically built up from a board there is no warranty to speak of- you do save a good deal on markup if you look in the right places. Not to mention, the case is whatever you make it, from any country of origin you want source the parts.

That and you can develop for ppc64 natively, not having the expense or heft of the other solutions.

This one is a bit older, but it's a lot more functional.

http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/

I wouldn't mind one of these made using more recent components...

the likelihood that this product will ever make it retail: very low you'd be much better off recycling an old laptop LCD screen to display a live RSS feed. Possible ways to do this: http://www.macmod.com/content/view/210/2 http://www.macworld.com/2004/08/features/thenextdo ityourselfmac/index2.php the ways to network this vary, bluetooth is the best alternative so long as distance isn't an issue, obviously cables would be too cumbersome, so an AirPort Card would be nice..a possible solution would be to mount the laptop whole and use it's AirPort Connection: http://www.macmod.com/content/view/467/1/ from here, it's a simple matter to use Apple Remote Desktop to log in to your laptop, and make it behave however you want...best part: you don't have to wipe your bum with ink! Now if only I had an extra ibook to sacrifice for this project. ________ Farty Pat probably will never get laid Hardware: iBook G3 500Mhz/640 MB RAM Nomad IIc .mp3 player 192MB Overactive pyloric sphincter. Bonzai!

the likelihood that this product will ever make it retail: very low you'd be much better off recycling an old laptop LCD screen to display a live RSS feed. Possible ways to do this: http://www.macmod.com/content/view/210/2 http://www.macworld.com/2004/08/features/thenextdo ityourselfmac/index2.php the ways to network this vary, bluetooth is the best alternative so long as distance isn't an issue, obviously cables would be too cumbersome, so an AirPort Card would be nice..a possible solution would be to mount the laptop whole and use it's AirPort Connection: http://www.macmod.com/content/view/467/1/ from here, it's a simple matter to use Apple Remote Desktop to log in to your laptop, and make it behave however you want...best part: you don't have to wipe your bum with ink! Now if only I had an extra ibook to sacrifice for this project. ________ Farty Pat probably will never get laid Hardware: iBook G3 500Mhz/640 MB RAM Nomad IIc .mp3 player 192MB Overactive pyloric sphincter. Bonzai!

But here's the real reason I've never bought a Mac, and will continue to not by Macs: I like building computers.

The G4 motherboards worked great in PC cases, but it's amazing some of the mac casemods out there.

BACKGROUND
I bought my mini for the software. Years ago I paid for a miniDV camcorder, because I knew that someday I would be able to afford a computer to edit the footage with. That day finally came! :-)

But the HDD stinks. External SATA is possible, and the best answer. Here's why...

OPTIONS
FW 400
While I *might* go for an external FW 400 solution, the mini only has one FW port... and copying DV material from a camcorder to a FW HDD on the same channel is a no-no.

USB 2.0
slower than FW 400 on the mini, according to what I've read. But more importantly, the mini won't boot from USB.

External 3.5" PATA
Ah, now we're talking! Check out these articles: 4 sweet solutions, all of which allow use of 3.5" HDDs on the mini's own ATA/100 controller:

mini in a PC box
http://www.appletalk.com.au/articles/miniserver/

mini with an external drive box housing an ATA HDD
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/art icles/mini/

mini ensconsed in a Centris 660
(Check out the XBench scores table)
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/art icles/mini/dock/

And best of all (IMHO), the purple mini
http://macmod.com/content/view/273/2/

External 3.5" SATA
The problem with the external PATA solutions is that the form factor sucks. Which got me thinking: If I could only use one of those fancy new SATA cables...

PARTS LIST
1. PATA to SATA bridgeboard:
http://www.google.com/search?q=PATA2SATA
2. IDE Hard Drive Cable Adapter - 2.5'' to 3.5''
http://www.google.com/search?q=StarTech+IDE4044
3. 44 Pin Male to Male IDC 2.5" IDE Laptop Gender Changer
http://www.google.com/search?q=+44+Pin+Male+to+Mal e+IDC+2.5%22+IDE+Laptop+Gender+Changer

DETAILS
I don't yet have the money to do this project, or you would have already heard the results. :-( But here is the plan:

Assemble the three components together (and trim off the unneeded power connection from the 2.5" to 3.5" cable adapter). You now have an assembly that fits within the space normally occupied by the mini's 2.5" HDD.

WARNING: the real unknown is whether or not you can actually then snake an SATA cable from the bridge board and out the back (or side) of the mini. But I think it will work. Assuming it does...

RESULTS
There are more and more SATA drive enclosures hitting the market. This year the trend is multiplexing backplanes, so that you can RAID multiple SATA drives in the enclosure and connect them via one channe back to the computer.

Pick an attractive SATA drive enclosure, plug it in, connect it to the mini, and off you go!

Phil Lawrence
--
feel free to email me if you'd like details about the success or failure of the project, once I get the parts together

On a side note... The guy that came up the idea says that the touch screen vendor Troll Touch was a "pleasure to work with" and I have had the exact opposite experience. Their business model is selling completely assembled apple iBooks or LCD screens and it is not selling kits or parts. This being the case; my communications with them have been short and churlish. Owing to European VAT I was planning on having it shipped to a place inside the US and pick it up on my next business trip, all the while having the sincere hope that I find an alternative before then.

It's been done before. =P
http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/
And it's even a MAC! /me gasps.

check out this:

http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/

for this guy it was basically a "roll your own" job, but there is a company which already produces a touch screen ibook, and could've easily made a Mac tablet based on the design ages ago. Their website here:

http://www.trolltouch.com/pages/products/ibook.htm l

Does prior art trump a design patent like it would an idea patent?

2002 - Ok, design doesn't match, but it's a nice effort:
http://www.wired.com/news/images/0,2334,56086-5302 ,00.html

2004 - Hrmmm... make it slightly thinner, and viola, it's the same damn thing.
http://www.macmod.com/content/view/166/2/

Meh, I interviewed Tim about the mod a few days ago. Here is a link: http://macmod.com/content/view/219/