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Build Your Own Cityscape

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the we-built-this-city-from-rock-and-roll dept.

Hoagy writes "Many friends think I've moved when I show them this picture. I've constructed a lit model of midtown Manhattan to fill an otherwise unspectactular view out of our kitchen window. The website details the construction process and how to design and build your own. The city lights also automatically turn on/off via an X10 cronjob on my home Linux server." Nice hack job.

8 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. When the new towers are erected by ObviousGuy · · Score: 1, Interesting

    When the new towers are erected, will you update the cityscape?

    --
    I have been pwned because my /. password was too easy to guess.
  2. What about a plasma? by chris_mahan · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I wonder who's going to come up with the idea of making a cover for a 40 in plasma screen that simulates a window and have a stationary webcam hooked up to it... That way, the office lights on the 17th floor turn on to follow the janitors.
    And no need to break out the jigsaw when another buiding goes up.

    --

    "Piter, too, is dead."

  3. Nice..... by tiwason · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'm glad folks take the time to document these projects so nicely...

    I always imagine nothing will come out right and no one would want to look at anything i do....

  4. NYC skyline wallpaper mural by minesweeper · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Why not try doing what this guy did? (Not me, btw).

    He put up a wallpaper mural in his living room. Seems like a lot less work, and it still looks pretty cool.

  5. Re:Realism? by HughsOnFirst · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The view is on Park Avenue looking south, somewhere in the low to mid Fifties, on the east side of the street.

  6. extra decorations by Alien54 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Late night TV Like David Letterman, Jay Leno, and Conan O'Brian. Not an original idea, but nice to see it in practice.

    What he needs now is something like a small model airplane or a ufo to go across every once in a while. or maybe a monorail or other futurama type decoration.

    Or cutouts from magazines of small people to put into the windows of the sky scrapers. all kinds of little details that make it come alive.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  7. cron job? by mech9t8 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Pretty damn neat. ;)

    But I'm wondering what exactly the cron job does... is it just a highly complex substitute for a light timer, or does it do things like turn off lights in sequence or something?

    --
    Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.
    - Nietzsche
  8. Re:You *want* a view of a city? by Asprin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I live in a city ... I'd like a view of trees and fields and stars at night please.

    Maybe there's an aftermarket for stuff like this - premade custom-built internally lit dioramas you bolt to your house to change the view.

    How would you like to wake up on Mars every morning? Or, maybe overlooking your favorite Quake 3 Arena map? The grand canyon? Atlantis? How about one that looks like (The Simpsons) Springfield, USA or a warehouse stacked with old VAX and PDP boxen like at the end of 'Raiders'?

    Or, even better, how about a windowbox that looks *exactly* like your own neighborhood, but without all that shit laying around in your neighbor's yard!

    Now, how much would you pay for THAT?

    --
    "Lawyers are for sucks."
    - Doug McKenzie