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Quiet Desk (Not Desktop) PC

Anonymous Coward writes "Rusty took a wholly different approach to PC noise: he built his XP1900+ machine right into the desk! While it may not make the PC industry scramble to define a new *desk* (not desktop) form factor, Rusty's inventive techniques will surely have computer hardware enthusiasts poring over his fine work."

276 comments

  1. Upgrading...... by Splezunk · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bit of a problem upgrading 'Desks'. Also, LAN parties will be a bit of a bitch. Gotta get the trusty U-haul trucks.

    1. Re:Upgrading...... by MrZaius · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My God man. Bit of a problem upgrading?

      Did you see that? I've had enlight cases with sides that pop right off. I've had beautiful huge Addtronics cases that have doors that open, on simple hinges, and with a motherboard panel that takes all of 30 seconds to remove.

      This man's desk kicks the ass of everything I've seen.

      Aside from the time it would take to cut a new vent (he can position a new motherboard to use the current hole in the desk for the vent), this is the easiest to upgrade, most accessible machine I've ever seen.

      It would take less time to pop a new PCI card into it than it would to reboot it. All he has to do is pull out a drawer, pop the card in, and he's done.

      This thing is beautiful.

    2. Re:Upgrading...... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I really don't see the amazing intuition in it. He just took the idea of the old desks that used to fit a desktop pc in a drawer with holes for the wires. He basically took that idea and eliminated the need for a case by providing a decent ventilation system.

    3. Re:Upgrading...... by sharkey · · Score: 2

      Bit of a problem upgrading 'Desks'.

      PHB: My PC locked up.
      Dilbert: That's not a PC, that's the cardboard cutout that came with your desk.
      PHB: So, do I need to upgrade the CPU?
      Dilbert: No, you need a new desk.


      Best as I remember.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    4. Re:Upgrading...... by WardSeward · · Score: 1

      I guess you could make a portable version out of one of those "breakfast in bed" trays with the legs that fold up.

      --
      -Ward
  2. Hasn't this been done before? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't think of any sites with specific examples, but it seems like I've seen this before... along with computer built into walls and other such things. Now... if it was a LEGO desk with a computer built into it, I'd be impressed.

    1. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IIRC there is actually a company overseas that sells clear desks with computers built inside (among many other nifty mods). Finding this company on google is hard, but I'm pretty sure it does exist.

    2. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by joe90 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      You mean like in the movie Antitrust - where the corporate day-care facility has lego-style workstations for the kids?

      --

      Fast, cheap & reliable. Pick two.
    3. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by swankypimp · · Score: 5, Funny

      How 'bout an aluminum LEGO desk that acts as one big-ass heatsink, and ducts directly into the office's air conditioner. He could overclock to 5 gHz or something, add some plexiglass windows and a bunch of LEDs and be the l33test casemodder ever!

      --

      --All your stolen base are belong to Rickey Henderson
    4. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by notanatheist · · Score: 1

      Actually something like that HAS been done before. soldam.com USED to have a Table style case. Can't seem to find it on their website anymore. Anybody want to look for a cache of it? It was a sweet solid case with a glass top. Only probelm was the thousands and thousands of Yen it cost to get it here to the USA. Lots of other cool little cases on their site though. Go there, check it out, NOW.

    5. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by rblancarte · · Score: 2

      If you look on their web site, the table/case is called the PRISM II. I found it.

      RonB

      --
      It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
    6. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just got lazy in looking. Thanks. Now grab your yen and happy shopping.

    7. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by AlecC · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      I love way the text has been translated - classic Japlish with a charmin folksy style.

      --
      Consciousness is an illusion caused by an excess of self consciousness.
    8. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by SpaceJunkie · · Score: 1

      I would love to be able to buy lego aluminium panels... Or any metal lego would rule... Imagine an panel with lugs on the top, and lug fittings on the base(right angled panels - with folded edges to stop cuts etc), and a plexiglass opening in the center...
      I had better stop- this is making me drool...

      --
      OrionRobots.co.uk - Robots From sol
    9. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by ColdForged · · Score: 1
      I can't think of any sites with specific examples, but it seems like I've seen this before...
      <robot voice>

      You have reached the end of the Internet. You have seen everything there is to see. Please go back.

      Now.


      </robot voice>

      Doh.
      --

      -"I seem to be having tremendous difficulty with my lifestyle." - Arthur Dent

    10. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by lucifuge31337 · · Score: 1

      You just have to make sure the keyboard has really big keys to allow accurate typing while wearing welding gloves.

      --
      Do not fold, spindle or mutilate.
    11. Re:Hasn't this been done before? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A couple of years ago they sold some aluminum-coated bricks. You could probably buy some on online sale sites, though they likely wouldn't be cheap.

  3. Is this the first Desk to be /.? by WillRobinson · · Score: 5, Funny

    Darn, could not see the fine work. Slashdotted early. So, should he engrave a big /. in the middle of the desk now?

  4. Reminds me of... by Xunker · · Score: 4, Informative

    Kinda reminds me of this, eh?

    --
    Hilary Rosen's speech was about her love of money and her desire to roll around naked in a pile of money.
  5. Slashdotted already?! by IndependentVik · · Score: 1, Funny

    For chrissakes, don't you geeks have anything better to do at this time of night than go to slashdot and . . . oh, wait . . .

    /me slinks into a corner

    --
    I'd suggest you don't use Slashdot as your only news source, or you will suffer permanent brain damage.
    1. Re:Slashdotted already?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Warning: Too many connections in /home/www/silentpcreview.com/pnadodb/drivers/adodb -mysql.inc.php on line 121

      Warning: MySQL Connection Failed: Too many connections in /home/www/silentpcreview.com/pnadodb/drivers/adodb -mysql.inc.php on line 121
      mysql://silentpc:@localhost/silentpcreview failed to connectToo many connections

      Another words,
      Negative ghost rider. The pattern is full!

    2. Re:Slashdotted already?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Negative, Ghost Rider. The pattern is full!

      *Mav buzzes the tower anyway*

      Gotta love bad 80s movies.

    3. Re:Slashdotted already?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "another words?"

      ...in other words.

      Maybe?

      Thought so.

    4. Re:Slashdotted already?! by microsost · · Score: 1

      This time of night.. I'm writing this at 6.40pm.. :p (yeah.. go GMT+12.. yay)

    5. Re:Slashdotted already?! by richie2000 · · Score: 2
      And then *Whooooosh* the Tomcat flies past the tower at Mach .9, making the tower chief dump his coffee in his lap. Again. I love that movie.

      Talk to me, Goose!

      --
      Money for nothing, pix for free
  6. It's Stuck! by anball · · Score: 5, Funny

    Doesn't that make it kinda hard to take to LAN parties? I'd hate to miss out on a good Quake session because I couldn't get my computer into my car.

    --


    "No manual entry for woman."
  7. Poor table by theBrownfury · · Score: 4, Funny

    And for the first time in history a table is Slashdotted!

    --

    "Unlike most of you, I am not a nut." - Homer J. Simpson
    1. Re:Poor table by finnatic · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That's not entirely true... ... there was an ultimate gaming table posted to slashdot some weeks or months back - it's site was slashdotted too.

      Ah, here we are:
      http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/08/15/205521 9&mode=thread&tid=127

      "The Ultimate Gaming Table"

      Check out their news archives:
      http://www.agyris.net/portal/newsarchives.asp?Post Year=2002&PostMonth=8

      where they discuss rising from the ashes after being slashdotted.

    2. Re:Poor table by Merlin42 · · Score: 2

      Ah ... dont forget about the periodic table table

  8. At last! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    My own personal MCP at my fingertips!

  9. Fastest Slashdotting Ever. by reidbold · · Score: 2, Funny

    I wish i could find the google cache to up the ol' karma.

    --
    -Reid
    1. Re:Fastest Slashdotting Ever. by Duckz · · Score: 1

      It wouldn't matter, google doesn't cache images, which I imagine is what is on the site. (I don't know, cant get to it either)
      --
      Todd

    2. Re:Fastest Slashdotting Ever. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually, google does cache images.

    3. Re:Fastest Slashdotting Ever. by stile · · Score: 1

      Or, alternatively, you could post about finding the google cache to up the ol' karma...

  10. the desk is broken by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    looks like someone sat on the desk and broke it and the server inside of it...

  11. Ah slashdot.... by G-funk · · Score: 5, Funny

    I love this website... it's my #1 source of cool things I'd love to look at, if only the computer hosting them wasn't a smouldering puddle of melted plastic and silicon.

    --
    Send lawyers, guns, and money!
    1. Re:Ah slashdot.... by Soko · · Score: 2, Funny

      Me too. Actually, the molten web server thingies are kinda neat (WOW! The colours! You have a lump of metallic Sodium in there or something? Never seen one blow up like that before. Cripes!) but they get boring after a while. I'd rather see the "purty pitchers" once in a while.

      Think this guy hid under his desk when the "Slashdot Effect" nuclear-holocaust-warning buzzer went off? That would be about the only use for it right about now...

      Soko

      --
      "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
    2. Re:Ah slashdot.... by Howie · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Try not being a twitchy Slashdot reader - I look in about once a day, and unless I'm really unlucky, the /. effect has moved on by the time I get to the articles. I mean really, it's not actually time-sensitive news, is it?

      --
      "don't fall into the fallacy of believing that Perl can solve social problems. Maybe Perl 6 can, but that's a ways off"
    3. Re:Ah slashdot.... by murk1e · · Score: 1, Redundant

      I have not been able to get onto the server since this was posted on slashdot.

