The Incredible Invisible Case

Brett Profitt writes "No, it's not entirely like the clear pc case, and it's much, much cooler than a simple windowed case, but it would still look great with a hard drive window. This, my friends, is The Invisible Case ! " Truly a labor of love. This may be the nicest case I've ever seen. To bad you can't buy them like this! Check out the details (Transparent rubber feet, fans, and hard drive window). It absorbs envy beams from miles around.

Comments

It absorbs envy beams....

[Cruciform]

and promptly converts them to EMF emissions. :)

Wrap that rascal! Where's the shielding?

Re:It absorbs envy beams....

[llamalicious]

There are no EMF emissions.
It's built with Transparent Aluminum...
Faraday to the rescue!

Re:It absorbs envy beams....

[Cruciform]

Wow, this is the most insane amount of moderation i've ever seen to a post. :)

Re:It absorbs envy beams....

[NaturePhotog]

This whole discussion reminds me of stuff I did as a youngster. I had one of those old '101 Electronics Projects' kits that came in a wooden case with resistors, capacitors, a speaker, etc. (kind of like this). One of the experiments was an AM transmitter. I built it, played around with it, got bored, and so tried different parts in place of the original specs.

Next thing I know, my parents are shouting upstairs to me asking what the $%@#! I'm doing, as the TV screen was filled with nothing but noise. We joked about sitting outside the neighbors with it to get them to throw out their TV which we could then liberate from the trash :-)

Of course, that was designed to transmit, and when everybody was watching TVs with rabbit ears. But I imagine with a little work you could pretty easily get it to zap portable phone conversations and the like instead.

Damn ...

[Aceticon]

There's always some crazy geek or other inventing an new computer case.

What will they come next with, an Ethernet switch on a teddy bear???

Oh ... wait

Ummm

[cr@ckwhore]

How is this not like the "clear PC" case?

If you want a really invisible case, just lay your mobo and parts out on a table. Then, your PC will be +5 cool.

Re:Ummm

[Hydro-X]

Or -1 Fried if you're not careful.. :]

Re:Ummm

[plaa]

If you want a really invisible case, just lay your mobo and parts out on a table. Then, your PC will be +5 cool.

Like this (the pegboard computer) or mine?

Re:Ummm

[JPriest]

Ok, That's just wrong

Re:Ummm

[pest]

why SIX serial ports?!?! Interfacing w/other devices?

Re:Ummm

[plaa]

Mouse (too lazy to get a PS/2 mouse, and a short while ago I didn't have PS/2 ports), modem, and DS-7 camera. Some while ago I also had a dumb terminal, but I got rid of that because of space limitations.

Two serial ports simply isn't enough. And adding another multi-I/O would take an IRQ for every port, so that's out of the question too. Six is enough. (My brother has ten.)

Nowadays I guess you could manage with fewer with PS/2 and USB ports, but why upgrade a perfectly functional serial mouse, and I don't think the modern ports are very user-made-device friendly... I'm planning making a computer-controlled nightlight. =)

Kind of like...

[B00yah]

The Emperor's New Clothes...Just tell everyone that you have a new machine that you modded with a clear case, clear components, and clear peripherals, and only smart people can see them :)

Re:Kind of like...

[Cruciform]

Sounds like John Nash's computer :)

Re:Kind of like...

[modecx]

Just tell everyone that you have a new machine that you modded with a clear case, clear components, and clear peripherals, and only smart people can see them :)

Didn't someone try that idea during the .com boom?
I can see it now:

Consultant: I have this great new money saving technology!

Pointy-Haired Boss: *drewl*

Consultant: Its a computer! The mostest revolutionary computer EVER! It needs no power, and communicates via subspace radio!

Pointy-Haired Boss: Where is it?

Consultant: Well, it's right here!

Pointy-Haired Boss: Where!?

Consultant: It's on you desk. You mean you don't see it? It's so advanced, it so happens that only very intelligent people can see it!

Pointy-Haired Boss: Oh! Of course! It's right there!

Consultant: I have ten thousand of them ready to be shipped, for the low low cost of only $2999.95! How many would you like?

Pointy-Haired Boss: *drewl*

One thing is certian: it sure sounds like a more viable business model than some I have heard of.

Still waiting for this one...

[gkbarr]

A case made of transparent Aluminum. Sure wish Scotty could post the design for one of those on /.

-G

Not just the case

[fobbman]

In about 10 minutes this whole website will be invisible thanks to the allmighty /. effect.

Transparent ya, but . . .

[WebBug]

Ya, it's nice, and it's pretty clear, and it's a cube, but it ain't Apple.

And, I still like my lego case better. Maybe I should take some pictures of that . . .

kama ho + /.-ing

[Nate Fox]

for those trying to get to it (its a bit /.ed atm), the article is split up in 16 pages. The good pictures are on page 14 and 16. So try to get through to those, rather than taking a guess:
http://www.bit-tech.net/article/72/14
http://www.bit-tech.net/article/72/16

Re:kama ho + /.-ing

[ArsonSmith]

Wow!!! That case is soooo invisable my web browser cant even find the pages. it is on. and the ErrorDocument is invisable as well.

Not Found
The requested URL /article/72/ was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Re:kama ho + /.-ing

[matthewcraig]

He he... Lots of fun annoying system admins... This is from bit-tech's root page at http://www.bit-tech.net/:

00:17 5th March 2002

sorry, but the bit-tech.net server is currently unavailable (thanks slashdot :p)

in the mean time, please visit the forums

- moose

Invisible case, or do you mean bandwidth?

[bleckywelcky]

Forget the invisible case, that server must be using some invisible bandwidth. Only 10 comments so far when I clicked the link - 15 minutes to load the pics.

Big Deal!

[poot_rootbeer]

So what? I just leave the case off my PC most of the time, and it has the same general effect. :)

I wonder if it's possible to make translucent-clear printed circuit boards? I guess green is okay, and the occasional red-lacquer board you come acros is neat-looking, but I'd like to be able to look through a motherboard like looking through a frosted window...

Re:Big Deal!

[Smallpond]

On really old oscilloscopes, Tektronix used to gold plate not just the connectors but all of the PCB traces. Those would have looked great with a clear case. Especially with all of the vacuum tubes glowing.

Re:Big Deal!

[podom]

-1 offtopic:

To make a truly transparent circuit board, you would need:

* copper-clad lucite or plexiglass (or another clear insulator; pyrex?)
* a way to etch off the copper without clouding the transparent surface underneath
* some nice transparent epoxy with which to glue the layers together.

Unless you made it out of glass, it might have some big problems with heat, and keeping a nice smooth transparent surface might be tough. If you did make it out of glass, I can see drilling and plating vias being a real bitch.

Sounds very cool, though. I'll get right on it.

Phil

Re:Big Deal!

[ScepticalTech]

On really old oscilloscopes, Tektronix didn't use printed circuit boards. They used special silver-bearing solder on the ceramic posts the components were soldered to, though.

I think you are referring to medium-old oscilloscopes.

Re:Big Deal!

[colmore]

-1 needless flame:

he was just speculating. translucent PCB *would* be pretty cool.

(I'd shell out an extra $10 or $20 for a translucent mobo.

He wasn't getting into a debate about the engineering of it.

I mean, come on, a levitating car would be cool.

what would be really cool

[7-Vodka]

what would be awesome with this, is pouring some liquid CO2 smoke into the case and seeing exactly how the airflow inside the case is behaving! you could work out how to best position fans etc.

Re:what would be really cool

[Fredpro]

Liquid C02 Smoke?

