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Obligatory Rice Boy Page.

LOL awesome shout-out to my old co-worker Bryan Hong would started that website. Good to see that it's a classic thread for riceboy absurdity!

Obligatory Rice Boy Page.

Rice Boy Tech to me

1. What the blueprints say, and what people will do to their ultra-capacitor-powered car are two different things. The Darwin Awards are full of people who... did things quite differently than the manufacturer imagined.

So I'll bet someone _will_ take it as necessary proof of manhood to take it apart, cut the cables, and make a dangerous mess, just because, you know, his dad told him that Real Men mess with their car's engine. And if he doesn't take it apart and make a bigger mess (before finally taking it to the mechanic anyway), then he might as well wear a dress and a purse.

2. And that's not even counting the millions of clueless rice boys (car modders) and the unscrupulous vendors preying on them. Someone _will_ sell clueless insecure guys a special power cable claimed to increase their horsepower by 10%, or something equally ridiculous. (Same as the 1000$ hi-fi power cables sold to "audiophiles," or 4" exhaust pipes for 1.1 litre engines. Odin knows there's no shortage of buyers for either.) Watch them take the engine apart and do dangerously irresponsible things with the cables.

Or, honestly, it just begs doing dangerous stuff with the voltage at either the capacitor (to increase range), or the electro-motor (since torque and horsepower do increase with voltage.) When some insecure kid's bragging rights depend on how fast he can accelerate, do you honestly think it won't happen? I can see the whole overclocking willy-waving contest happening all over again with cars.

And as with chips, there'll be a bit of variation to how much you can push a part. The fact that there's always a safety margin doesn't mean it's _guaranteed_ to go X% higher. The safety margin is there precisely because you get a bit of a gauss curve, and some parts will fall a bit short. Some motors will cheerfully take twice the voltage, some will have a spot of thinner wire or insulation and short out. Some capacitors will cheerfully take more voltage, some will have a weaker bit of insulation somewhere between those plates, and get an arc right through it if you push them.

Except with overclocking, at most you fry the chip, and tend to see it crashes long before that. With a capacitor you just get a hell of a lot of energy discharged in a very short time. Assuming that the capacitor only holds the energy of, say, half a tank of gasoline, discharging all that energy in half a second is very much equivalent to half a tank of gasoline blowing up. Better yet, stored energy rises with the square of the voltage, so over-volters will get quite the fireworks.

3. Well, what the blueprints say, and what the whole thing looks like after crashing into a tree, are often different things. I'm sure, for example, in normal cars radiator blueprints don't involve it having several breaks and punctures either.

Speaking as an upper-middle-class middle-age man with disposable income... oh, gawd, these bling cases make me want to puke. So I'm not even convinced that they're targetting people like me.

I mean, seriously, if I want to willy-wave, I might go buy something expensive and over-performing. Like, I don't know, I might get a second X1900 XTX and run them in SLI... err... CrossFire (TM) for benchmark sake. But it seems utterly stupid to buy a case which just _looks_ high-tech and funky, but doesn't actually _do_ anything for the performance.

It's, if you will, the computer-equivalent of Rice Boys and their sheet iron wings and fake disk brakes. Something that's just a sad attempt at _looking_ fast, without actually being so.

And just like those, I'm drawing blanks as to who their target market actually is. _Maybe_ kids, ok. But middle-aged men? I can't imagine many upper-middle-class middle-aged men actually wanting such a monstrosity in their room. We're talking people who, precisely because they have the disposable income, can have a nicely decorated home. Would anyone actually want a case looking like a cross between a funky toy and a bad acid trip next to their expensive furniture? Why?

Plus, as with those cars, if you actually _are_ rich, you can just buy the real thing. People with lots of disposable income just buy an expensive car. They don't just take the cheapest Honda and tack a wing and fake disk brakes on it. When you can actually afford a fast car, you don't go and try to make an el-cheapo one just _look_ fast. And in this case, if I can just build a computer that actually _is_ fast and high-tech, I don't need a sad clown case that only _looks_ "high-tech".

So who is the real target for these cases? People with a really bad case of mid-life crisis, maybe? Or what?

and we know NOBODY is doing that these days....