      Perhaps there is a solution to the slashdot effect?

      When something is about to go on slashdot, the slashdot server caches a copy, images and all. When clicked from slashdot, one arrive at the cached copy, this'd have a header attached which contains a link which effectively says 'click here to get to the original'. Any HTML with relative links gets the appropriate absolute bit automagically stuck on.

      Most people will be happy with the cache, and the original server does not get hammered.

      The original server is available to anyone who wants it, as are all it's links.

      One downside might be that the server doesn't see the page access counter go crazy, but that's life.....

      The precedent for this sort of thing has been set (wayback machine, google).

      This would work for most things, but slashdot types would have to have the option of the current 'link to server' - this'd be used for bigger servers (e.g. bbc, cnn)

      Any drawbacks?

      --
      Murky
      A wannabe geek with no money to geek with.
    4. Re:Ah slashdot.... by susano_otter · · Score: 2
      Perhaps there is a solution to the slashdot effect?

      What on earth makes you think that a problem as obvious as the Slashdot effect hasn't been addressed in the FAQ?

      Imagine your embarassment when you discover that instead of extending the discussion beyond its current state, you've simply restated the opening remarks!

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

  12. Without patents, this would be easier qjkx by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Patents slow down progress. Custom desks with computers built it would be developed much faster without any IP laws at all.

  13. Anonymous, huh? by $carab · · Score: 5, Funny

    Great.....So now we've got "Anonymous Cowards" hyping the first article on their website...

    Unfortunately, our Anonymous Friend didnt anticipate the strain on the servers...


    Warning: Too many connections in /home/www/silentpcreview.com/pnadodb/drivers/adodb -mysql.inc.php on line 121

    Warning: MySQL Connection Failed: Too many connections in /home/www/silentpcreview.com/pnadodb/drivers/adodb -mysql.inc.php on line 121
    mysql://silentpc:@localhost/silentpcreview failed to connectToo many connections


    Ahhh.....Like poetry....

    1. Re:Anonymous, huh? by joel_mac · · Score: 1
      Unfortunately, our Anonymous Friend didnt anticipate the strain on the servers...

      Sadly, no. Anyone have a mirror site?

  14. Too bad by Johnso · · Score: 5, Funny
    Users of these PCs can't dropkick the units or throw them out the window like regular PC users can.

    Where's the stress relief when the damn thing Blue Screens?

    --
    I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
    1. Re:Too bad by ealar+dlanvuli · · Score: 1, Funny

      It can be found here or here

      --
      I live in a giant bucket.
    2. Re:Too bad by msaulters · · Score: 2

      You can bang your fist on it. Better yet, climb up and jump up and down on it! Open and slam the drawers. Or just spill some coffee on it.

      --
      These people looked deep into my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined.
    3. Re:Too bad by slipgun · · Score: 1

      Where's the stress relief when the damn thing Blue Screens?

      Oh dear, that's really asking for it...

      --
      SpamNet - a spam blocker that really works
    4. Re:Too bad by McCart42 · · Score: 2
      Where's the stress relief when the damn thing Blue Screens?

      Why, submit an article hosted on the computer to Slashdot, of course.
      --
      "I may be quite wrong." - Socrates
    5. Re:Too bad by sharkey · · Score: 2

      Where's the stress relief when the damn thing Blue Screens?

      Try here. Or here. Or here.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    6. Re:Too bad by _ph1ux_ · · Score: 2

      Ya but you can have sex on it... if you have a girlfriend, latex or otherwise I guess.

  15. /.ed already? by bad_fx · · Score: 0

    Lesson for the day: Plugging your own website on slashdot is a bad, bad idea! :-)

  16. Caffeine Machine by ackthpt · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I dunno if building a PC into a desk is all that original. I've seen a few in my time which were pretty inventive. This, on the other hand, seems quite an improvement, at least it's got Hot Java. ;-)

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
    1. Re:Caffeine Machine by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I thought you said Hot Lava.

      It would be neat to see somebody make a completely transparent case filled with a colored inert liquid and had some balls of wax. Let the processor heat the wax and you'd have a lava lamp case.

    2. Re:Caffeine Machine by qqtortqq · · Score: 1

      Thats actually a really cool idea... Are there any transparent liquids that don't conduct, and won't erode the parts inside a computer?

    3. Re:Caffeine Machine by zbuffered · · Score: 2

      Hey, I saw this PC in Colorado Springs at the last EverLAN. I was walking by, smelled coffee, and I'll be damned if this guy wasn't brewing someone a cup. Smelled good.

      --
      Synergy is your friend
    4. Re:Caffeine Machine by SirTwitchALot · · Score: 1

      There's fluorinert, made by 3m, but it's VERY pricey.

      --
      Go away, or I will replace you with a very small shell script.
    5. Re:Caffeine Machine by ackthpt · · Score: 1

      Probably didn't want to scald the coffee. Then again, I don't think you'd really want to use a CPU as a heater for something with a variable ability to wick heat, unless you don't mind the CPU dying now and then.

      --

      A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  17. Kinda OT, but had to be pointed out. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clicked on the link, this is what I got: Warning: Too many connections in /home/www/silentpcreview.com/pnadodb/drivers/adodb -mysql.inc.php on line 121 Warning: MySQL Connection Failed: Too many connections in /home/www/silentpcreview.com/pnadodb/drivers/adodb -mysql.inc.php on line 121 mysql://silentpc:@localhost/silentpcreview failed to connectToo many connections I guess the people at silentpcpreview.com weren't ready for a /. treatment.

  18. Grrr by cybercomm · · Score: 0

    This just got posted, and already it's /.'ed. Why cant desks and users just get along?

    --
    Live for the present, learn from the past, and dream of the future!
  19. Hot vibrating wood by Johnso · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Athlon XP + direct encasement in wood + heavy use = worst fire hazard ever

    Who would want to work on such a hot, shaky piece of wood?

    --
    I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
    1. Re:Hot vibrating wood by Cyno01 · · Score: 3, Funny

      >Who would want to work on such a hot, shaky piece of wood? so easy, not even gonna...

      --
      "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    2. Re:Hot vibrating wood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've got your hot wood right here!

    3. Re:Hot vibrating wood by tlon · · Score: 0, Troll

      Of course, for that matter, why would you want to operate on that shakey, combustible operating system? (It is running *Windows XP* after all... see the screen saver)

    4. Re:Hot vibrating wood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Natalie Portman can work on my hot, shaky piece of wood any day!

    5. Re:Hot vibrating wood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who would want to work on such a hot, shaky piece of wood?

      LOOOOL!!! Didn't you see what you just wrote!?

      ROTFLOL!

    6. Re:Hot vibrating wood by papabear1 · · Score: 0

      Hey, no problemo, just install a firewall!

    7. Re:Hot vibrating wood by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Score:5, Insightful? more like 5, idiotic unless it was intended as a joke. You would have to get to a couple hundred degrees before the wood would start to combust and given that the cpu would fry at 100 this ain't gonna happen.

    8. Re:Hot vibrating wood by Johnso · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Yes, it was a joke. I just wanted an excuse to make a hot wood reference... :)

      --
      I'm a signature virus. Please copy me to your signature so I can replicate.
    9. Re:Hot vibrating wood by dave_f1m · · Score: 1

      Fry at 100? Celcius, right? Hell, my cpu has been at 109 (":9" by the BIOS), and it's still fine. - dave f.

    10. Re:Hot vibrating wood by Cruciform · · Score: 2

      "109 degrees celsius? That can't be right! Hmmm... better touch it and make sure."

      2 days later...

      Dave's friend: "Hey Dave, I didn't know you were into that whole branding craze. What's that say? DMA? Is that a band? Oooooh, AMD. Uh huh. Uh huh. Allll riiight. You've been staying up late reading overclockers.com again haven't you?" :)

    11. Re:Hot vibrating wood by dave_f1m · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I almost branded myself. See, my CPU fan cable got knocked loose when I was in the machine one day, and I didn't notice. About a week later, I booted into Windows for something (it had been running in Linux 24/7 in the meantime), and it kept crashing. Even trying to run National Geographic. So I went to the BIOS, and read ":9". Oh, sh*t! So, I swung open the side door, and the fan wasn't turning. I shut down the machine, and figuring I could cool the CPU back down quicker if it was running with a fan on it, I tried to plug the fan back into the MB. Ouch!
      Anyway, that was over a year ago, and no problems since.
      Sometime I'll tell you about the fire in the case that was the cause of me being in the machine in the first place...

      - dave f.

  20. dude, your desk is plugged into the wall by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Puts a whole new emphasis on "keyboard drawers"....

  21. Breaking news by dirvish · · Score: 4, Funny

    A four alarm fire has broken out in Everett, WA. Officials believe the cause to be a overheated server creating a desk to combust.

    Registrant:
    Internal Combustion
    2815 107th Pl SE
    Everett, WA 98208
    US
    Domain Name: SILENTPCREVIEW.COM

  22. the future of computing by everyplace · · Score: 5, Funny

    Now, the next level of this will be redundency. Walk into someone's office, and see two identical desks, with idendical pen holders, family photos, telephones and whatnot on the surface.

    "What's that one for?" a casual observer might ask.
    "Oh, that's just my backup desk, for when my main one crashes."

    1. Re:the future of computing by jred · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Would two desks be all that unusual? I already have 2 desks, and as soon as I have time to move into my new (bigger) office, I'll have 3.

      I wouldn't necessarily think they'd have to be identical.