Smoke = Gas, Liquid = Liquid.
C02 is never a liquid as it sublimates at a very low temperature (goes from solid to gas).

I get your point though, cool idea.

Re:what would be really cool

[fiori]

That "smoke" you see with dry ice or liquid nitrogen is the water vapor in the air condensing. That would not be a good thing to have on your motherboard.

There is such a thing as liquid carbon dioxide, but only at pressures above 5 atmospheres.

Re:what would be really cool

[nightles]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't CO2 only exist in solid and gaseous forms? :P

Re:what would be really cool

[SimJockey]

OK, just to add to the pedantic comments. Smoke is solid, really small solid particles suspended in a gas. :-)

Re:what would be really cool

[MattBaggins]

Yeah lets expose hot electrical circuits to moisure and CO2. I have idea; lets just dip the whole thing in carbonic acid and see what happens.

Re:what would be really cool

[nightles]

still - not very likely to want to see those conditions around a pc... ;)

Re:what would be really cool

[morie]

Yep. Unless it is presurised, which would be a real bad thing for your computer...

Re:what would be really cool

[ndege]

I have used the smoke from incense sticks (purchased at walmart) to verify air movement within a sound enclosure that holds 3 computers in my room that I built.

Works great!

Pretty trick...

[ackthpt]

I wonder how it handles heat and static. A word of warning, when working with acrylics, fumes can be carcenogenic, also do nerve damage, work in good ventilation.

I just ordered the Lian Li PC65USB (black) and am waiting for word of it's impending shipment. I'm thinking of putting LED Christmas lights inside.

Re:Pretty trick...

[kaimiike1970]

Hey did you see this page? It says the lights are actually LCD lights... this must be an amazing technology.

Re:Pretty trick...

[ackthpt]

That's pretty humorous. Retail price for two sets, $29.50 (where foreverbright formerly listed these at ~$10 a set) on sale for $17.83 + 4.72 S&H, comes out to $22.55 I picked up 8 boxes on clearance at the local Albertsons for $2 per box. Probably better move to check other sellers.

Oh, and the LCD thing is obviously a typo. They're brilliant LEDs w/o any rectifier, so they do have a bit of a 60Hz strobe. I might just add a 1N4002 and a 220uf/150v electrolytic to lose that high-speed twinkle. Or, I could cut up a string into sections I could run off the powersupply.

it looks cool, but...

[lyapunov]

I do not think I would like the constant reminder of all the dust bunnies. I think blowing the machine out every couple of months is good.

Re:it looks cool, but...

[gTsiros]

my windows machine does that already and, in fact, it does it every day!

wait... oh... blowing *out*, not "up"

Boy, is he going to be pissed off...

[SVDave]

when, a couple of months from now, the interior of the case is covered in dust.

Re:images slashdotted already...

[scorcherer]

There's a mirror at http://127.0.0.1/../../../../../dev/null. Unfortunately the silver plating has worn off so the mirror is invisible..

Impressive!

[steveha]

The craftsmanship is incredible.

He removed the metal case so the guts of the power supply are visible. He took the face off his DVD drive so you can see inside. Even his hard disk has been modded with a window showing the platter and the read/write head.

My favorite quotes:

"Needle files are a modder's secret weapon."

"Yes, I did polish the heads on the fasteners. Thanks for noticing."

Very impressive.

steveha

3 minutes to Slashdot effect

[Kaine]

Damn, it went down while I was browsing it. Three minutes. There should be a poll : how long before a site is Slashdotted after a post? I hope Taco warns those webmasters in advance. I can see them freak out already.

Mad fetishists

[Bruno Saskatchewan]

It only "absorbs envy beams" from the kind of losers who give that much of a damn what their computer looks like. So it's a transparent case. Big deal. You'd think it was a sports car the way Taco was drooling over it. Not that sports car fetishists are any better, mind you.

Pretty slick

[Corpset]

but I really hate this whole "let's ripoff macintosh"-idea. Give me a grey or a black case, square or rectangulat and keep those ugly colored/plastic round thigies away from me.

Re:Pretty slick

[b-side.org]

sounds like you need a NeXT :P

Re:Pretty slick

[Corpset]

I'm colorblind, so I wouldn't know. What color is beige? ;)

How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[steveha]

I like putting computers together. I always try to keep the RF shielding intact. This computer has no RF shielding at all.

How much of a problem is that, anyway? If his next-door-neighbor is an amateur radio enthusiast, will the clear computer mess up the airwaves? If he wants to watch TV, will the computer ruin the picture? Can he stop pacemakers at 50 yards or something?

I don't have any clear idea how serious the emissions from computer hardware really are.

steveha

Re:How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[jjhall]

As an amateur radio operator, I can add my $.02 worth.

In working with Packet Radio (data communications over amateur radio) I found that the emissions from my PC were way too high to use the "rubber duck" antenna on my radio, if it were in the same room. I found 2 fixes. One was to put an external antenna on my roof and use it. The other was to put a RF Choke (little black bulge on certain cables) on EVERY cable comming out of the back of the PC.

The EMI won't affect much outside a 10-20 foot radius, but AM radios, etc... that he tries to listen to in the same room or adjacent room will be hosed.

As far as pacemakers, etc... go, I don't have any idea.

Re:How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[ScepticalTech]

Until the end of December I worked for a pacemaker company.

The current telemetry is at low frequencies (under 500 KHz). The interference from your monitor's deflection circuitry is more of a factor than anything RF.

Re:How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[CosmicEntity]

I would be surprised if all the compenants in your computer weren't at pretty well sheilded already. Now, I know there is exposed circuitry on everything, but at high frequencies, with all your impedences matched properly, you shouldn't generate too much. Plus, it wouldn't be very good if your video card generated enough interference to cause you sound card to malfunction, would it?

Re:How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[SWTP]

After getting a few computer past Class A & B over the years you can have the most perfect shielded case. Pass class B with a wide margen. Insert even just a headphone into the CD drve and fail like crazy! Unless you drop the thing in a copper grounded box with full shielding on power etc it a tough to shield one of these units.

To me the "coolest" computer is one that you cant hear and is fast enough for what you want to do with it.

Mostly you will affect the am band but since a computer generates signals from a few herts to ghz basically any thing is subjective to it output.

Re:How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[jpmkm]

I think anybody that actually needs to worry about RF interference already knows about it and probably won't be building one of these cases. Anybody else it probably won't matter. The FCC will not hunt you down.

Re:How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[Com2Kid]

Hah, nothing compared to the RFs in my room.

Okay picture this is you will.

SCSI scanner for starters.

100ft long RF cable TV cord running into the room )yess 100 foot, a lot of door jams to work around, and yes the picture quality sucks).

Incorrectly installed florescent lights.

two nice big case fans one of which has had a fin knocked off of it and now runs nice and loud.

a 36inch gateway destination monitor and one of those cheesy ev700 monitors.

(the Destination attracts moths from OUTSIDE the house, into my room, and they land on the screen and can't get back off of it! It also has grabbed papers up from the desk in front of it. . . . can we say static field? :) )

My land line telephone has audible noise over it. That both parties in a conversation can here.

Don't forget the printer, 3.1 sound system (no place to put the 4th speaker), wireless keyboard and mouse, 11inch graphics tablet (w00t!) with one of those nifty wireless pens (works by radio waves as I recall. . . . hmm, though it has been awhile since i researched it, something about the tablet sending out minor radio waves to the pen to provide just enough power for the pen to give the tablet notice of its location.)