Whenever I need a little extra juice for a new fangled Win2k app I just hit my turbo button. I should get a few more good years out of this old PC...

Bleh... If you want a truly speedy computer, all you have to do is rice it up. S00per f4st racing stripes and stickers make all the difference dude!

there is a market for this, just as there is a market for spoilers that mount on Chevy Cavaliers or Honda Preludes

I see that you have almost found the word for this.

Indeed, extensive research has shown this to be true.

To complete his VTEC lookalike job, he placed a VTEC sticker on his car. You may notice that this sticker is mounted a bit low. When asked about this he said, "All the Prelude drivers know it's not a VTEC, but when I pass the Civic guys they say, 'oh shit! That's a VTEC!".

Who/What Exactly Is a Rice-Boy?

Rice-Boy is a stereotype. The typical Rice-Boy can be identified by his car, or rather what he does to it. Generally, Rice-Boy will start out with a car that was not meant to go fast (typically a Honda Civic), and attempt to "fix it up," usually consisting of aftermarket rims, lowering springs and an aftermarket exhaust system with a large exhaust tip.

Most Rice-Boy cars (or "Rice Rockets") have the usual complement of stickers proudly displaying features that the car might or might not have, most notably, the Honda VTEC sticker from the later model Preludes, and the plaques from the later model Integras.

Rice-Boys do not exclusively drive Japanese cars. There are quite a few fake Mustang '5.0's and Camaro Z28's out there, as well as quite a few strange looking Neons.

Is there a discussion of common car annoyances such as fart pipes, chain-link license plate frames, spoilers on family sedans, ill-fitting aftermarket plastic body kits, and drivers of any type of Pontiac?

A car modification guidebook for the stylistically-impaired

Was the subject header meant to be a deliberate reference to Rice-boys, car owners who mod their cars to look "fast" while often crippling actual performance? "Street Ricer" seems particularly funny in the context of NFS:Underground.

I think the instant you can get something from or installed by a major vendor, that thing is no longer cool.

Isn't it the whole "I did it myself and it's different than a `normal' PC" the point?

I think the instant you can get something from or installed by a major vendor, that thing is no longer cool.

Isn't it the whole "I did it myself and it's different than a `normal' PC" the point?

I think the instant you can get something from or installed by a major vendor, that thing is no longer cool.

Isn't it the whole "I did it myself and it's different than a `normal' PC" the point?

And on a side note, does it bother anybody else when people refer to "wheels" as "rims"? A wheel is more than just a "rim", so why call it that? When I read "rims" in reference to wheels, my brain automatically translates it to "riceboy crap".

P.S. Bryan is Korean. His definition of a Rice Boy: Rice-Boy is a stereotype. The typical Rice-Boy can be identified by his car, or rather what he does to it. Generally, Rice-Boy will start out with a car that was not meant to go fast (typically a Honda Civic), and attempt to "fix it up," usually consisting of aftermarket rims, lowering springs and an aftermarket exhaust system with a large exhaust tip.

I just looked at that "this one" of yours, and I think it's a pretty bitchin'-lookin' retro-stylin' PC case. True, I wouldn't have one of those in my own house, but if you've got a 1940's-1950's style house, with all kinds of old appliances (they don't make 'em like they used to), then this case would fit right in.

are ugly and frankly are the computer equivalent of that.

But I replied to you because I wanted to say how right you are about this one... Cuz guess what? rice_burners_suck!!

Conclusion? Case mods done with good taste are cool. Stupid looking case mods look really dumb.

During that upgrade period, the modding scene began to unfold.

Oh puh-leeze. Okay, so I'll admit, there are cool, tasteful, artistic PC case mods, like this one. But most case mods are just plain vulgar, with brightly colored leds all over the place, bits of things that don't go together visually but are supposed to look "fast", or "powerful" etc..., are ugly and frankly are the computer equivalent of that.

Real good case mods are not many.

Fast and cool...

Actually, a lot of home - grown vehicles have already done that.

A W-16 engine that can produce 1,001 horsepower

This type of rice also sees narrow acceptance
Rice Boy Page

Funny, that.

