Slashdot Mirror
Beautiful Case Modding
Miles S.F. writes "Thought you guys might appreciate this little project I've been working on.
This is what happens when the left and right brain get bored and start talking with each other." Excellent case mods, entertaining reading, good ideas, and a solid site design. Worth a read if only to see the case modded to include a furby.
What's the advantage of having to click your case to get at the power supply?
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
I'm sorry to disagree with the modder, but to WAKE a furby you shake it. To make it COO, you turn it upside down. The fact that I know this is quite sad.
"This isn't a study in computer science, its a study in human behavior"
Case modding is slowly becoming more mainstream. While trawling the TV at an ungodly hour last week, I saw an ad for a PC ("Tomorrows technology today" was the catchline, which was funny, given the fact they were using an old ATI Radeon in it...). The side of the case was carved out, had plexiglass fitted, and had neon lights inside. WAY cool looking machine.
I think case modding is rapidly becoming to computers what hot rodding is to cars. More and more people are customising their systems to add some individuality, which is hardly surprising given the prevalence of beige...
I am now boycotting www.designmethod.com.
Apparently I am too, since the site is slashdotted.
Just a comment, most of you case modder types keep refering to that handy clear plastic you use as Lexan... most of the times I've seen the plastic wrap still on it in your photos, it's not Lexan, it's Lucite. These are not the same, Lexan is a tradename for polycarbonate, Lucite is a trade name for acrylic. Acrylic is much, much, much less tough than Lexan (or Hyzod, or Tuffak, or other trade names for polycarbonate), but also a lot cheaper... for case modding purposes, it's fine, but don't get the two confused if you're counting on the impact resistance of Lexan and you put in Lucite...
right now i'm working on building a custom little case small enough to fit underneath the passenger seat of my car, an lcd monitor, a mini keyboard, and i can watch divx on the road, which, in all reality, would be an improvement over my normal driving ability!
--fetch daddy's blue fright wig, i must be handsome when i release my rage
> Thought you guys might appreciate this little project I've been working on
is he ASKING to be slashdotted? what is he, insane?
"Be sure to wet the towel first as they tend to catch fire rather easily"
Was this something you found out from personal experience or just an old case modder's maxim that you're repeating for the sake of posterity?
> This is what happens when the left and right brain get bored and start talking with each other.
No, schizophrenia is what happens when the left and right brain get bored and start talking with each other.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I posted a mirror here.
A cool site (All that flash stuff will just increase the
Cogito ergo sum in Slashdot.
I've heard that in the sequel, Vin Diesel hooks a supercharger up to his case fan on his laptop.
evil adrian
18" inch wheels: $1600
ridiculously high functionless wing: $1000
noisy coffee can like tail pipe: $500
mp3 player that resembles furby and takes up the entire back seat: $1200
Knowing you're the liberace of side show circuit with your 115 hp honda civic: Priceless
He spends all that time modding multiple cases and a monitor, and there are no Legos in sight! A truly sweet case mod without Legos is like a peanut butter sandwich without jelly.
Seriously, why does every case design done like this have to have a window and neon? I mean seriously guys, it has been done.
How about a wood case? How about a leather clad case to match your wife's purse? How about a faux fur case? How about a carpet case to match your floor? How about a Shoji-Screen type case? How about a pyramid case? A dice-colored case?
Or how about a case that doesn't slowly cook their users by emitting massive unshielded electromagnetic radiation?
Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
The world is neither black nor white nor good nor evil, only many shades of CowboyNeal.
I think I've discovered two constants in the universe.
1) Slashdot will post just about any case mod "story" that gets submitted.
2) People who submit case-mod "stories", even with the knowledge of what the Slashdot Effect is, will gladly let their web-server burst into flames just so people can see what shaky-handed work they did with a Dremel tool and a piece of aluminum.
Wake up: the web is about communication. If you conform to open standards, you aid communication, because it means that anyone can reach you. HTML, PNG, etc., all conform to standards (such as those produced by the W3C and IETF). Gratuitous use of non-standard formats is worth complaining about, because when enough complaints get made, the websites either stop using the nonstandard format, or convince enough people to create a standard for it.