A TV tuner card (uh, the 100ft cable run is for something. :) )

And oh yes, the RF cabling runs the parameter of the room and is of the cheap radio shack variety, I am sure that it is acting as a nice antenna for the entire room. In all fairness though the telephone had plenty of problems before the cable was ran though.

Ahh, I almost forgot the Cat5 running through a hole nearby, the power extension cord draped though the same hole as the CAT5 (was flipping the breaker to often, had to switch some items to another line) and the cable modem that is running. Lovely eh?

(Cat5 cable is of the maximum length of course, and the power cord is of a similar length as well.)

You want Hmm, what else now. . . . printer of course. Not a significant source of RF emissions though. ^_^ And the Destination monitor is currently off right now (power prices you know, thus using the EV700, higher refresh rate anyways, nice to have 800x600 at above 60hz. :) ), but the phone still has noticeable static over it.

I am SOOO going to die of cancer.

Aaaanyways. I doubt that this guy has 'real' RF emission problems.

Oh, and Dr. Kevorkian, if you ever need any patients with pace makers to have a sudden and mysterious heart failure, just send'em on over my way. :)

Re:How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[Skuld-Chan]

Well - I for one can hear my video card on my sound card - so it can't be that good.

Last time I saw a spectrum analyzer on a standard at style computer it had a lot of noise in it. Not to mention the switching power supplies often used have a tiny bit of noise in them too :(.

I can actually hear my computer with most of my amatuer radio equipment (including hf) - its annoying too as I live in an apartment and I can't have external antennas.

Re:How serious is RF interference, anyway?

[uebernewby]

In that case you should check your mobo. I've been told bad mobo's lead to all sorts of interference on sound cards. But of course if you've got your sound card placed right next to your video card, I'd fix that problem first ...

Up next

[Oculus Habent]

I'm waiting for the non-existant case. Everything is either hung with fishing wire or hot-glued to the desk.

Now to make the invisible monitor...

Re:Up next

[Drakin]

Didn't someone post a ling to their computer (I think it was in reguards to the table case) where all the parts were snap tied to the table?

Re:Up next

[Drakin]

Nope, I remember it being a table, under the table, to the legs and perhaps a pegbord at the back of the table...

Re:Up next

[allism]

I think this is the link you are looking for

Re:Up next

[Drakin]

That would be the horror story I'm refering to... was just far too lazy to track down the link.

Re:Up next

[allism]

heh...I only still had it because I had sent it to our network admin as a suggestion for saving money on building computers for our company...he, recognizing it as a joke, sent it to the vice president of our company thinking he would also recognize it as a joke, which he didn't, so now he's trying to get our network admin to look into cheaper alternatives to cases...

I'm really dreading what will happen if our network admin decides to send the VP the link about the teddy borg (I sent it to him as a suggestion to make our network more friendly to our female users)...

invisible case, invisible pictures

[phyxeld]

When a site is immediately slashdotted, I think the editors should pull the story off the front page. There aren't likely to be any ontopic comments if nobody can see the site. If anyone posts a working mirror maybe they can move the story back to the front page.

Re:invisible case, invisible pictures

[mikelieman]

Where's my mod points! A great suggestion!

Re:invisible case, invisible pictures

[Carlos Laviola]

Even though I don't know if they can/are willing to do that, your idea is great.

Re:invisible case, invisible pictures

[mudder]

It's really tempting to mod you as off-topic, just for the humor value, but I won't because then most people wouldn't see the comment so there would be no point.

Re:invisible case, invisible pictures

[danielrose]

What the hell are you talking about?!
This is slashdot! Nobody reads the article before posting comments they think are on-topic!!

Why would you want to buy a pre-modded case?

[Phosphor3k]

Taco? Why? Thats just lame. Modding a case is a labor of love. It is art(and cooling science), not mass production. If you want your case to have mods, do it yourself and be original, don't be lame.

Re:Why would you want to buy a pre-modded case?

[cetan]

1 word: instageek.

Take it a step further!

[ar1550]

Now, if only we could get entirely invisible computers, we would be able to sidestep the SSSCA nonsense about not being able to build our own computers. The FBI'd never find our invisible DIY boxen.

Apple will shout and claim a patent on it

[DocSnyder]

Prior art means nothing to Apple when they'll present their iCeBox(TM) within a few years. So be careful to log the photos' timestamps, in case that we read a story on /. about Apple threatening everyone who puts plexiglass around a x86 box.

Re:Apple will shout and claim a patent on it

[sfgoth]

And don't forget your tinfoil hat, so they can't use that amazing Reality Distortion Field to make you think that buying a computer that looks cool out of the box is a good idea.

-pmb

Re:Apple will shout and claim a patent on it

[dadragon]

What's wrong with buying a computer that looks cool out of the box? Sure, it's unoriginal, but most people don't care. Would you buy a TV or sterio that didn't look cool, then mod it to make it look cool? Or even a car. Most people don't buy a car to fix it up to make it look cool, but some do. Is it a bad idea to to buy a car that looks cool out of the factory? How is a computer different?

great except for one problem

[Lumpy]

It will look great for about 5 minutes. and DONT take it to a lan-party.
The type of plastic he chose is easy to polish and looks great, but scratches easier than any other plastic on the planet. Plexiglass is the worst in durability to scratches. yes you could buff out the scratches as you get them.

I like his idea, and I would love to see someone make one out of real glass with a metallic tint so that the RFI and EMI can't freely propagate out of the case. (You could get your case vaccuum-metalized... now that would be really cool.. not clear... CHROME!

Re:great except for one problem

[Kaoslord]

you could spray it with laquer or super blonde shellac... that would take car of the scratches problem... and when i mean spray i dont mean spray can shit.. i mean like with a HVLP gun, like you do with wood

kinda OT: Mirrors...

[DraKKon]

Since /. is charging for subscriptions... how about /. stat mirroring the "cool" sites that get the /. effect and make the "cool" site useless..

I hate it when there's something "cool" in a message, that 1 million other people see, and you try to go to the site and you get broken images everywhere..

Most of us use perl/perlmagick here and it wouldn't be to difficult to create a script that mirrors the site that we want, compress the hell out of the images, and have a new fangled mirror.

Remove the mirror after an hour or two, so /. doesn't use up too much hd space..

now THAT would be a service that would be worth the subscriptions...

I'm still waiting for the non-boxy case mods

[Dr. Awktagon]

C'mon, where are the perfectly polished aluminum sphere PCs? When will someone put a PC inside a disco ball? How about just a pyramid? Anybody?

Oh, well, maybe I ought to try making one myself. What's the maximum distance across those micro ATX boards..hmm...and where would I get a big polished metal sphere anyway..

Re:I'm still waiting for the non-boxy case mods

[dsb3]

Check out the Concept PC (flash required, alas)

Re:I'm still waiting for the non-boxy case mods

[lkturner]

If you're going to make it into a metallic sphere, you can't miss out on the oppurtunity of turning it into a Van Der Graaf generator! Have the only computer working inside a 200kV "force field" at the lan party. Of course you'd have to figure out how to attach all the peripherals. Hmm..

Keith

Re:I'm still waiting for the non-boxy case mods

[kaimiike1970]

Why here is one now...

Also any garden store...

Re:I'm still waiting for the non-boxy case mods

[Suicide]

If you're looking for a very small motherboard, try looking at flex ATX motherboards. They are alot smaller. Also here and here.

Re:I'm still waiting for the non-boxy case mods

[Dr. Awktagon]

Wow, that's pretty cool, I've seen those before. Must be a bitch to photograph without getting the camera in the picture. :-) Though I'm pretty sure I'd need at least a 14" sphere for uATX case. Or maybe I could just get a Mac Cube and stick it inside...