      --

      jred
      I'm not a mechanic but I play one in my garage...
    2. Re:the future of computing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But do you have a beowulf cluster of desks?

    3. Re:the future of computing by SomeGuyFromCA · · Score: 1

      Sure. It's called an open plan office.

      --
      if the answer isn't violence, neither is your silence / freedom of expression doesn't make it alright
    4. Re:the future of computing by sirsnork · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry in advance, but....

      Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of these! /turns and runs

      --

      Normal people worry me!
    5. Re:the future of computing by Reziac · · Score: 3, Funny

      [laughing] Then there's MY desk. When I say I need to find my desk, it's not that it's buried under papers and diskettes -- it really IS mislaid. It's a 12"x16" wooden plank of 1975 vintage, that I drag around to wherever I need a writing surface!

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    6. Re:the future of computing by papabear1 · · Score: 0

      What about the backups?

      Two men enter the office once every night and make 3 copies of the desk, store them offsite at three different locations, and then check the restoration of the system just when you actually need to be productive!

    7. Re:the future of computing by anno1602 · · Score: 0

      Imagine a Beowulf Cluster of these

      It's called an office.

    8. Re:the future of computing by frozenray · · Score: 0

      Here's an image of a kick-ass beowulf cluster of these.

      (rimshot)

      --
      "There are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare." - Blair Houghton
  23. I had the same idea by Dynedain · · Score: 3, Troll

    I've been thinking about this for about 3 years now, just haven't had the time to do it.

    Powerswitches for components and lights along front edge, verical drawer for motherboard. Exentions of usb/audio/ps2/etc. ports to a panel on the top of the desk. Backlit round panel with a spoke jutting up for a cd spindle. "popup" removable media drives on the top surface (lift a hinged panel with the drive attached to the underside to insert disk).

    I wish I could see what this guy did to compare to my thoughts.

    --
    I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
    1. Re:I had the same idea by Reziac · · Score: 2

      Funny thing, earlier today I was wondering what sort of cabinet/desk/bookshelf arrangement I could concoct for my dozen salvage-built PCs that only have occasional missions in life, so they'd not take up so much floor space yet would be easily accessable, not too noisy when a bunch of 'em are going, and wouldn't get too hot or dusty... yet so that the cabling wouldn't require me to be a contortionist. So far it looks like an ordinary open-backed bookcase may be the best solution, tho I'm open to other weird ideas :)

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    2. Re:I had the same idea by Morologous · · Score: 0

      And we'll call it a Rack! I'll race you to the patent office!

    3. Re:I had the same idea by Reziac · · Score: 2

      LOL! Hey, that's what I'll tell people when they ask why I've got all those old PCs hanging around -- "They were bad, so I had to put them on the rack!"

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    4. Re:I had the same idea by Morologous · · Score: 1

      That's truly funny. Dammit! Where'd my moderation points go when I really need them?

    5. Re:I had the same idea by Reziac · · Score: 2

      Thank you :)

      You should keep better track of your things, mod points being so small and easily misplaced :) But I did notice that you too have a personal troll!

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    6. Re:I had the same idea by some+guy+I+know · · Score: 1

      Powerswitches for components and lights along front edge, ...

      What, you never bump your knee on the front edge of your desk?

      Damn, I bumped my knee!
      Crap, I just reset my desk.

      --
      Those who sacrifice security to condemn liberty deserve to repeat history or something. - Benjamin Santayana
    7. Re:I had the same idea by Dynedain · · Score: 2

      not the front face, but the front edge of the top, in a spot that is easy to reach while sitting at the desk, but difficult to accidentaly hit

      --
      I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
  24. Nothing new by geek · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My dads been doing this for 30 years. To change his hard drive he pulls out a drawer and puts in a new one. He started it while working for McDonald Douglas a few years before I was born. I still remember sticking 5" floppies into the slot opening in the bottom drawer. I would kick my feet while playing this wierd cow game he had and every couple minutes would kick the lever releasing the floppy and crashing the system.

    To him it makes perfect sense. He can expand more easily without opening cases and it solves some heat issues you get in tiny enclosures. Not to mention its totally silent.

    1. Re:Nothing new by beta21 · · Score: 1

      He started it while working for McDonald Douglas a few years before I was born.

      I'm not nitpicking but when I read McDonald Douglas I had strange visions of scientists modelling airflow around a big mac. Even better imagine a big mac in a wind tunnel...woo hoo!

    2. Re:Nothing new by dhall · · Score: 1

      Yeah, it's McDonnell, then merged with Douglas, then slurped up by Boeing.

      Sad thing is, when I see McDonald Douglas, like you, I think of "Mac" F/A-18's... super sized, with fries.

      1 Billion Dollar Planes served.

    3. Re:Nothing new by thesadmac · · Score: 0

      So do I. I'm only 20; so don't feel that old.

    4. Re:Nothing new by 4thAce · · Score: 3, Funny
      My dads been doing this for 30 years. To change his hard drive he pulls out a drawer and puts in a new one.

      I wouldn't advise him to tell women he has a hard drive in his drawers if your Mom is anywhere around.

      --
      Inventor of the LOLbalrog meme.
    5. Re:Nothing new by dugndog · · Score: 1

      What goes around comes around!

      1970's Nostalgia Fads: Tie-died T-shirts, bell-bottoms and ... computer in a desk?

    6. Re:Nothing new by plsander · · Score: 1

      Or the IBM System/32...

  25. Pic Mirror by MrZaius · · Score: 5, Informative

    www.wworld.com/users/seancrago/CaseUnAssembledRigh t.jpg
    www.wworld.com/users/seancrago/CaseOpen1.jp g

    Those mirrors won't last long, but they're the most impressive of the pics in the article. Even if the site stays /.ed, you won't be missing much if you get a couple of pics. Only really novel thing explained in the text of the article was where he explained that the CPU was a down-volted xp1900, w/passive cooling.

    1. Re:Pic Mirror by Charlton+Heston · · Score: 2, Informative

      The slashdot space mungifier added a space into the first link. If you get a file not found error, take out that space and retry.

      --
      Get your stinking paws off me you damn dirty ape
    2. Re:Pic Mirror by Soko · · Score: 2

      First of all, thanks for the pictures.

      Second, it's not exactly passive cooling he has there. I've seen the fan-shaped CPU heatsink before (just can't seem to get Google to spit out who makes it) and he has it in a shroud connected to a fan. Alphas did the same thing - my PWS500a has no heat sink fan, but is cooled by the same shroud/case fan method. It must work, since my elecrticity bills while I was running the SETI@Home client said the thing sucks a ton of juice. Nice, effective low noise solution to the cooling problem, IMHO.

      Soko

      --
      "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
    3. Re:Pic Mirror by dknj · · Score: 1

      Gateways and newer Dell machines do this as well

      -dk

    4. Re:Pic Mirror by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I've got the same fan/heatsink, it's the made by Zalman. They specialize in what they call CNPS (Computer Noise Prevention System). Extremely quiet.

      www.zalmanusa.com

    5. Re:Pic Mirror by mallie_mcg · · Score: 1

      Second, it's not exactly passive cooling he has there. I've seen the fan-shaped CPU heatsink before (just can't seem to get Google to spit out who makes it) and he has it in a shroud connected to a fan. Alphas did the same thing - my PWS500a has no heat sink fan, but is cooled by the same

      The cooler is made by Zalman

      --


      Do the following really mean anything? SCSA MCP CCSA CCNA
      --I'm not actually after an answer!
    6. Re:Pic Mirror by yelligsc · · Score: 2, Informative

      Or how about you just provide..

      A link
      And Another Link

      Scott.

    7. Re:Pic Mirror by omegakidd · · Score: 1, Informative

      http://www.thinkgeek.com/stuff/fun-stuff/5a94.shtm l

    8. Re:Pic Mirror by MooseGuy529 · · Score: 1

      Why don't you use a regexp instead of the first for loop? Anyway, that sounds pretty cool. What about adding a printer in a drawer so it feeds paper out into a small basket on the desk?

      --

      Tired of free iPod sigs? Subscribe to my blacklist

  26. Actually a desktop PC by vnsnes · · Score: 2, Interesting
    With electronic paper developments it would be neat to see actual desktop computers.

    Imagine a sheet of e-paper with touch sensitive layer on top of it on an engineer's desk. The engineer uses a stilus to enter schematic diagrams and navigate the UI. A virtual keyboard program can be started for text entries.

    This paradigm would work for a lot of things an average user would use a computer for: web surfing, e-mail, text processing. It would probably be a tough fit for multimedia and gaming, though.

    1. Re:Actually a desktop PC by vnsnes · · Score: 1

      btw, it would much faster to draw diagrams like scribbling on a piece of paper instead of finding shapes in libraries, dragging them onto the diagram area and adjusting its size and properties.

    2. Re:Actually a desktop PC by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      it would be much easier to us a capacitative surface instead of a stylis. it would allow for manipulation using your hands, which means over 10 distinct input points. (it would need a fairly unique "accept input" command if it was the entire desktop though).

  27. Now... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...we all know why it was slashdotted already:

    http://uptime.netcraft.com/up/graph/?mode_u=off& mo de_w=on&site=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.silentpcreview.com%2 Fgoto.php%3Ft%3Ds%26id%3D44%26a%3D1&submit=Examine

  28. A Desktop in a Desktop in a Des.... by teamhasnoi · · Score: 2, Funny
    AHHHHH! The Madness! No man should ever have to see such things...they are an ABOMINATION! Spiraling Desktops to.. to . ..infinity!!!