- David A. Wheeler (see my Secure Programming HOWTO)
If all this should have a reason, we would be the last to know.
It might be worth waiting until the website repairs their site into something standards-conforming. HTML + PNG preferred.
Actually he probably should convert all the images to ASCII so that someone with Lynx can see it. Common, the site isnt Broken cuz its flash. If you dont have falsh installed your missing alot of funny and interesting stuff on the web.
"All I can tell the "lesser of two evils" folks is that if they keep voting for evil, they'll keep getting evil."-Lp.org
The side-window mod is so mainstream now that it can only laughingly be referred to as "hot-rodding". Several suppliers now build cases with those nice, EF-emitting windows standard. If you're going to be cutting into your case, you could have at least put a little design into it. Hell, a checkerboard pattern of lucite/metal would have been more interesting.
And on the subject of design: your front page would be a hell of a lot better if you did it in HTML. It's a static page -- nothing's moving around, no music (not that this is a bad thing). You could design a page in HTML with images that looks exactly the same, would be smaller, faster to load, and viewable by those without the Flash plugin. You don't need a forklift when you can just use your hands.
In the V3 mod, I really like the CD-ROM modification. I've seen many case mods, but I haven't seen this before.
Basically the CD-ROM runs open, painted nicely, and under a plexiglass opening in the top. You can watch the disc spin. Very nice, something I will keep in mind if/when I get around to doing a case mod.
I also like the heavy use of those $6 rope-lights. Much cheaper/more flexible than neon, though they do get warm (I have one, it's like 35 watts and runs on house current)...
NGWave - Fast Sound Editor for Windows
Um, Isn't it a little dangerous to take the cover off of your power supply? I've never tried it myself, but I've always heard that it was bad. I guess it's only dangerous if you touch it though. Good thing he put that handy little finger hole for the kids right in front of it.
What have you done to Stephen Hawking?
Noooo!!!!!!
The most impressive thing is what he did to his monitor
Except the fact that it now has like NO ventilation. Well very little anyway.
taking apart a monitor can be deadly. There's still a fair amount of voltage in monitors.
They should not really be mucked about with by case modders unless they carry lots of life insurance and don't care about getting electrocuted.
If you're going for the "Young Einstein" look, then maybe modding monitor cases could be a lucrative career option for you, but for everyone else? Well, the what-should-be-obvious applies:WARNING! HIGH VOLTAGE!
That is soooo wrong!
And a lil PS to all the whiny bitches complainin' bout the site. Boo freakin hoo, cry me a river. Flash may suck, but so did Java, and that didn't stop everyone from mounting it like a rabid dog, eh? Stop yer complainin' and enjoy some resonably-decent mods, wouldya?
If I knew the wedgies I gave you back in 6th grade would have resulted in this . . . I might have taken a moments pause.
I got into modding a few months ago and even got my wife tricking out her box.
Erm... Dare I even remark on the last half of that statement?
Look at "Version 4," the tenth picture. The one talking about how he fit the Dell power supply into the HP case.
How did he do it? He removed the cover to the power supply and mounted it flush to the bottom of the case. That power supply is nekkid in the case. This is going to be his KIDS GAMING COMPUTER. The plexi cover is hinged so that, presumably, the kids can fix the interior components themselves.
Holy $#!^, this is a BAD THING. Kids will be kids, they haven't had basic electrical engineering yet. Opening up a power supply is *always* a bad idea, there are capacitors in there that'll take a dangerously indefinite "while" to discharge when the system is unplugged. I can't stress enough that a naked power supply is a high-amperage electric shock waiting to happen.
Miles, dude, if you're reading this, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT POWER SUPPLY!
"I am an Adept of Tantric VAX."
seriously - check out www.mini-itx.com for some greate case mods. they use the low power, how heat via mini-itx motherboards and look perfect for interesting case mod projects. not high power work stations, but just right for pretty media boxes or advanced routeres, even a nice quiet workstation.