Re:I'm still waiting for the non-boxy case mods

[Provocateur]

I can see it now...YOUR ChiaPetPC

emi a problem, but nice design

[kelnos]

seriously tho - that thing has the potential to generate a LOT of EMI. at home i have one of the older (non 900mhz) cordless phones. when i go across the hall into the computer room, with a few computers with huge heavy metal cases, i tend to get a lot of interference. i hope this guy doesn't have one of those. or a desire to listen to the radio.

on the other hand, i really like the idea and design. the modded HD directly on top is a nice touch. i'd like to see something a little more interesting than your standard cube tho. perhaps something tower-like, or maybe even ultra flat - you could use the entire computer as a desktop. granted that would make plugging things into the pci bus a problem... modded mobos, anyone? ^_~

Re:emi a problem, but nice design

[kaimiike1970]

Just buy this baby...

Changes the whole meaning of the phrase 'computer desk'.

Re:emi a problem, but nice design

[netsharc]

Well I don't see any holes for AGP or PCI slots on his case, so much for upgradability. In fact his AGP/PCI slots are all empty. But he's using it as a Linux (probably remote) system anyway, but then why the DVD drive?

Impressive but...

[quantaman]

I glad if it can absorb envy beams, but I want something that can absorb the ./ effect!!

(actually while I was writting this comment the site started to slooowwwwy load in another window;)

Next up!

[Dixie_Flatline]

The incredible dissapearing website!

That invisible case is frigging amazing!

[Nathdot]

I mean like whoah! the PC is ENTIRELY invisible!

Either that or the images aren't loading because of slashdotting.

:)

Re:That invisible case is frigging amazing!

[ArsonSmith]

you could say it is the 404 PC. It is so invisable galeon cant even find it and just gave me a 404.

Heres the pictures

[gavinhall]

Backup on their site

http://www.bit-tech.net/images/article/72/dscf13 66 .jpg
http://www.bit-tech.net/images/article/72/ds cf1367 .jpg
http://www.bit-tech.net/images/article/72/ds cf1368 .jpg
http://www.bit-tech.net/images/article/72/ds cf1369 .jpg
http://www.bit-tech.net/images/article/72/ds cf1370 .jpg

Re:Heres the pictures

[nullard]

I just get 404s. I guess they figured out which URLs were killing their server.

Re:Heres the pictures

[Carlos Laviola]

They're pretty much gone.

MY invisible case mod kit

[zkosky]

I should sell a case mod kit that makes a computer invisible.
It will come with two big guys and a truck!

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[DodgyGeezer]

It sounds something like a Google cache. I definitely think that a short-term cache would be a good idea. It could all be done through redirects: if slashdot can't open the page in a reasonable time frame, then they should serve a cached copy. I'm aware that some sites rely on hit count for ad revenue, but once it's /.ed, that becomes irrelevant. Using a cached copy when the page is over-loaded should allow them to still get hits, and allow other people to see the site.

Yes, the case is invisible...

[mad44]

It is slashdotted... I can't see anything...

It sure is purdy...

[Golantig]

...but it could have been at least half the size...

Re:Liquid CO2 ?

[The Mayor]

I hate to pick nits, but there's no such thing as liquid CO2 at 1 atm of pressure. Increase pressure and you can have liquid CO2.

Re:./ effect - I mean /.

[Blackstealth]

And yes, for those wondering, my fingers are having a bad day../ effect? I wonder what that'd be like...

nevermind modding the case!

[limber]

OT, but this /. obsession with case modification -- a practice which i can't relate to -- makes me think of the classic story of Andy Ihnakto's 'anti-case-mod':

He did the reverse -- he kept the case intact, but substituted something else more interesting for the innards. Specifically, he made an aquarium out of his old Mac 512. (no pics, but if you hunt around on google there's lots of 'em people have done)

Who needs a fish screensaver when you can have real ones swimming around...

Re:nevermind modding the case!

[bughunter]

Heh - when I was an undergrad at CU, the school of engineering held a springtime engineering fair with fun events like paper airplane contests, and the ubiquitous egg drop. The engineering building had an 8-story office tower perfect for the event. Each of the engineering societies would compete in these events and it was a much needed distraction.

Of course, the object of the exercise was to analyze the forces on the egg and devise a means to limit them during descent and deceleration. But being lazy hackers, we of the ACM chapter took an old dumb terminal shell, and filled it with lime Jello, suspending the raw egg in the middle. We wound up using about 6 gallons of Jello and it took nearly two days to set. Due to its weight, three people were required to heave it out the 8th floor window.

And guess what? It worked! Even better, the ME senior who was officiating the event had obvious disdain for our brute force approach and stuck his thumb thru the egg after he pulled it out of the still oscillating pile of Jello at the target. Someone caught this on videotape and took it to the dean's office. The ACM chapter was later awarded a special ribbon or something for being screwed by a screwhead...

Re:Liquid CO2 ?

[PhuCknuT]

Actually CO2 does have a liquid state, just not at normal atmospheric presure. Learn some physics if you're gonna flame someone about it.

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[quantaman]

Mirroring sites in stories would be a great idea. Just have a link beneath the story of all the pages that might get /.ed. It's probably nicer than killing the site and I'm sure /. wouldn't have a problem with the traffic since all of the traffic is origionating from the /. server anyways.

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[JPriest]

has been addressed in the past, there may be lagal issues with mirroring the content without prior written consent, not everone would care but someone would kill it for the rest. and some web sites make money from adds/banners and that also complicates the mirroring process.

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[DraKKon]

I'd run something like this on my machine, but at DSL outbounds speed of 128kb.. or whatever it is.. it would be /. in 1.2 seconds.. heh.

Taco, get on it! :)

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[DraKKon]

I might also add that the link is 404 now... /. effect at it's best...

"We kill sites, dead."

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[a3d0a3m]

Well, if you mirrored the site, the site should still get revenue from ad hits [just look at the source of this page for example, the img src is of a doubleclick server with slashdot's id in the url]. So if they did hit the page, assuming the mirror was exact, the external image link for the banner ad would be intact. However, some ad sites will check the request URI and referrer url and notice it's not coming off of their server, which could cause problems. This could be remedied, but it would take time-- and news is current. But articles like this one, which really aren't time dependant could be delayed until the site maintainer has time to arrange a mirror and still get ad revenue.

Adam

Is there a mirror?!

[Unreal One]

WTF?! I wanna seeee! Does anyone have this cached, or a mirror up we can link to? It sounds cool for the 5 of us who actually saw it. :o(

Don't have a mirror for pics but

[JPriest]

just go to Google and type
site:www.bit-tech.net case
To see the rest of the pages on the site. Most people don't know about Googles search site feature, it's cool.

Re:/.'ed

[npietraniec]

The site is slashdotted!?!

+5 Informative

I love sifting through 5 million "the site is slashdotted" posts. They're so insightful. If it's not redundant, it's definately offtopic...

as always no mirrors

[tlh1005]

and now the URL is invisible.

eeww!!

[Soran]

At least with this case you'll know when its time to pull out the Air Duster. I know sometimes after pulling my case off, I cringe at the amount of gunk I'm gonna find in bottom. I guess this case is good if you don't mind taking apart your computer every couple months. Otherwise I think it would end up looking like the inside of a Hoover.

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[grue23]

> I'm aware that some sites rely on hit count for ad revenue, but once it's /.ed, that becomes irrelevant.

OTOH, some small sites are charged by their web hoster based on the amount of traffic they get.. I wonder if /. has been the cause of huge bills for featuring sites of unsuspecting hobbyists.