You know, thats what most people tell me as I drive around in my Honda Civic hatchback with a Giant Yellow Wing and big assed stickers proclaiming my awesomness.

They all Tell me "Dude! Just buy a space ship and quit pretending you drive one to the night shift at 7-11!" But the answer is still the same: "None of the space ships availiable drive on the ground! I had to get a CRX instead!"

Well I'm off to 7-11.

Sorta like this, found at the bottom of this page?

Sorta like this, found at the bottom of this page?

I have no problem customizing cars and having the outcome look good. Same with cases. My only problem is where it all goes wrong. Example

This is especially more common when they switch units, as it makes less sense to promote a "1.595L" engine.

An exception to this working either way was that brief period (correct me if I miss the exact number) when the Ford Mustang went to a 4932cc engine, but still kept the 5.0 badge. I think that only lasted one year.

For engines, it sometimes starts turning into a "pissing contest," where the larger engine will "win" the bragging wars.

(Slightly off-topic, but I still love Brian's Rice Boy Page)

Whomever modded this up needs a serious bitch slap.

Those are lowriders...you're thinking of rice boys.

where'd you get that idea?

You that this is you?

See here

Notice the LED says 133. The owner did this cause he was bored, and said it actually only runs at 100. The rest of the site is also quite hilarious....

However, for those who want to save some money, you can also just buy the sticker and place it on the outside of your box. Since we all know this basically provides the same performance increase as the actual modifications, why would anyone want to actually buy the product.

Proof is here

Now, be nice! ;-) I don't consider myself an audiophile, just someone who loves music and wants it to sound as good as my ears can possibly hear it. And that's the bottom line, whether my ears can hear a problem, not whether anyone else can claim to hear artifacts. I often listen to lower quality MP3s in the car (I encode them twice when ripping - once at high quality, once at low) because the road noise drowns out any compression artifacts, so I'm totally happy with the sound there. Fits more on a CD that way.

On the other hand, an audiophile will claim:

• Vinyl is better than CD (bullcrap, CD has a FAR lower noise floor than vinyl)
• MP3 at 320 kbps sounds like shit compared to CD (uh huh, let's see you pass a blind listening test)
• CD is inferior quality and should be encoded at 96 kHz and 24-bit (ok whatever, again - listening test)
• etc...

But this is straying off topic (feel free to moderate as such) so I'll just say that you're right, I need to spend the damn buck and see what happens. I've just been too busy the last couple days yet (typing this at work, no Mac here). If I'm happy with what I hear, that's all I care about.

Agreed. If you want to see a site that does this right, check out Rice Boy Page. The guy that runs it actually knows what he's talking about, and has some truly amusing pictures on it. And none of those evil javascript popup pictures. :)

It's a different scene entirely. The people who like to "trick out" their cars with rediculously expensive custom paint jobs and electronics are into the show car side of things. They're the ones you're most likely to see at the auto shows showing off their "sweet rides." The lower class of this group are the idiots you see on the street that inspire the coffee can muffler parodies. Check out this site if you want a good laugh.

Then you have the people that are into the technical side of things. This is definitely the point of view of SCC (the magazine this story was originally from). It's usually not hard to find their disdain for the latter group somewhere in any given issue of one of their magazines. Imagine a publication kind of like Autoweek or Motortrend, but that doesn't really give a shit about "luxury" or "amenities" and only really care about one thing - speed. Then you'll have an idea of what audience this article was aimed at.

Really, if you know about cars, the reason the article is so funny is because the things they're doing are basically exagerated versions of what real life morons do because they think it'll make their cars faster. The fact that they basically destroyed the car to gain 2.1 seconds on the 1/4 mile is the punch line. :)

What is a Rice boy?

From the page:
"Rice-Boy is a stereotype. The typical Rice-Boy can be identified by his car, or rather what he does to it. Generally, Rice-Boy will start out with a car that was not meant to go fast (typically a Honda Civic), and attempt to "fix it up," usually consisting of aftermarket rims, lowering springs and an aftermarket exhaust system with a large exhaust tip.