No, I'm not going to "just install flash"
The major reason to not install it: How the hell do you make it go away? Why can't I disable it, or get a pop-up "Would you like ot view the Flash content on this webpage?" After installing Flash, I see lots of stupid ads that never bugged me before.
Flash was cool like five years ago when gabocorp.com was making us cream our jeans. Now it's basically a glorified pop-up ad, and I don't have the patience any longer.
I haven't felt the need to shoot my box since canning WinME in favor of RH7.3.... Bye Bye Lexan...
There is a way to turn it on and off at will via shortcuts (in win200), it works well.
I made the same comlaint a wile back, and someone told me how. Unfortunatly, since /.'s search engine leave much to be desired. I can't find the origonal post on how to do it. Hopefully someone will post it again.
But seriously, I think Slashdot submitters should make sure the linked information is on the web. Flash doesn't count.
A tip for Mozilla users:
-- or wherever your plugin directory is. It works with other Mozilla-based browsers such as Phoenix and Galeon. It stops the browser asking if you want to get Flash every time you load a page with a flash file on it. You will get just one more annoying pop-up, on which you can tell it to stop bothering you about plugins.
You can use a special separate instance of Mozilla for when you want to use plugins. It's much less trouble than dealing with them all the time when you're just trying to browse the web.
think about it, on his resume he can put:
"wrote flash program viewed by over 100,000 people!"
and
"/. did a story that used my flash skills"
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
well lets see... ~300k or so for 15+ pictures including thumbnails, and you get them all at once with no server CPU time other than transferring the file.
/. effect. instead of download 10k thumbnail (server request), click (server request), view 90k image, close, repeat 15 times, you click once, download 300k (1 server request total) and you're done.
i think flash probably REDUCED the
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
This Guy!
Opening up your monitor should always come with some sort of DEATH IS EMMINANT warning. And running your power supply with the cover off? What the? Especially with little kids around, sheesh.
On a more intelligent note, does anyone have any background or experience with removing the shielding on cases? I remember visiting an engineering firm where they field tested new electronic devices to see if they met FCC requirements for emissions - they noted that they have tested computer equipment and cases before, although they mainly stick to car radios and whatnot, and that they have rejected many test subjects. Most case mods involve some sort of window that I would tend to think would cause interference with adjacent electronic devices. Any thoughts on this, or anyone know of problems setting modded cases next to your monitor/speakers/TV/entertainment equipment? Perhaps all the other devices' shielding is enough to protect it.
I'm not making any judgements, just making an observation.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
If you short large capacitors to ground, you are likely (At best) going to vaporize the screwdriver you attempted to do this with. Don't ask me how I know. Please use a proper capacitor discharge apparatus, and if you don't know how to build one or where to get one, then do not attempt this. Power supplies and monitors can carry lethal charges for days or weeks after they are unplugged.
..don't panic
No I never $av3 th8t pr0bl3m
dam6 keyb0ard 1t a1way5 d0e5 thi5. 1 can`7 f1gure 1t 0u7.
Just like a market sprang up to take advantage of idiot teenage kids by selling them coffee cans mufflers for $300 a piece, I'm sure an industry will also spring up to sell heatsinks engraved with Wozniak's autograph and licked by Torvalds' pet goat for $500 a pop.
No wait, how many of these teeny bopper leet-freaks even know who Woz is?
At least you're not a Lynx user:
"I'd like to see that case mod, but, man, that guy's using images..."
- A.P.
"Remember when the U.S. had a drug problem, and then we declared a War On Drugs, and now you can't buy drugs anymore?"
Disable: %windir%\SYSTEM32\regsvr32.exe C:\WinNT\System32\Macromed\Flash\swflash.ocx /u
Enable: %windir%\SYSTEM32\regsvr32.exe C:\WinNT\System32\Macromed\Flash\swflash.ocx
That's what I have for my shorcuts, you may have to change the path a bit for your box.