...and attracts legislation.

[fmaxwell]

Where's the shielding?

Scary scenario:

1. Moron makes unshielded case because he thinks it looks cool.

2. Senator next door suddenly starts getting RF interference on his television.

3. FCC tracks it down to unshielded PC.

4. Senator introduces "Computer RF Protection Act" which bars the sale of computer components to the public.

5. Gateway, Dell, Compaq, HP, and Apple, seeing a way to kill off the screwdriver shops and hobbyist market, form "People Against Radio and Television Interference" (PARTI).

6. Microsoft, in its desire to sell a new Windows license each time someone wants a new PC, joins PARTI.

7. PARTI takes out millions of dollars worth of ads pretending to be a concerned citizens group who wants to "stop hackers from interfering with your television."

8. PARTI passes and the only ones who can get computer components are licensed manufacturers using them in FCC-approved computers.

Want to upgrade your RAM, hard drive, or CPU? Too bad. You will just have to buy a whole new computer, complete with Windows-du-jour, from one of the big manufacturers.

Think about that scenario next time you see a case built to show off about $500 worth of consumer-grade computer components.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[zaffir]

If i build a case just like that, and it causes no interference in my house, would somebody still suffer from the interference? I dont' think so, but then again, I'm no expert.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[fmaxwell]

If i build a case just like that, and it causes no interference in my house, would somebody still suffer from the interference?

Very possibly. The antenna, downlead, shielding of the receiver (TV, Radio, phone, etc.) all play into it. You might have a 49mhz phone while your neighbor has a 2.4ghz that your 1.2ghz DDR system stomps all over, for example.

I dont' think so, but then again, I'm no expert.

Then leave case design to experts. You having a clear PC with neon lights does not justify one of your neighbors having to replace their cordless phone or suffer through herringbone interference on their TV.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[Shirloki]

Of course it justifies it... as long as the neighbor has a soul-less pre-fab machine, like Dell or Gateway. ;) --- Linux is like Windows on Viagra... It gets up and stays up!

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[hyperizer]

This post gets mod points everytime there's a case mod thread. But how many Senators are living in apartment complexes watching TV on sets with rabbit ears? How many would be able to figure out what's causing interference on their TV when there must be dozens of possible causes? Very silly.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[Afrosheen]

Trust me, well over 99% of /. readers don't live anywhere NEAR senators.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[colmore]

ahhh, but you haven't seen the room i keep my invisible computer case in...

one giant copper sphere

that or a '57 Ford

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[DorkusMaximus]

Well said!
I feel similar concerns while reading every story of this nature. A few foolish people could ruin the homebrew market for everyone. Given some the legal changes being condsidered in USA now, the outlawing of self assembled computers seems very possible...

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[fmaxwell]

But how many Senators are living in apartment complexes watching TV on sets with rabbit ears?

A better question is "how many Senators are living in ritzy condos using cordless phones?" How many are using cell phones? How many have 2.4ghz video distribution? How many might be have 802.11b? How many listen to FM radio? RF interference does not restrict itself to televisions.

How many would be able to figure out what's causing interference on their TV when there must be dozens of possible causes?

All of them. One call to the FCC from a Senator and there would be more more field strength meters and RF triangulation equipment than you've ever seen. The FCC might just send you or me a pamphlet, but they'll send a team of experts out to a Senator's home.

A case mod that does away with shielding is rude, inconsiderate, and stupid. And, sooner or later, it may result in legislation that hurts all of us.

This may come as a shock to you, but there is a reason that the FCC limits RF emissions.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[gad_zuki!]

Think about that scenario next time you see a case built to show off about $500 worth of consumer-grade computer components.

The chances of living next to a senator that uses a computer and would notice rf interference has to be non-existant.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[Rogerborg]

• 5. Gateway, Dell, Compaq, HP, and Apple, seeing a way to kill off the screwdriver shops and hobbyist market, form "People Against Radio and Television Interference" (PARTI).

Uh, why invent hypothetical situations, when the SSSCA is about to make this de facto real soon now?

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[fmaxwell]

The chances of living next to a senator that uses a computer and would notice rf interference has to be non-existant.

A computer user is not the one that will notice the interference. It's the person in the condo above/beside/below that has RF equipment (radio, TV, cordless phone, etc.) that will. I just used the example of a Senator. It could be a Representative or other official. Or it could be a regular citizen that just gets pissed off and writes letters to his Congressional representatives.

Besides, creating RF interference is against FCC regulations as well as being rude and inconsiderate. Taking the shielding off of your computer case is ethically equivlent of taking the catalytic converter or muffler off of your car. Each creates pollution (RF, air, and noise respectively).

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[rmadmin]

Uhm, I can't see the FCC sending out the swat team because a senator's phone is on the fritz, or because he can't watch his HBO pr0n..er... CNN. I run quite a few of my machines without covers on them. I do notice when I crack down for a compile that my cable TV gets a bit fuzzy, but nothing else in my house is effected. I really can't see a PC causing interference for more than say 20 feet at most. But I'm not an RF engineer =)

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[DavidRavenMoon]

If a PC boots in a forest, and nobody is there to see it, does it still BSOD?

Inevitably, yes. Assuming it's running Windoze, how could it not? ;-)

It's a feature, not a bug!

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[hyperizer]

One call to the FCC from a Senator and there would be more more field strength meters and RF triangulation equipment than you've ever seen. The FCC might just send you or me a pamphlet, but they'll send a team of experts out to a Senator's home.

So to sum up your theory, someday a Senator's phone, TV, or radio will have poor reception because a wealthy computer geek is running an unshielded computer in the next room. (We all know how close you are to your neighbors in "ritzy condos.") Instead of calling the phone or cable company or sending an aide to buy a new TV (assuming the interference is constant and really annoying), this Senator will call an imaginary FCC emergency response team which will go to great lengths to track the interference down to the room next store. Then I suppose they'll have to get a search warrant to find the unshielded computer. Then this lone senator will pass legislation outlawing all computer parts. And broken microwaves. And ham radios. And walkie-talkies. And Radio Shacks.

Yeah, I guess you're right. Case mods are "rude."

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[fmaxwell]

The FCC already tracks down interference problems through their regional offices. Go to this link and get a clue. The FCC has three Regional Offices, 16 District Offices, and nine Resident Agent Offices located across the United States and each of them "Investigates and resolves interference." And they don't just do it for Senators. They do it for constituents, too, though probably with less vigor.

Then this lone senator will pass legislation outlawing all computer parts.

Where did you go to school? "Lone" Senators don't pass legislation. They introduce legislation and it gets discussed and voted on. How did you think legislation was introduced? By Moses on stone tablets?

Members of Congress are there to pass laws. They are looking for laws that will be popular with voters and campaign contributers. Laws that crack down on "hackers" are something that the majority of the voting public likes. This would just be another one of those laws.

And ham radios. And walkie-talkies. And Radio Shacks.

Ham radios, walkie talkies, etc. are all regulated by the FCC. They operate on specific bands with specific power outputs. They can't just randomly spew interference or the FCC takes action against the manufacturer.

Yeah, I guess you're right. Case mods are "rude."

Yes, I am. When you indiscriminantly remove shielding intended to prevent interference, it's rude. Grow up.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[hyperizer]

...get a clue.

Personal attack. Real good. Definitely worth a mod point.

Where did you go to school?

Snobby personal attack. Again, real good.

"Lone" Senators don't pass legislation. They introduce legislation and it gets discussed and voted on. How did you think legislation was introduced? By Moses on stone tablets?