    Thank the Almighty! The Holy Slashdot Warriors have destroyed this affront to the senses. I may be able to sleep tonight. Fitful sleep, but dreamless sleep...sleep..sleeeeeeep

    1. Re:A Desktop in a Desktop in a Des.... by Associate · · Score: 0

      Desktop in a desktop. This is one of the signs of the Apocalypse as predicted by Nostadomis.

      --
      Someone hates these cans.
  29. Mirror the damn sites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When the fuck are you going to start providing a temporary mirror for these sites?

    1. Re:Mirror the damn sites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Insightful? More like illegal. Stealing copyrighted works without the permission of the author is illegal in this country! You young MP3-Warez kiddies just can't seem to get that through your thick skulls!

    2. Re:Mirror the damn sites by dAzED1 · · Score: 1

      are you saying /. should do this? That would be silly. Then /. would just be /.'ed...

    3. Re:Mirror the damn sites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Providing a content mirror is covered under the dmca as a "isp" it is not illegal for an isp to host illegal materials so long as they remove when legally asked.

      interestingly enough the time it takes to get an injunction is longer than the relevant article time on /.

      legality isnt the issue. Eg google's cache.

    4. Re:Mirror the damn sites by Peyna · · Score: 4, Informative

      Use your brain, if /. hosts the mirror locally, then the number of people access their site isn't going to go up. The total bandwidth might go up a little bit due to more images, but in the end it would have a minimal effect on them. It's not going to magically draw more users from the void to hit /.

      --
      What?
    5. Re:Mirror the damn sites by Dynedain · · Score: 2

      but, people would be viewing more pages on /., hence more banner ads

      --
      I'm out of my mind right now, but feel free to leave a message.....
    6. Re:Mirror the damn sites by gvonk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      To the Editors:

      (read this, it's important)

      I WOULD PAY MONEY to have access to a subscribers-only cache of stories.

      Period.

      Money,
      out of my pocket.

      --


      El Karma: excelente(principalmente la suma de moderación hecha a los comentarios de los usuarios)
    7. Re:Mirror the damn sites by Thomas+A.+Anderson · · Score: 2

      Use your brain, if /. hosts the ...

      Um, use *your* brain - it's a joke, they were kidding, you know, an attempt at humor?.

      Since when did we allow Vulcans to post to /. anyway? Geez...

      --
      Personally its not God I dislike, its his fan club I cant stand (bash.org)
    8. Re:Mirror the damn sites by Compuser · · Score: 1

      If deep linking can you you in court, imagine
      what deep caching will do...

    9. Re:Mirror the damn sites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Often times, a Google search (link to the cache) will do just fine for this - take some of the text, copy-paste it. (It's a little more complicated for this article, but the idea's the same - works for most.)

    10. Re:Mirror the damn sites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      On /. always assume the original poster is serious and dumb as rocks. You just never know.

    11. Re:Mirror the damn sites by irontiki · · Score: 1

      Ditto. I'd subscribe to a slashdot that skipped the slashdot effect.

  30. Kinda reminds you of... by carlmenezes · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This.
    Sadly, it's been discontinued, which is why you'll only find it in Google's cache.

    Cool idea though.
    On a lighter note, you could now have water cooling linked to a nice decorative fish tank - hell you don't even need real fish :)

    --
    Find a job you like and you will never work a day in your life.
    1. Re:Kinda reminds you of... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      If you did have real fish, you could simply get a link posted to slashdot and have dinner cooked in no-time!

    2. Re:Kinda reminds you of... by PSaltyDS · · Score: 1

      Now you're giving me ideas... this may not be original, but how about plumbing the water cooling to one of those oriental looking waterfall sculptures on top of the desk? The only thing you hear is the trickle of the water, which is a selling point for these things anyway.

      --
      Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced. - Geek's corollary to Clarke's law
  31. Rusty learns a lesson... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    RFI is not your friend. Neither are your angry upstairs neighbors trying to pull in that local radio station.

    Had the site not been Slushdotted, I'm sure I would have seen the wonderful shielding job that he did.

  32. I hope his desk wasn't also the server... by Call+Me+Black+Cloud · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Let's see, have to do some work now. Hey, is it hot in here or is it just me? Wow, my desk is getting hot! Hey, what gives?" [phoom!]* "oh, the humanity!!!!"

    *phoom = sound wooden desk makes when it bursts into flames

  33. Devo by istartedi · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hey, maybe next they will build a PC that fills an entire room and doubles as a central heating system. Oh... wait...

    --
    For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
    1. Re:Devo by nelsonal · · Score: 1

      I've actually been thinking about this, since my apartment already has baseboard electric heaters, and the building next door has fiber, it would be much more cost effective to use a rack of something to heat my apartment, and host my own data center. I can just see my landlord's face when the APC guys show up to rewire the place.

      --
      Degaussing scares the bad magnetism out of the monitor and fills it with good karma.
  34. OK, I'm sick of this by jeko · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Dammit. Yet another cool site I'd love to see, but predictably slashdotted into the depths of hell.

    Sheesh. How hard is this? Quietly prepare a mirror of the site. Post the story. When their poor little server goes screaming into the abyss, shoot them an email that says, "Hi. Sorry we depthcharged your site. Would you like us to point our link to a mirror?" They say "Hell, yes."

    Problem solved. Well, OK, maybe warning them in advance would work better.

    Admittedly, I am far from the sharpest crayon in the box, and yes, this adds a layer of administration and screwups, but how is that any worse than the subject of almost every single story being unavailable?

    We're supposed to be a bunch of smart geeks here. Slashdotting sites into the next millenium is a technical problem. Why can't we fix this?

    And no, dammit, this is not off-topic.

    --
    He put his boots up on the table and made a face. "The sig," he smirked. "You can waste your life in search of the sig."
    1. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by dAzED1 · · Score: 1

      plenty of corporate sites have been /.'ed, so informing/warning people isn't as easy as you might think (most submissions are embedded links on news sites, for instance).

      Also, the idea of the normal /. submitter having to have access to a viable site on which to mirror something that wouldn't itself get /.'ed (taking down whoever was dumb enough to give him the access to create a mirror site) is nonsense. Most don't have access to such systems. I sure as hell wouldn't put something on my company portal, and do you think someplace like geocities or such would last even 30 seconds? It would be pointless.

      Finally...plenty of people submit stories, never to have them get accepted. So...they'd have to go through all the headache of finding a server they didn't care about that would mirror the site they are posting about, set up the mirror, only to have the mirror go down?

      blah. Go geta drink or a massage. /.ing will just happen. People do go on.

    2. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by Cyno01 · · Score: 2

      but if we cached sites so they didn't get /.'d we wouldn't have 20 posts an article bitching about the /. effect and what we could do to fix it :P

      --
      "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    3. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

      the easiest solution is that we all just stop coming here to begin with. you first. i'll let you know how it works out.

    4. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by bsignorelli · · Score: 3, Funny

      We're supposed to be a bunch of smart geeks here. Slashdotting sites into the next millenium is a technical problem. Why can't we fix this?

      The car that John Candy drove in Uncle Buck...it had a certain charm about it because of all the smoking and backfireing.

      Thats kind of like the /. effect. Its annoying but it still makes you smile knowing someone, somewhere is confused as hell.

      But then he smiles because he realizes that if his server is toast then this months bandwidth bill won't be affected much.

    5. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by Peyna · · Score: 3, Insightful
      /. has enough bandwidth to handle it's own user load. If /. locally mirrors sites it links to, or at least mirrors just the main page so we can all get the gist of it, then there won't be any problem.

      Google, The Wayback Machine, etc. cache the world world without any legal problems, so why is it so hard for /. to be responsible with their journalism?

      Most news sources don't even directly link other web sites like this, they would just mention it exists and give the name it. If the person cared enough about it, they can spend their time finding it.

      --
      What?
    6. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by Uller-RM · · Score: 1

      Except for the fact that the retard submitted his own site. If you mouseover "Anonymous Coward" it's the same link as the host.

      Now, that's an idea... take out fire insurance on a house, put a webserver in a wooden desk, and then submit a link to Slashdot with any of the following words in the summary:

      GPL, BSD, RMS, Microsoft, Linux, Torvalds, Gates, Lego, DMCA, RIAA, CowboyNeal

      Doesn't matter if the page on the server actually has to do with any of the above, just put 'em in the summary. Better yet, do several of them - for example, "CowboyNeal and Torvalds post log of their sordid affair online under GPL license (homosexual love diaries should be free as in speech, not as in beer); however, it may be in violation of the DMCA, since Richard Simmons owns a related patent..."

      Tada! Instant money! The only question is, if you got caught, would Malda and company be liable for arson?

    7. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Google, The Wayback Machine, etc. cache the [whole] world without any legal problems
      Ah, so xenu.net is not of this world?

      HHOS
    8. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by idontneedanickname · · Score: 1

      Well, slashdot's main concern is bandwidth, now think about it, hosting about 3 main pages worth of content for every article? (If it has a lot of pictures.)

      You think they have 3-4x the amount of bandwidth they're using right now to spare? I don't think so...

    9. Re:OK, I'm sick of this by Vis · · Score: 1

      Yes, we could probably prevent /.ing, but isn't trying to get to a /.'d site half the fun of /.? It's a whole new phenomenon we created!

      --
      -- Hi! I'm a .signature virus! Copy me into your ~/.signature to help me spread!
  35. fans... by Maskirovka · · Score: 3, Funny
    A lightbulb goes on in Silentpcreview.com's admin, as he realizes all that smoke alarm noise negates his zero fan server farm's decible rating.