Most Rice-Boy cars (or "Rice Rockets") have the usual complement of stickers proudly displaying features that the car might or might not have, most notably, the Honda VTEC sticker from the later model Preludes, and the plaques from the later model Integras."

The similarity with Duron owners pretending to be Cray owners are amusing. Don't miss out on that Rice boy site's Hall of shame!!!

Ricer aka rice-boy

Correction.

You come from the Rice Boy world.

Sendmail as Rice-Boy -- what a concept :)

Of course, a lot has changed since the mid-70's. Perhaps tricking it out as a ricer might be a more contemporary option. A spoiler and stickers would be easy enough. But how about carving out a place for some button batteries to power some LED "neon" running strips? Cram in one of those boy-band keychains you can find at Toys-R-Us, and it can even be a boomcar. Real riceboys would be pissed at the music choice, but the adult judges will never know the difference.

Hyundai is an extremely popular brand in Australia. So is Toyota. So is Mitsubishi. So is Ford. Cars are cars unless you're a 'riceboy'.

I mean, I've got a K6-233 computer at home, and with this, I can make it so people at least think I have a fast computer.

Seriously, can anyone explain it to me why people fork out as much cash as they do to give a facelift to something crappy, rather than just saving up, and buying a better model? I mean, for well less than $100, I could pick up a crappy video card, and a 9" monitor to display status messages.

I can't find anyone selling the 9" POS monitors I have at home [640x480], but a 1024x768 one is about the same cost as the 4x20 char display.

With Home Depot talking about upgrading their cash registers in the coming year, the old ones they have might go on the market -- check computer shows and sellers of refurbished hardware.

Must be just you, or you don't live in southern CA. Here, the luxury SUV (ha! what's the point of these??) driving bitch wives of rich assholes are damn annoying as they barrel down the freeway, yakking on their cellphones and taking up two lanes. But even so, they don't compare to the rice boys in their stickered-out (but not souped-up) Honda Civics. I want to kill every one of those little fuckers. They're even worse than the fucking assholes in the BMWs and the penis-boys in the Camaros/Firebirds/Corvettes.

Fuck it. They should all die. I should be the only one allowed to drive, dammit. Everyone should have to bid to pay me to drive them around. Drive one rich fucker around one day a week for six or seven figures a pop, and I'm set. The world would be perfect.

Don't forget Rice Boy Page dot com...

Hah! My rear wing not only makes my Accord faster, it makes it stealthier! Ear your heart out, 007!

You want a car that is Fast and Furious, are you a Rice Boy? ;-)

If you're willing to spend all those hours making casemods, why not simply design the case from the ground up?

ie: make a regular PC case in to a SX64-looking case.

You end up with a classic and the "cool PC". What could be better?

>Christ - you people talk like there were only 3 ever made and one went down with the Titanic.

That's almost how it was. And there'll never be anymore made -- the SX64 schematics were mostly lost during the Escom buyout, and the last scraps were lost when Gateway bought out the Commodore IP of Escom.

>The fact that this will be used with the form intact and the function 'improved'? Or that it stays in it's original form and decaying function?

Oh, I'm not saying he should let it rot. He should _repair_ it and bring it up to original new spec, if anything. If not, sell it to one of us for $100. That'd pay for one shit-hot PC case; racing stripes, V-TEC sticker, 8 blue headlights, 6" dual-mufflers, fuzzy dice, mag wheels, and the rest.

Hey, what he likes and what is the "right" thing (to people who actually appreciate C64 machines) are, quite possibly, very different things.

>Personally, I'd love to have a Next Cube with an shit-hot PC in it. Why? So I could use it for what I do *now*, and look at it's beatiful shape and color while I record music and edit video on it. Would I miss the Next OS? Sure, maybe. Would it get used on a daily basis? (We're talking 040 processor, people)

Why not just buy a modern cube shaped case and fix it up to be similar looking to a NeXT cube?

Again, you get the classic and a cool PC.

What this guy did to his SX64 is worse than anything you'd see here, IMHO.

is even cooler. Scroll down to the picture of his computer.

My V-TEK sticker works better.