No shit. My point is the Senator who's getting bad TV reception is going to have to gain a hell of a lot of support to get his bill passed in the Senate and House. Considering the computer industry is a pretty powerful lobby, I don't think he would have a chance.

Members of Congress are there to pass laws. They are looking for laws that will be popular with voters and campaign contributers.

You're very idealistic. I would say most Senators are there to pass laws that are popular with the companies in their state that are likely to contribute the most to their campaign funds.

Ham radios, walkie talkies, etc. are all regulated by the FCC. They operate on specific bands with specific power outputs. They can't just randomly spew interference or the FCC takes action against the manufacturer.

I'm saying you could modify all these things so they cause interference. They can't outlaw everything that could be modified to cause interference--we wouldn't be able to buy appliances.

Grow up.

A third personal attack.

I realize you're genuinely worried that someday you won't be able to buy a second harddrive, but I don't think it's going to happen because one in three million computer users screw up their computer's shielding.

Re:...and attracts legislation.

[fmaxwell]

As to the personal attacks, if you are going to try to portray me as a raving lunatic, don't be surprised when I question your credentials to do so.

My point is the Senator who's getting bad TV reception is going to have to gain a hell of a lot of support to get his bill passed in the Senate and House. Considering the computer industry is a pretty powerful lobby, I don't think he would have a chance.

As I pointed out, the computer industry giants would love such a bill. Dell, for instance, would be thrilled if you and I had no choice but to buy a pre-assembled machine. U.S. companies like HP, Compaq, Dell, and Gateway wopuld be in favor of such a law and they are the "computer lobby" about which you speak.

Add to that the Microsoft muscle that I initially mentioned: If I go to a computer show and buy a new motherboard, CPU, and RAM, I normally don't buy a new copy of Windows. Microsoft would much rather that every upgrade entailed buying a new Windows license. That's what happens with almost every pre-assembled system sale from the big manufacturers.

To add two more points:

1. If presented as an "anti-hacker" bill, any Congressional rep that opposed it might find his rivals painting him as "soft on crime."

2. Congressional reps trade votes: "You vote for my RF Protection Act and I'll vote in favor of federal funds to build that new highway through your state."

You're very idealistic. I would say most Senators are there to pass laws that are popular with the companies in their state that are likely to contribute the most to their campaign funds.

Read what you quoted. I included "campaign contributers" as one of the groups that they looked to please:

"They are looking for laws that will be popular with voters and campaign contributers."

Now, who contributes more to most U.S. campaigns? Microsoft, Dell, Gateway, Compaq, and HP or Lucky Goldstar, Asus, Data Flower Incorporated (DFI), and the other Asian parts firms?

I'm saying you could modify all these things so they cause interference.

People with enough knowledge to modify a ham radio also understands the concept of RF shielding and why it is important.

You are making the mistake of arguing the logic of this hypothetical legislation. Remember that the DMCA is now the law of the land and the SSSCA is being considered. Laws need not be logical in order to be passed.

I realize you're genuinely worried that someday you won't be able to buy a second harddrive, but I don't think it's going to happen because one in three million computer users screw up their computer's shielding.

Ever hear of "The Brady Bill" or "Megan's Law"? While those are addressing much more serious issues than RF pollution, they illustrate the point that there does not need to be a huge, pervasive problem before legislation is passed. There is a law on the books in one small town forbidding people from walking their pet alligators on leashes in public. I somehow think that law was passed to address something one person was doing.

Don't be so quick to dismiss the idea that legislation banning the sale of computer components could be passed. It's in the interest of way too many very large, very wealthy U.S. companies.

Google Mirror

[guamman]

Here is the google cached link: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:yFtkFzNXw54C: www.bit-tech.net/article/63/4+The+Invisible+Case+b it-tech.net&hl=en

Re:Google Mirror

[Hoonis]

Actually it's this: (no pictures though)
google cache

Server death

[pumpkin2146]

I host this.

Firemen have been dispatched to Telehouse London to prevent this web server from burning down most of the UK internet as it's pair of P3's and pathetic little IDE disk UTTERLY FAIL to cope with the pure 30mbit/sec of joy that slashdotting creates.

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[hyyx]

Every time someone posts intelligently regarding Slashdot implementing some sort of mirror system, it always gets modded up. Look at the amount of posts here regarding slashdotting... more than half I would say [at this time]. We are speaking out, but no one ever seems to listen. What do we have to do to convince Slashdot that this _is_ a good idea and it is what the readers want?

Can be had retail

[Toodles]

Too bad you can't buy them like this!

You can purchase similar all plexi-glass cases from www.clear-viewtech.com

Slashdotted

[Kna]

Er yeah.. we kinda died when it made the frontpage. *shrug* Sorry guys, but it was us or you.. Maybe you'd like to take a ticket each to view the article.. :)

"invisible" case?

[dramaley]

Yeah, it's so invisible i can't even load the page to see it.

Heehee, site's dead...

[MrSeb]

Looks like the webmaster got wise... :)

"sorry, but the bit-tech.net server is currently unavailable (thanks slashdot :p)" (on the homepage)

Re:Really Invisible Case

[kaimiike1970]

Sadly, I have tried this... and it is cool right up to the point you need to put a cd in the drive...

You *CAN* buy this commercially!

[ppolf]

http://www.lovermecases.com/ has some cool pics too.

Or look under distributors on the story link...

___________________________
TCP Sequence Prediction: Class=64K rule
Difficulty=1 (Trivial joke)
Remote operating system guess: Cisco CacheOS (1.1.0)

Invisible Case - Invisible Story

[Twiki]

Anyone seen these?

Transparent Case

[tenordave]

It appears that it's so transparent that it made the page invisible too. -Dave Watson

404 Not Found - Netscape

[Elyjah]

Wow, that really IS invisible.

Re:404 Not Found - Netscape

[JPriest]

This 404 Error is best viewed with Internet Explorer 5.5 or better. If the page does display correctly go here
-----
Apache 1.3 at website.net

leather

[Petersko]

Gee - my first post, and I risk damaging my karma. Alas... Am I the only geek who finds electronics inherently ugly? I don't even like my PC showing as-is because of the lack of style displayed by the designers. Why would anybody want to show the guts of their PC? I did not get a chance to see the pics, as the site was already pulled, but having seen the insides of hundreds of PC's, none of them make much of a positive fashion statement.

Slashdot load balancer?

[FyRE666]

Why doesn't slashdot mirror the site anyway, but still link to the original. Then, if and when the real site goes down redirect the link to the copy on the slashdot server? Once the real site is back up, redirect back again etc etc. At least then people could see the cool stuff! It's not as though it would take any revenue away from the original site - if their server has given up they're not making any money on ads anyway!

Honestly, how difficult would it be to implement something like a "slashdot load balancer"?

no shielding

[markj02]

I don't see any mention of shielding on their web site. If you cause interference with a PC using this case (and you probably will), you may be forced to stop operating it. In any case, it just isn't very nice to your neighbors to run an unshielded computer.

I hope the Canadian equivalent of the FCC will stop this company from selling the case. Selling unshielded computer cases just is pretty irresponsible.

Re:no shielding

[MajikMan]

What you are saying does make sense, however I've been doing a good bit of reading about case-mods and such lately (not specificly clear acrylic cases...I think they look tacky but thats just me), and have never read anyone actually complaingin about getting interference while using a case with a large window, or even a fully clear case.

I'm no elecrtonics expert, and I agree that in theory it could cause some serious problems, but as a neutral onlooker I haven't seen anything actually indicating that it does cause a problem. I very well may have just missed an article, and if that is the case I would appreciate someone pointing me in the right direction.