  36. You can do this by Sexy+Commando · · Score: 1

    Just underclock your CPU and put a huge copper heat sink on it. I bet you can't tell the difference if you are just sending e-mails and browsing the web. Today's CPUs are way overqualified for office uses.

    1. Re:You can do this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But we have to have faster and faster processors in order to keep up with the bloat of software.
      People today only write software for the features... not for how much memory it consumes nor how efficient the algorithm is.
      Ever wonder how good Win 3.x would be on a 2.2GHZ machine you probably would think you were in heaven. Before you release the mouse the window is open Before you have a chance to close the idiotic "Are you sure" window your screwed.

      I am all for progress but when the minimum system requirements for most of todays programs is essiently a CRAY supercomputer that somehow has been made affordable to the masses is going the wrong way.

      Back in the olden days we had 1 computer servicing multiple users and things were good.
      Now we have 10 computers all networked together servicing the "needs" of only one user and things are good. Now where is the next "big" breakthrough?

  37. FIRE HAZARD!!!!!!!!! by F34RL3SS+L34D3R · · Score: 1, Funny
    I'm wondering if the /.ing his computer is taking will cause his desk to be a fire hazard?

    /.: When u need the best in load testing!!!!

  38. Re:Nothing new, and it wasn't very brilliant befor by ctxspy · · Score: 0

    L ook
    O ut
    S pelling
    E rrors

  39. The word is poring by kc7cfk · · Score: 1
    ..."pouring" over his fine work?

    Hope he waterproofed it, too!

    1. Re:The word is poring by dknj · · Score: 0
  40. 0 dB Sound Level by Nintendork · · Score: 2

    The thing isn't on brainiac.

  41. Even Better by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been wanting to build a computer into a Lazy-boy recliner with an adjustable monitor (LCD) / keyboard / tray-table. Magic-fingers optional. Who wants to sit at a desk? Add a mini-fridge and a catheter and you're all set for 80 hours of gaming (warning: may cause death).

  42. im impressed by seelet · · Score: 0, Troll

    the desk pc is setup really good. the only problem i see with this is (1)that took alot of time. (2)all that time spent on building the computer could have been spent smoking pot or drinking beer. (3)get a life.

  43. Heat? by irc.goatse.cx+troll · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I'll admit i havnt read the page (slashdotted), so I'm curious, How does it disipate heat? I know it has vents, but where? I'm guessing its fanned out the back, but won't it just hit a wall in most situations?
    They should start making vents on the top of computers (and the top of this desk), just to take advantage of the fact that heat rises. why waste so much energy fanning it out the back?

    --
    Pain lasts, kid. Its how you know you're alive. Sometimes I think this growing up thing is just pain management-TheMaxx
    1. Re:Heat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Want to dissapate heat, and make use of it? How about a hot plate for your coffee mug? Heck, you could plop your lunch in a drawer just above the cpu, and do some compiling for a half hour before lunch. I guess this wouldn't be much help to those who like cold pop and such ;)

    2. Re:Heat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      they do... checkout the powmax mid tower at directron.com enermax`s case has a top case fan.

    3. Re:Heat? by Rusty075 · · Score: 1

      Those are louvered openings, but there are no fans behind them. When the drawer is closed they server as the air intakes

    4. Re:Heat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, yes... Remember the Apple G4 Cube? It worked on this principle using a sort of "chimney" design. Cool (and quiet) machine; too bad it cost about $700 too much to be successfull.

    5. Re:Heat? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Remember the G4 Cube? I just bought one last week. Nice machine, even if it is a bit slower than my upgraded Blue G3 (550 MHz G4 ZIF upgrade in the G3).

  44. I want my MCP by nsmeby · · Score: 1


    Wasn't the human interface to the MCP builtin to a desk?

    1. Re:I want my MCP by BZArcher · · Score: 2

      Very good, grasshopper. In fact, the whole MCP interface was kinda neato. Desk based machine, flexi-keyboard (and I assume some form of trackpad) built into the surface, monitor... Hrm....gotta wonder if anyone's looked at making one of -those- yet.

  45. Spills by UniverseIsADoughnut · · Score: 2, Funny

    This thing is probably one coffee spill away from a bad day.

  46. I did something like this by baywulf · · Score: 2, Informative

    except my PC is just enclosed in the desk cabinet with a door. This helps a bit but the thing that made the biggest difference of all the things I tried was to use a bigger fan. A 90mm cpu fan can run much slower at a equal flow rate to a 60mm cpu fan and that reduces the noise the most.

  47. I've seen a computer in a desk before... by muertos · · Score: 2, Interesting

    About eight years ago, my uncle received a computer desk from a colleague of his. Since it still had the computer in it, he asked me to remove it. As I recall, it was a minicomputer built into a shelving unit behind the kickplate. There were three sets of shelves, the bottom shelf held two power supplies, the second shelf held the hard drives and tape drive (which had an access port from the side), and the top shelf held the motherboard. Monitor and keyboard ports were in the top of the desk on the back edge, and the puck tablet (it had a puck instead of a mouse) was built into a cutout on the underside. I assume it ran some type of Unix, it wouldn't boot anything though, the drives were shot. I think there was a floppy built into the drawer, too. He also got a bunch of Bell Labs manuals, a couple of binders full of printouts of Fortran code, and about 100' of coax cable.

    1. Re:I've seen a computer in a desk before... by walkerk77 · · Score: 1

      Sounds similar to one of many desk computers built in the early eighties. For a while the fancy wooden computer case was seen as a status symbol with the desk model being the ultimate form. Usually these were CP/M machines with some model of dumb terminal sitting on top serving as monitor and keyboard. No cooling fans needed on those low-powered machines. However, the silence of the CPU was more than compensated for by the dot-matrix printer.

    2. Re:I've seen a computer in a desk before... by BarryHaworth · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the computer built into a desk in the movie "Tron". Haven't seen the movie in years, but as I recall it the villain had a big, glass topped desk with keyboard (can't remember if it was built in), with the monitor mounted under the desk but visible by looking through the glass desktop. The rest of the computer was presumably mounted in the desk, though that wasn't explored in the movie.

      --
      I am a Statistician. One false move and you are a Statistic
  48. Variation by torqer · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I've always wanted to do basically what this intrepid guy did. Cool stuff. I've wanted to mount it underneath the tabletop of the desk and have slot feed drives. Just sliding a DVD into the top of the desk would be pretty slick. It would also be slick when I spilled coffee... Pipe-dream? sure. It would still be pretty nifty.

  49. Convergence by TheMightyZog · · Score: 2, Funny

    Ah, the server farm and cube farm converge...

  50. It has to be said... by knewman_1971 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Imagine a Beowolf cluster of these...

    --
    where is the "I feel for ya, but that's some funny ass shit" moderation?
  51. I can see it now... by TitusC3v5 · · Score: 4, Funny

    USER: Wow, this thing is cool. Hey, where'd my notepad go?

    FRIEND: It's over there on your desktop.

    USER: Huh? No it's not. I've looked all over. Not there.

    FRIEND: No. It's on your DESKTOP.

    USER: *Dawn of realization* Ohhhh.......

    --
    And the masses cried out, "09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0!"
    1. Re:I can see it now... by Soko · · Score: 2

      Illiad had this figured out a while ago...

      --
      "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
    2. Re:I can see it now... by rblancarte · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Now if he could only figure out humor.

      RonB

      --
      It is human nature to take shortcuts in thinking.
    3. Re:I can see it now... by Xerithane · · Score: 2

      Illiad had this figured out a while ago...

      I submitted the idea for this one. It comes from a story a few years back (1996, I believe). Here is the original story that I sent in to him: I was working tech support for this unfriendly piece of hardware that refused to work properly with most standard shipped-on-Windows-CD video card drivers. The common support call was just telling them to upgrade the video card drivers.

      A friend who sat behind me (who is now the mother of my niece) gets a call that I took earlier in the day instructing the lady to download the new drivers and call us back for installation instructions.

      I wasn't on a call so I was paying attention to her call (easy job) and it went (from my end):
      Tech: Ok, so now that you have uncompressed the driver, right click on the desktop and on the popup menu that shows up, select Properties.
      <moment of silence>
      Ok, well move the mouse cursor away from any icons, and try it again.
      <another moment, she glances at me with the "Stupid Caller" look>
      Alright, are you sure you are pressing the right mouse button?
      <another moment, a bit longer. In a strained voice: > Mam, I need to put you on hold real quickly, please hold.

      She flicks the hold switch, than just dies laughing.

      The caller had wrote the world click on her desk 3 times in pen.

      Yes, this is a true story. It's probably the most clueless, but not the most amusing one I've encountered.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
  52. MCP Is Offline by whterbt · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Warning: Too many connections in /home/www/silentpcreview.com/pnadodb/drivers/adodb -mysql.inc.php on line 121

    Warning: MySQL Connection Failed: Too many connections in /home/www/silentpcreview.com/pnadodb/drivers/adodb -mysql.inc.php on line 121 mysql://silentpc:@localhost/silentpcreview failed to connectToo many connections

    END OF LINE.
    --
    Too late to be known as Bush the First, he's sure to be known as Bush the Worst.
  53. I've thought about... by yokem_55 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Using a 1 or 2u rackmount chassis, and building my pc into that and mounting it under my desk...kind of a hack, but it could work and make the PC a heck of a lot harder to steal....