Re:no shielding

[JPriest]

I have one case in a frame with NO cover at all, and some fans. I still get ratio stations and my cordless phone works fine. As well the SNR on my telephone and cable lines are consistantly the same with or without the computer on.

Re:no shielding

[rekoil]

As a side note, I recently went from a wired network connection to a WLAN PCI card (The DSL came to my phone jack in my upstairs office, but Verizon delivered the T1 to the basement). I normally run my machine "naked", and discovered that in order to get a decent wireless signal, I had no choice but to replace the tower case cover.

Re:no shielding

[markj02]

No, just an amateur radio operator. There's nothing to "sell". Cheap metal cases are very nicely shielded; use them.

Re:no shielding

[markj02]

Your cell phone operates in the GHz range and probably uses digital coding, so it's largely impervious to anything but very large levels of noise. Your radio stations are frequency modulated and less susceptible to noise.

It's amplitude modulated signals and shortwave that are most susceptible to interference. Consumer devices don't use those much anymore, but they are still widely used by amateur radio operators, scientific equipment, and public service organizations.

Turn your radio to an AM station or try a shortwave receiver and you'll probably see a lot of interference.

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[DraKKon]

Yea, but if you recall, Taco said something along the lines of /. traffic tripling, or atleast getting a lot more traffic than normal.

I don't think that it would be THAT bad, esp. if they cut the quality down on the images..

No! Not without the ads!

[Eugene O'Neil]

If the banner ad server refused to serve annoying ads to viewers referred by slashdot, that would mean we would have to see the stories without the ads! That would be terrible!

Re:No! Not without the ads!

[a3d0a3m]

...terrible in that nobody would let slashdot cache their sites!

adam

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[Kallahar]

Slashdot is not charging for subscriptions. Slashdot is offering a way for people to turn off advertising.

There is a CRITICAL difference. Subscription sites only allow paid members to even view the site. If you don't want to pay for slashdot, then you don't need to, it just means you'll see more ads.

My new (?) idea of /. mirroring

[Shiny Metal S.]

Every time someone posts intelligently regarding Slashdot implementing some sort of mirror system, it always gets modded up.

Here's what I would suggest to do, this solution would address every /. concern:

I got email, saying that link to my site (http://site/) is going to be posted on Slashdot in half an hour. For the time of slashdotting I add this to my httpd.conf:

Redirect /img/ http://slashdot.org/cache.pl?url=http://site/img/

so when someone wants http://site/img/image10.jpeg, she/he would be 302 redirected to http://slashdot.org/cache.pl?url=http://site/img/i mage10.jpeg and would got this image from Slashdot cache. I could even set it up so only queries with http://slashdot.org/* Referrer header would be redirected, or alternatively, someone could just change the URIs in <a href="..."> links in the HTML if the webmaster don't have access to webserver config. But the point is that this way the cache would be served only for explicit wish of the webmaster and also only for those images which are not the ads, banners, counters, etc. if the webmaster wants so.

It could be also used for HTML but the large images are probably the main reason of killing banwidth on sites, like in this story, with many high quality pictures of cool hardware (I suppose that there are many high quality pictures of cool hardware but I can't access it). The cache could work for, say, 6 hours and would serve only files in subdirectories of linked URIs to avoid any abuse.

What do you think?

Re:My new (?) idea of /. mirroring

[oni]

What do you think?

What do I think? honestly? I think you're smart - and there ain't a whole lot of that going around.

Most site operators wouldn't have a clue how to redirect requests for images even if they did have a clue what the slashdot effect was. But I think you have a great idea that could help actual geeks with smaller sites.

It's too bad the ppl that maintain the slashcode don't read this site. huh?

Re:My new (?) idea of /. mirroring

[barryk]

The cache could work for, say, 6 hours and would serve only files in subdirectories of linked URIs to avoid any abuse.

Make it for more than 6 hours, as there a lot of /. readers from elsewere in the world, on timezones more than 6 hours away. I'd say at least 24 hours, or even 48 hours.

Re:My new (?) idea of /. mirroring

[Shiny Metal S.]

Make it for more than 6 hours, as there a lot of /. readers from elsewere in the world, on timezones more than 6 hours away.

Good point. In fact, I am a /. reader from elsewere in the world. :) I'm in CET timezone (GMT+0100).

I'd say at least 24 hours, or even 48 hours.

48 hours sounds reasonable for me.

Re:My new (?) idea of /. mirroring

[Shiny Metal S.]

1) It would greatly increase the bandwidth cost to Slashdot.

First of all, chached story or few pictures won't be much compared to all the text traffic of /. comments. And remember that most of webmaster of linked articles wouldn't even use it, so it would be maybe 1% more traffic, not much. Still, even if it would be 10% (which I doubt) it would increase /. service quality after all. What's the point of commenting stories if I can't read the linked article?

Also, the setup for a story would be a lot more complicated than it is now.

Not at all. Slashdot would have to unblock cache for sub-URIs (subdirectories of URIs) of links in stories for some period of time (constant or maybe related to internal Slashdot traffic related to the story). Once done, everything would go automagically.

2) Slashdot could\would put banner ads on each of the pages.

I was thinking mostly about caching statical images, not the whole pages, to address issues from the FAQ.

Re:My new (?) idea of /. mirroring

[Shiny Metal S.]

Most site operators wouldn't have a clue how to redirect requests for images even if they did have a clue what the slashdot effect was. But I think you have a great idea that could help actual geeks with smaller sites.

It would be used only by few webmasters, by those who really need it (and can do it) so the traffic won't be high. Maybe the poll would show interesting results?

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:images slashdotted already...

[Shiny Metal S.]

Actually it's here: file://127.0.0.1/dev/zero

It loads quite long, however, probably because of /. effect, but it's very large and very invisible indeed...

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[liquidsin]

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Subscribers should get the stories a little in advance (15 mins to an hour should do it) so they can get the links before everyone else eats up the bandwidth. THAT would be a perk worth subscribing for.

p.s. - when I saw your topic as 'mirrors' I thought you were gonna talk about building a case out of mirrors. that'd be sweet!

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[seann]

Tt's already been done. Me and my brother did it in our spare time, I'd take a picture of it but all the ones I take don't turn out.
they kinda look like theres this ugly man living in my machine.

Pardon my physics knowledge,

[cide1]

Isn't the shielding from a case due to the gaussian surface the case ( a conductor) provides?

E*flux = Qenc;

Farraday first expressed some fundamental concepts in words, such as electromagnetic field lines, and later capacitance (hence farads), but I believe Gauss discovered this one.

Cide1

Re:Pardon my physics knowledge,

[llamalicious]

Actually, IIRC a Faraday cage is simply an implementation of a RF/EMI shield that takes into advantage Gauss's law.
I should have stated:
Faraday Cage's to the rescue!

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[Giari]

Let me make sure I understand this correctly.

The open source community thinks it can design an operating system that is good enough to place on every desktop. However, the open source community cannot figure out how to post a news article without breaking the part of the Internet that the article is about.

This may sound like a troll but it is basically an honest question. Can it REALLY be that difficult to create a mirror system?

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[heinsj]

Yeah, let me pull a server out of my ass... ...that trick never works.

Re:Liquid CO2 ?

[ScottBob]

Umm, There is no such thing as *LIQUID* CO2. Gaseous CO2 freezes directly to dry ice and dry ice sublimates directly to its gaseous form.