    --
    ...and IN SOVIET RUSSIA, beowulf clusters imagine 1, 2, 3 profit!!!! jokes made out of YOU!!!
    1. Re:I've thought about... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone already did it:

      http://www.pcpowercooling.com/products/sleekline /i ndex.htm

  54. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  55. Re:Nothing new, and it wasn't very brilliant befor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The word is lose. The only thing people loose are hounds.

  56. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  57. What's all this... by TitaniumFox · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...about the desk bursting into flames, people, and why all the "insightful" mods that go along with it?

    There's a few pictures mirrored in the posts. If you go look at them you'll see that he has a Zalman heatsink, and a ducted case fan blowing right on it.

    Lessee. Last I checked, copper had a favorable heat transfer coeffecient. Fins are a valid way of transmitting heat to air, too.

    Passively, a Zalman Flower Heatsink might not stand up to an Athlon XP 1900+, but even with a modicum of air flow, it'll do fine.

    --
    -- I'd say your post was about 3 monkeys, 18 minutes.
  58. Only a desk?!?! by WheelDweller · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Heck, I made a computer system that has a cargo trailer built around it. There's a main computer onboard for when I'm plugged into 'shore' power, an LTSP-style 'workstation' for doing real work, and another single-board-computer to be installed to leave 'electronic breadcrumbs' from the GPS that will be powered up at all times. The entire electronics closet has it's own ventilation system and will be sealed off from the rest of the vehicle. It'll direct my satellite TV, DVD's, Oggs, games, and anything else I like. It's part of my cruise the USA with computers lifestyle, also known as Technomadia

    Be Gentle but the site is right here Countermoon.com that has some under-construction pictures, and more as they come available.

    Enjoy!

    --
    --- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
  59. I did this, poorly. by Fizgig · · Score: 3, Informative

    I'm newly in the Real World, so I needed my own desk. My computer was also way too loud, and I'm cheap, so I made a box to put the computer in and turned it into a desk.

    I made a wooden box that's made of particle board and painted fire engine red (cheap paint). It has a hinge and a door in the front. Inside is carpet padding and a computer. I took some more red particle board and made another stand of the same height. I bought a door from Home Depot, stained it, and laid it across the two.

    It works great, except that the computer gets too hot. I thought I had planned for that appropriately, but apparently you need more air flow than I could create. So I cut out an interior floor of the box and installed a rectangular house fan. That works great, except it's now too loud again :( Plus, I have to open up the side of the case to turn the fan on and off. Anyone know a good way to get the fan to turn on and off when the computer's on and off? At least it still works well as a desk.

    So, don't do like me. Make your case plenty wide/tall/deep, with lots of air flow and baffles everywhere.

    1. Re:I did this, poorly. by Reziac · · Score: 3, Informative

      I'd just plug the fan into the same power strip that I turned the rest of the unit on/off with.

      Your desk is downright civilized compared to mine.. My two main boxen sit atop a 386-era server case (strong enough to hold an elephant) that's a nice size to keep 'em off the floor (mainly so I don't accidentally kick 'em). There's an extra fan on the floor behind 'em. The monitor (and the righthand speakers) sit atop the keyboard drawer which in turn sits atop a gutted commercial monitor case (basically an empty steel cube about 26" per side). And my computer chair is a floor-hoggin' rattan deck chair padded with old sofa cushions. Looks quite bizarre and funky, but it works, and it's comfortable enough for hours of continuous use.

      --
      ~REZ~ #43301. Who'd fake being me anyway?
    2. Re:I did this, poorly. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      wtf? did you miss out on shop class in school? god damn, from your explanation im picturing a REALLY ugly fucked up "desk".

      Why not build a real desk, diagram it first, plan it out, get the right supplies, get a better cooling system for your pc, put vent holes in the back, and maybe wire up a couple pc case fans in the desk itself.. anythings better than what you built,.. fuck, a DOOR as the desktop? WTF?!?!

    3. Re:I did this, poorly. by Fizgig · · Score: 1

      I did not have wood shop, and it shows :) It _is_ a really ugly desk, and I should have taken more time diagramming it, but I doubt that would have gotten me much.

      Hollow-core doors are really cheap, and they use them as desks where I work, too (more out of style than cost). Plus, the way I constructed my desk was almost toolless (I used a jig saw, plus a little bit of drilling, but even that could have been skipped). And I do have pc case fans, but even 80mm fans weren't enough to cool the thing off (it takes a lot of force to move air through the turns). I spent about $70 and a weekend and a half on the whole thing (excluding fans). I suppose I could have learned woodworking and more about air flow, but it was just a cheap, silly project. I'll try to do it right next time, if there is one.

      And so you can confirm how ugly it is, here's a picture of my computer desk.

    4. Re:I did this, poorly. by JohnFluxx · · Score: 2, Interesting

      To turn the fan on when your machine is on, just use a relay to switch the circuit.
      It isn't that hard - you could use the pins from the motherboard for the fans, or use floppy drive power lead, or even use the parallel port (then you could switch the fan on or off from software :)
      Read the Coffee-howto - its a mini howto at www.tldp.org

    5. Re:I did this, poorly. by Megahurts · · Score: 1

      Flat doors actually make very nice tabletops. I got a set of tapered birch legs from Ikea and a particle-core birch veneer door at home depot, trimmed about 16 inches from one end of it, then stained it all a nice light walnut shade, put three coats of varathane on it, and really, it's one of the sturdiest tables I've ever used. The only problems so far have been that my optical mouse doesn't seem to like the polyurethane coating and that the one time I decided to rearrange my furniture, nobody else was around to help me move it and since the leg mounting brackets probably couldn't take the strain from walking it with the computer still on it, I had to clear it off before I could move it.

    6. Re:I did this, poorly. by 95_gst_al · · Score: 1

      you think the carpet inside is messing with the levels of heat? i would intall a few 90mm fans under the computer case, and then the same amount on the top of the case. you could also intall tubing and have fans sucking in and fans blowing out. i have a tube ported from the side of my case directly over my dragon-orb fan. i also have 2 fans on the top of my case and 2 on the bottom. 2 on the top are blowing air out and 2 on the bottom are sucking air in. unfortunately its louds as hell, but it keep my case, video card, and cpu complete cooled down.

      --
      When all else fails, piss on it. At least you will feel better in some kind of way.
  60. No beowolf cluster trolls? by cdf12345 · · Score: 1

    Damn, the trolls must be re-coloring their hair tonight.

    --
    Chicago2600.net more than a lifestyle, its a survival trait.
    1. Re:No beowolf cluster trolls? by ceejayoz · · Score: 2

      Beowulf cluster of desks? It's called an office building.

  61. Old News by McCarrum · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Back in the BBS days, a friend of mine I was living with run his BBS from his desk. He ran out of room in the case he had (it was a pizza box sized thing) so he bolted his hard drives inside a lockable drawer, complete with reeeeally long cables. It was a sight to behold.

  62. that could be cool by Jafa · · Score: 2

    Right now I'm staring at a desk 5ft wide, 3ft deep. And 1ft high with paper and books and crap all over the place. If the whole desk was a screen, all that stuff would be digital and I could just slide it away and pull it up instantly later. Damn, that would be cool.

    I guess I could still do it now, but I can't have it at my 'fingertips' and in site on a 17" monitor. I guess a huge monitor actually could be useful and not just eye-candy.

    Jason

  63. Silent? pffft... by bobdotorg · · Score: 1

    I can hear it whimpering in the corner as I type. Something about a /.'ing.

    --
    __ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
  64. Copy parties by Cheese+Cracker · · Score: 1

    Would be hard to get gather "desk computer" freaks
    to a copy party. Well, on the other hand, you will
    not need to arrange tables these guy's computers...

    Guys, don't forget to bring your chairs!

  65. Space savings? by esvoboda · · Score: 1

    Looking at the photos, I see some sort of black box, maybe a drive enclosure or subwoofer (sorry, fuzzy photo), that takes up about as much space as a tower PC enclosure. If the former, then the drives would probably fit in a tall enough PC enclosure. If the latter, well, put the sub on the floor. Is this guy really saving any space for all his trouble?

    1. Re:Space savings? by Rusty075 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think you're talking about the 2 little boxes on the desktop. They are the "media engines" for the Sony SDM-N50 monitors. They house all the VGA and power connections. In my poorly done photo they do sorta look like 1 bigger box.

  66. Err... by Xenex · · Score: 3, Informative

    Quiet Desk (Not Desktop) PC
    Posted by michael on 12:58 PM October 16th, 2002

    You know, it's not night *everywhere* on the planet...

    1. Re:Err... by coaxial · · Score: 5, Funny


      You know, it's not night *everywhere* on the planet...

      You truly deserve your +1 infomative.

  67. Darn, Slashdotted already!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Aye, Captain, She can'ta take anymoore!! The legs of the desk arrrr have calapsed and she can't give you any more powerrrr....

  68. This is Old by Lucas+Membrane · · Score: 4, Insightful

    One of the first nearly-personal computers, the IBM System 3, model 6, which booted up into a Basic (or RPG II), console was built like a desk. This thing came out in the spring of 1971. It had 16k of real memory, 48k of virtual memory, mountable disks, optional VDT, builtin 100 CPS dot-matrix printer right in the middle of the desk, card reader, card punch, and as much free desktop space as most computer geeks have today, etc.

  69. Hrm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When their poor little server goes screaming into the abyss, shoot them an email that says, "Hi. Sorry we depthcharged your site. Would you like us to point our link to a mirror?" They say "Hell, yes."

    What would the MPAA/RIAA say in response to an email like that, I wonder...

  70. Look Ma! No video card! by A+non+moose+cow · · Score: 2, Funny

    It seems that to open the drawer, you first have to disconnect the monitors (although that doesn't explain why the vid card is gone).

    Wish I could have been there the first time the drawer was opened after everything was plugged in. The look of horror on this guys face as his two flat-screens get yanked off the back of the desk.

    1. Re:Look Ma! No video card! by Rusty075 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Actually no, all the cables have enough extra length looped into them at the end to allow the drawer to open fully. Trust me, it's my computer. (in fact i'm typing on it right now) But thank god that silentpcreview isn't my site, and that my machine isn't the server! If anybody has any specific questions I can try to answer them, since at the moment you can't actually see the site.

    2. Re:Look Ma! No video card! by feed_those_kitties · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Very stylish desk/computer. One quick question: Do you have issues with RF interference? I'm guessing that wood doesn't block many radio waves. Can you have a radio (AM or FM) on your desk, and actually pick up any stations? The issues of being an AM radio fanatic...

  71. Grammar Nazi takes a bow. by Max+Threshold · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Props to the A.C. for being the first person I've seen use the word poring correctly on Slashdot.

  72. Microcomputers have been in desks since 1976! by Eric+Smith · · Score: 4, Informative

    For example, the Noval 760, a Z-80 system with monitor, tape drive, and printer, built into a desk. The peripherals are in a hinged portion so they can be kept out of the way when you're not computing. The Noval was reviewed in Byte magazine in 1977.

  73. Thats because you never SET YOUR PREFERENCES!!!! by Albinoman · · Score: 1, Informative

    Thats right. On my computer it says it was posted at 8:58 on Oct15. This isnt /.s fault, its yours.

  74. Noval 760, circa 1977 by hanway · · Score: 1, Redundant

    This reminds me of the Noval 760, a Z-80 based computer-in-a-desk from the mid/late '70s. 25 years ago, I really wanted one. Can anybody locate a better picture? The one linked above is from an eBay auction and is due to drop off the face of the web soon.

  75. All caps and exclamation marks, together at last. by Xenex · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Actually, it's showing 12:58 PM because I did set my preferences. Had I not set my preferences, it would have shown something like 2AM.

    I'm using Australian Eastern Standard time. That's because I live in Australia. Notice how it's the middle of the day here, while it's the middle of the night in the USA. The comment I originally replied to was asking why people are reading Slashdot at the middle of the night. I was explaining that it's not the middle of the night for everyone.

    However, thank you. Your comment has brightened up my afternoon, as it's helped me kill off another few minutes as I wait for work to finish for the day.

    (Oh, and if anyone's interested, it's around 5PM as I post this...)

  76. Re:All caps and exclamation marks, together at las by Albinoman · · Score: 1

    My mistake, didnt notice it being part of that same thread, but it got a +4 so all the text was displayed and just appeared to be another strange comment that some of these /.ers make that seem to come from lack of information. Ah damnit, now that I think about Im describing my last post.

  77. Don't stress; it happens to the best of us. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We've all made mistakes like these. It's one of those things that help keep life interesting.

    Consider it a "learning experence"... :)

  78. I may be insane but here goes..... by Rusty075 · · Score: 2, Informative
    This is probably going to last about 30 seconds, but here's the link to the original web page that I made to submit my article to SilentPCReview. It's a tripod site, and yes we all know what that means. If you're lucky enough to get in I hope you enjoy it. For those of you that don't (aka 99% of you) feel free to ask me any specific questions you have. Oh, and in legal news, I hereby give my limited permission to anyone who would like to mirror my tripod site, or the contents therein. As long as you give proper credit and don't try to profit from it. (I have no idea how'd you would profit from it anyway) If you do mirror it, please post.

    http://rkinder1.tripod.com/silentpc/

  79. Tech Support Problems by BoBaBrain · · Score: 4, Funny

    Could this be the first PC which actually *does* have a cup holder?

    --
    I am a Karma Library.
  80. Been there, but never done that. by Black+Copter+Control · · Score: 3, Funny
    For those of you old enough to remember, the original mac 1 came in two flavors.. One had 128K of ram, the other had 512K. The maximum memory that the hardware/software design could handle was 8Meg of ram (the 68000 was capable of handling 16MEG, but the upper half was reserved for I/O... Remember that this compares favorably with the 8086 which could handle 1meg max in 64K chunks.

    The 68K series design, however, was capable of handling a 4Gig address space. The only reason why the 68000 was limited to a 16meg address space was that only 24 of the possible 32 address bits were brought out to the bus. (there was actually a 68012 which was little more than a specialty 68000 with all 32 address pins available).

    When the Mac II originally came out, it ran on the 68020 which made it the first general-availability 68K system with a 32bit address space.

    Unfortunately, the biggest general-availability memory chips were a whopping 1megabit. This meant that a 2Gigabyte memory module would require 16000 1meg chips. (and that's presuming no parity or ECC!) I did some back-of-the-envelope design work, and concluded that the best design for a 2GB MacII memory module would be to camoflage it as a desk. The top of the desk would hold the memory cards and there would be two pillars. One would be a cooling unit, the other would be the 16KiloWatt power supply. (now you know why I needed a cooling pillar)

    I called my (theoretical) creation the MemDesk. Never could find an investor to pay for the development, though.

    --
    OS Software is like love: The best way to make it grow is to give it away.
  81. Drink hazard? by Renraku · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A good rule I've learned with delicate electronics, through the actions of others while in high school. Always place the computer higher up than the drink is placed. That way, if the drink spills, it won't trickle down into the computer.

    --
    Job? I don't have time to get a job! Who will sit around and bitch about being broke and unemployed then?
    1. Re:Drink hazard? by Dread_ed · · Score: 1

      Good rule for powdered drug substances as well.

      No one likes to drink their cocaine, much less slurp it off the table. Tastes horrible and your whole mouth goes numb! Plus you have to kill the guy who spilled the drink and burying the body when your mouth is numb is quite inconvenient. If you get dirt in your mouth while shoveling out the shallow grave you can't feel it and it is hard as hell to spit it out...yada-yada-yada...

      It is completely impossible to say anything intelligent or enlightening in a space this size, excep

      --
      When the only tool you have is a claw hammer every problem starts to look like the back of someone's skull.
  82. Easy. by CrystalFalcon · · Score: 2

    Where's the stress relief when the damn thing Blue Screens?

    Easy. You just pull out a drawer, throw down your entire desk in there in rage (including non-empty coffee mugs and cola cans), kick the drawer shut hard and go to lunch.

  83. hah, his cooling sucks! by Skal+Tura · · Score: 1

    His cooling simply sucks! althou it is quiet BUT, i have Athlon XP 1800+ overclocked to 1629Mhz (original 1533Mhz), with an oold Swiftech heatsink (all aluminum and smooth 'sticks'), and CPU temp under full load is 42-44C, idle is 33-34C, yes, my puter keeps a loud noise, but not too loud to sleep right by it, i keep it on 24/7. (my puter is in my bedroom.). and on 100% CPU load 24/7.

    I have no special mods, no ducts, etc... and i can easily sleep next to it still =)

    Althou, thats a very nice mod but we've seen similar mods before, not finished this fine before but anyways, check finnish modding sites and i should bump into couple similar systems. I really like the finishing and how it fits his desk tho ^_^ Very nice =) (Like well done work just about allways=)

    1. Re:hah, his cooling sucks! by chaboud · · Score: 1

      It might be a waste to respond, but CPU temperature readings should always be treated as locally relative. I have seen variances of as much as 8C between two identical motherboards in an otherwise identical system (pull one board, try the other).

      Honestly, you might be able to live with the noise, but some can't (i.e. audio recording computer). When a sandwiched and suspended Barracuda IV with maximum acoustic management is the loudest thing in your computer, you can get on this guy about running his processor too hot.

  84. just an idea... by i+chose+quality · · Score: 2, Insightful

    looks nice, indeed.

    but there is one thing i would have done different.

    why lose any place on the desk to a monitor/display or even a mouse? why not just build a nice 19" touch-sensitive tft display into the deskplate? that would be 1337... :)

    the ones we use at work are bare (as in "no case") and feature a ruggedized frontpane. they are for industrial purposes and can handle a lot more then spilled coffee/NaCl/body fluids. ;)

    maybe i'll try it out.

    --
    the computer is online
    i am not at it
    what a waste of ressources
  85. Great until it decides not to listen.... by soupforare · · Score: 1

    "I've nearly reached my decision gate and I can not spare you any more time."
    " * END OF LINE * "

    --
    --- Do you believe in the day?
  86. obligatory joke by twitter · · Score: 2
    Users of these PCs can't dropkick the units or throw them out the window like regular PC users can.

    Where's the stress relief when the damn thing Blue Screens?

    Don't throw your desk out the window, throw Windows out of your desk.

    The desk computer is the future of the computer. Imagine a screen big enough to be the suface of the desk with handwriting recongition everywere. Forms would be forms again, drawings could be ARC C size again and the paper mill would cry. Virtual desktop window managers would reduce the size of desk actually needed and still make for good project seperation and place keeping. You could still have your mechanical keyboard, and perhaps a small vertical screen for special purposes, but most people will end up not needing them. Displays will get cheap enough for this, it's just a matter of having software flexible enough to fit it. Free software obviously has the advantage.

    --

    Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.

  87. Convenient mirror.... by Jouster · · Score: 5, Informative

    Go grab this file.

    Unzip, preserving folder names, and enjoy.

    Jouster

    1. Re:Convenient mirror.... by Rick+the+Red · · Score: 2

      "Offtopic"? Are you nuts? Thanks, Jouster -- great job preserving the site for the rest of us to see it!