My contribution to this OT thread:
CO2 is in liquid form when kept in metal cylinders, such as CO2 fire extinguishers. When you release liquid CO2 that is kept under pressure, it cools off even further due to expansion and freezes solid (the rapidly evaporating "snow" you see coming from CO2 fire extinguishers). At ice houses, liquid CO2 is sprayed into a chamber to make this "snow", which is then packed into a pancake, then more is sprayed in and packed again a few more times until it is compressed into blocks of dry ice. But it does evaporate from solid directly to vapor. Which you can then crumble and put in a beaker of water to make fog to blow around inside your extra cool clear case.

Re:EMF emmisions...

[fmaxwell]

what do the people with computer case windows do about their EMF emmisions

The same thing that people on Harleys with straight pipes do about noise: They figure that it's okay to be a self-centered asshole that pisses everyone else off.

Better still

[quintessent]

Take out the middle-man and point the story's links straight to the Slashdot mirror (with permission, of course).

Re:Better still

[Shiny Metal S.]

Take out the middle-man and point the story's links straight to the Slashdot mirror (with permission, of course).

From the FAQ:

Slashdot should cache pages to prevent the Slashdot Effect!

Sure, it's a great idea, but it has a lot of implications. For example, commercial sites rely on their banner ads to generate revenue. If I cache one of their pages, this will mess with their statistics, and mess with their banner ads. In other words, this will piss them off.

Of course, most of the time, the commercial sites that actually have income from banner ads easily withstand the Slashdot Effect. So perhaps we could draw the line at sites that don't have ads. They are, after all, much more likely to buckle under the pressure of all those unexpected hits. But what happens if I cache the site, and they update themselves? Once again, I'm transmitting data that I shouldn't be, only this time my cache is out of date!

I could try asking permission, but do you want to wait 6 hours for a cool breaking story while we wait for permission to link someone?

So the quick answer is: "Sure, caching would be neat." It would make things a lot easier when servers go down, but it's a complicated issue that would need to be thought through in great detail before being implemented.

With my ideas, I was trying to solve those problems.

Re:Better still

[quintessent]

Taco's just being lazy.

All you have to do is send an e-mail, sometime before, or even as the story is breaking that says, 'if you want to have your site cached on Slashdot, please click this link.'

Then (or even previously) you have the "SlashDot spider" make a map of the site, say, 3 links deep.

No mess. No fuss. Oh well. Good ideas seldom get used.

Ok - Site _should_ be up now.

[monolith_orb]

I'm hosting the images, they are still hosting the html/etc. Let me know if you have trouble with the images loading (monolith@orblivion.com) - if you have troble with the pages, I have nothing to do with that. Cheers, enjoy the pix!

David/monolith

Nah, still acryl

[lovepuppy]

I'm afraid this case will cratch the first day my cats sniff at it. And how about heat? The case surely won't get rid of it. I'll wait for a case made of transparant aluminium. :-)

After all that...

[blair1q]

If you suffer through the interminable downloads (remind me not to let this guy show me pictures of his kids), you discover that he did this in order to house...a 1 GHz Celeron...

This reminds me of those kits you could buy that would turn the front and rear ends of your VW Beetle into a Rolls Royce.

--Blair

Try flame-polishing next time

[httptech]

All the cutouts were shaped with needle files (roughly eight hours of hand work there) and meticulously polished with sandpaper and Novus #2 polish. The polishing took maybe another three hours, but the results were well worth it.

Dude, that's insane. Polishing acrylic edges is best done with a propane torch flame. Takes only a few seconds and produces much nicer results.

Re:Typical apachie peice of shit

[kubis]

00:17 5th March 2002
sorry, but the bit-tech.net server is currently unavailable (thanks slashdot :p)
in the mean time, please visit the forums

another server slashdotted...

Been done..

[Myself]

Except I think Roadie had all his stuff screwed to the wall. The whole computer took up about the space of a poster, with power and ethernet leaving the area.

About time, but when...?

[Myself]

They still haven't gotten to the fun part: Transparent circuit boards (copper-clad glass substrate, brittle but beautiful) and transparent chip packaging.

Think about it! Most QFP and PGA chips have boring black plastic bodies. How hard would it be to replace them with clear plastic? Ceramic packages could probably be made at least translucent.

Then you embed light-emitting junctions at important areas of the chip, so you can watch the whole thing brighten, dim, and change color as the computational load changes. NOPs would be faint blue, cache misses would make the prefetch unit flash red. Floating-point would cause the FPU to glow green. Imagine it! You could tell what was eating most of your timeslices just by looking at the chip. Nevermind how you'd see through the heatsink to perceive all this. ;) Oh wait, if the board's clear just watch all the action from underneath.

Seriously though, if the whole mobo chipset were clear-encased too, you could tell the difference between RAM accesses, drive activity, interrupts, DMA storms... Ooooh.

We already have SCSI terminators with activity indicators, am I really asking for too much?

(Now why didn't I patent this 5 years ago when I came up with it?)

Imagine...

[da5idnetlimit.com]

You use some mirror or highly reflective materials on every fan blade...

You use a white beamer to light it up....

You make you computer box star shaped, and put into it 5 mobos...

And then you have it !!!

THE BeoWulf Disco Cluster !!!

Gosh, lets have somebody else do it 8)

Patterns

[mach-5]

It would be awesome if he could post some printable patterns with dimensions so that we can duplicate his work. It is great that he could share his work with us...but for those of us who are too lazy or not mechanically oriented, it would be nice to have some patterns.

Nice but if ya really want to impress me...

[hikeran]

Gimme a case that can be used as a fish tank also.. hrmm.. maybe have to feed the fish.. change the filter and make sure none of the fish food gets caught under the cpu.

Been there, done that.

[myawn]

I made a transparent case for my computer, too.

I'd post pics, but I did the job so well that it doesn't show up in pictures. And now I can't remember where I put the dang thing.

Re:kinda OT: Mirrors...

[PaxTech]

The open source community thinks it can design an operating system that is good enough to place on every desktop. However, the open source community cannot figure out how to post a news article without breaking the part of the Internet that the article is about.

Umm.. It's not that the open source community can't figure it out, it's that the SLASHDOT ADMINS can't figure it out. Or they don't want to, for whatever reason.

./ Admins != The open source community.

well, it took some time...

[psych031337]

...but in the last few pages i got the follwing message:

00:17 5th March 2002

sorry, but the bit-tech.net server is currently unavailable (thanks slashdot :p)

in the mean time, please visit the forums

13:10 5th March 2002

we're working hard to get our host's to re-enable our account

however, thanks to the kindness of monolith you can indulge yourself with linears invisible case article

- moose

where the interference really comes from...

[linefeed0]

This may be different for 2.4ghz cordless phones and such, but most interference for FM radio comes from improperly shielded monitors, many of which are sold through standard retail channels. The el-cheapo monitor I have has proper shielding around the monitor itself, but practically no RFI filtering on the power feed, so you must have a good power strip to plug it into, or FM radio reception goes away, particularly low-power college/noncommercial stations, not to mention the ease with which the screen can be spied upon thanks to tempest emissions. (Think about it: 1152*864*75 Hz = about 75 MHz, and that's a low estimate since it doesn't include vertical/horizontal blanking intervals. Many common monitor frequencies fall smack dab somewhere in the FM radio spectrum.)

Perhaps if bad RF shielding on computer components were really becoming a problem you'd be hearing about it already, because it *is* out there.

Re:where the interference really comes from...

[linefeed0]

Also, you think all those "Tested to comply with FCC standards" labels mean "tested by a third party"? Hahahahaha! That's funny.

Re:The Emperor's New Case

[unitron]

Were there justice (and moderators who had heard the story of the emperor's new clothes), the above would have received upwards moderation.