      --
      If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
  88. Re:windows+particleboarddesk=YUCK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Two things(of several) that I have stopped
    using due to their inferior quality:
    1)windows
    2)any furnature constructed from particle board

    I was prepared for something pretty neat, but
    this is not it. I've got a cool antique art deco
    desk (kinda like a rolltop but not) with a
    small pizza box sparc station 20 running debian,
    w/24 bit framebuffer. Its not gonna run 3D
    games but for something off of the kitchen it
    looks less out of place than this monstrosity.

    The only thing remotely cool is the cpu
    heatsink(and ducting) and the flatscreens.
    The deskcreator is only responsible for
    the ducting right so....

  89. it's a shame by radish · · Score: 1


    He picked such an ugly desk to start with!

    --

    ---- Den ene knappen er powerknapp, den andre er Bender voice knapp "Bite My Shiny Metal Ass"

  90. Whats next....? by McFly69 · · Score: 1

    Whats the next thing we should expect to see... a Ergonomical Disk Array Chair? Hmmm I wonder if my big ass will affect its RAID capabilities.

    --



    NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
  91. if I were going to put a computer into a desk... by splateagle · · Score: 1

    ... I'd make it a desk that wasn't, (um, how can I put this?) hideous.

    As it is you've got a bug ugly desk that you can't even cover with shiney bits of hardware, because they're all built in.

    shame really 'cus the idea's kinda cool

  92. Put the monitor in the desktop. by ColonBlow · · Score: 1

    Then all you do is turn on text-to-speech and have everything end with "End of line."

    --
    free online diet tracking.
  93. quiet computer is good for MUSIC recording by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Anyone who uses their computer for doing
    sound recording would want a machine that
    doesn't whine , with fans, etc.

    This means battery power, no fans.

    as far as a the desk burning. . .
    who says that every desk is made of wood.

    Imagine a desk with microtubes in it, made of
    metal to draw the heat away from the mother board.
    Of course the mother board would be mounted in a way as to not short it out.
    No fan, no whine, clean sound recording. . .

    Sounds like an awesome idea.

    Or. . .

    Put the PC in another room and have long cables.

    That way there is no sound in the place where you are doing the recording.

  94. What would the MPAA/RIAA by siskbc · · Score: 1

    What would the MPAA/RIAA say in response to an email like that, I wonder.

    What, is that kind of like "What would Brian Boitano do?"

    ...Best...SouthPark....ever...

    --

    -Looking for a job as a materials chemist or multivariat

  95. Good idea, couple of problems w/ proposed solution by strick · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is an excellent idea. The main two problems I see with actual implementation are:

    1. Accountability. Most sites will want to know how much traffic their mirrored site is getting. Surely the geniuses at Slashdot could provide a mechanism for the sites to get this data. Perhaps the old pixel gif trick would apply here, the mirrored site could simply deliver a 1x1 gif from a server with logging turned on:
    mirroredsite.com/slash/pixel.gif?story=coolde sk&pg =1
    mirroredsite.com/slash/pixel.gif?story=cooldes k&pg =2 ... and so on ....

    Just parse the results with grep, a script, load into DB, whatever. (I used to work in engineering at DoubleClick so I'm aware of all the fun you can have with pixel gifs :-)

    2. advertising. Most third party advertising is handled via a couple lines of html pulling from someone else's server anyway, so you probably just need to include this html intact or maybe provide some simple functionality to plug in random numbers for cache busting--either server-side or w/javascript.

    Voila, slash serves the html w/embedded img src tags to pull pixel gifs from mirrored site, advertising from whererever. Slash can either host the bandwidth-intensive images/media themselves, or go with someone like Akamai if they aren't interested in this nightmare (I wouldn't be).

    Some kinks to be worked out, admittedly, but this could work.

  96. CDC-160A, anyone? by dpbsmith · · Score: 2

    This fine 1962-vintage baby sported a high-speed paper-tape punch that arose straight out of the desktop through a trapdoor.

    For only $60,000 you got a full 8K of memory--and that's 8K WORDS, not bytes, folks--and a blazingly fast 0.00016 GHz clock.

    The console had a numeric display that actually projected numeric octal digits onto a groundglass.

    They were often used in conjunction with CDC-1604 computers, but were fully capable computers in their own right.

    Plus, they were fully functional desks.

  97. Back in the old days... by pmancini · · Score: 2

    Back in the old days, when none of you young whipper snappers were around, PRINTERS were so darn noisy we had to build entire foam padded cases for them with plexiglass lift shields and slotted access to paper supply below. Oh, and if the noise didn't get you the CHAD would. No, Starfish, I am not talking about Tom Green's character in Charlie's Angels. Chad is this paper waste you got from printing on paper. Back then, paper had tracks built into it so that cogged wheels could push it throught to the print head (which consisted of a matrix of ink dipped needles.) You then had to remove this stuff by hand and hope you didn't tear up your page (which took you several minutes to print out on slower dot matrix printers.) How many decibiles is this guy complaining about? Flibbidy Flue! Jet engine noise was comparable to an old printer capable of printing on 8 part form! Let's see you try that with your gosh darn quiet laser jet thingamabobs!

    --Grumpy

    1. Re:Back in the old days... by walkerk77 · · Score: 1

      Chad - wasn't that the stuff that resulted from keypunching Hollerith cards? The stuff on the edges of the printout we called "perfory".

    2. Re:Back in the old days... by i+chose+quality · · Score: 1

      do you really think that there are no needle printers around anymore? well, at my workplace we still use them and sell ca. 100-200 pc./month!

      let's talk about "impact printer" and "carbon copy" and even "tco"... :)

      and yes: they are damn loud!

      --
      the computer is online
      i am not at it
      what a waste of ressources
  98. cable length by ucblockhead · · Score: 2

    Unfortunately, limits on cable length prevent you from doing really cool things, like putting the DVD drive and CD burner on a rack conveniently mounted on top of the desk while the motherboard sits down, out of the way near the bottom.

    --
    The cake is a pie
    1. Re:cable length by Pontiac · · Score: 1

      Just use SCSI drives, an external box and a 1m cable.. no big deal..

      Hell I think I have the parts in the garage to do it right now! hmm I just might..

      --
      If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur. --Red Adair
    2. Re:cable length by t-maxx+cowboy · · Score: 1

      This is where SCSI controllers, and SCSI CD Burners and SCSI DVD drives come in handy. I suppose nowadays there is Firewire and USB 2.0 devices too.

      --
      Regards,

      Ryan Pritchard
      Fun Extends All Basic Life Expectancies
  99. And here I thought.... by DivideByZero · · Score: 1

    ...pinfeed cruft was called chaff (As in agri waste) and punched card/tape litter was called chad.

    At least that's what we called it when we wrote up the report about that fire in the datacenter... :)

  100. What about IDE? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Doesn't IDE limit you to 36 inches? I know thats alot, but if you want drawers for components, then you might start testing that.

  101. Not entirely a new idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Calling Mr. Vannevar Bush... calling Mr. Vannevar Bush... Your Memex is ready....

  102. Forklift Upgrades finally hit the office by zrk · · Score: 2

    insert commentary here.

  103. Re:Nothing new, and it wasn't very brilliant befor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Or their garter belt straps...

  104. I've done this since 1995 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've been building my office PC into my desk since 1995.. the first one was a pentium 133 computer.. now my office computer is an athlon 1.4ghz T=bird.. the only change I've had to make to the desk case itself is the backboard for the motherboard and the PSU when everyone went ATX. The drives are accessible through a plate in the bottom of the keyboard drawer, and the computer itself is sitting flat in a wide desk drawer to the right.

  105. anti-theft device? by luphus · · Score: 1

    Probably better than using one of those security cables...

    nwp

  106. now about those LCD screens by Mystical+Presence · · Score: 1

    if you could embed the monitors into the desktop itself and make them touch screen's you'd have the desk from Tron. Always wanted one of those.

    Also thought about embedding a PC in wall between the wall joists but then your limited to where you put the desk.

  107. It's not all giggles and bubbles by DougJohnson · · Score: 1
    There's already a real problem with the length of time it takes light to travel along those cables we call IDE or SCSI. If you double the length, you double the latency.

    So although it's super cool, and a neat thing to have, it's usefulness is somewhat diminished for high I/O intensive apps (like databases/graphics... blah blah blah)

  108. How about a computer in a file cabinet? by StillTrekkin · · Score: 1

    How about a computer in a file cabinet? http://www.tweakhound.com/bp.htm

  109. Speaking of which by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    can anyone find the link for the guy who built his PC behind a wall (more like a closet)? the cd-rom drive was accessed via a slot cut in the drywall.

  110. I am Jack's ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am Jack's DDoS. I can disable your web server in a matter of seconds.

  111. Re:the future of computing - HOT Desking! by Solo-Malee · · Score: 1

    Hey, any of you have 'Hot desking' policies at work. You know spare offices, all set out with PC, Desk and notepad and paper. We call them Hot desks...now we can have really HOT desks!

    --
    "If it's lost, it'll turn up. Things always do" "I love it when a plan comes together"
  112. Last Post! by alpg · · Score: 1

    Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this
    big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around --
    nobody big, I mean -- except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy
    cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go
    over the cliff -- I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're
    going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I'd do
    all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye. I know it; I know it's crazy,
    but that's the only thing I'd really like to be. I know it's crazy.
    -- J.D. Salinger, "Catcher in the Rye"

    - this post brought to you by the Automated Last Post Generator...