Ant Farm PC

secolactico writes "This has got to be the coolest case mod I've come across. An ant farm in your PC case. Too bad there are no pics of the case actually on a working PC. It'd be interesting to observe the effect that the temperature and vibration of an operating PC would have on the ants."

Comments

simpons mental picture

[adamruck]

why does simpsons come to mind?

Im picturing homer in space when the ants get loose in the space ship.

Re:simpons mental picture

[shogun]

I for one will welcome our new insect overlords.

Too bad it's only a case-mod

[eric434]

Any other Terry Pratchett fans around here reminded of Hex, the ant-powered computer (of Unseen University)?

Now, THAT would be cool. To overclock, just add caffeine to the water supply :-)

My computer has enough bugs...

[Anonymous Coward]

*groan*

Idea for an experiment!

[qewl]

Let's fill up the case with internal strobe lights and other various case mod lights and see if ants can have seizures!

Re:Idea for an experiment!

[Zork the Almighty]

Why not get a hamster, on a wheel, powering the computer ? Oh wait, I use an AMD... and 400 hamsters dying of heat exposure would not be nice.

snake pc mod

[Anonymous Coward]

http://forum.kingsnake.com/whats/messages/6849.htm l

They showed a working one...

[grishnav]

I happened to catch the episode where they showed this thing... Yes it works, no the heat/vibrations didn't kill the ants. It was a pretty cool mod.

idea

[adamruck]

s/ants/fish/

then you have a cool case

Re:idea

[TrumpetPower!]

s/ants/fish/

then you have a cool case

No...then you have chowder.

Cheers,

b&

I preferred these

[shut_up_man]

Stained glass case mod (by a hemophiliac too, that's just crazy)
Fish tank case mod (with genuine Neon Tetras)

Re:I preferred these

[ncc74656]

There's no mention of a water filter on the page, and with a tank under 2 gallons, ammonia is going to build up from fish waste very quickly.

In this picture, you can see that there's a small fishbowl-type filter in the tank. I'm not sure how effective they really are (I use an undergravel filter in a 10-gallon tank at work and a hang-on-the-back type of filter on a 55-gallon tank at home), but it appears there was at least some thought put into keeping it livable.

That said, $720 to put what can't be more than a 2-gallon aquarium inside a computer is a bit ridiculous. You can set up a 10-gallon tank (much more room for the fishes) for somewhere around $50, and you'll get better visibility and no chance that a leak will toast your computer. (Besides, my dual-Athlon machines run too hot anyway...fish stew, anyone? :-) )

Sim Ants

[AmVidia HQ]

... 2003

Live action expansion pack (tm)

nah...

[romco]

I'm waiting for the "sea monkey" case

Ants?

[Cyno01]

This may not be the best idea, i was watching something on the discovery channel the other day about fire ants. It was talking about all the damage they've caused across the south because they're atracted to electrical fields. They short out computers, traffic lights, appliances, and make hell for the linemen because they ussually nest under high voltage lines. They had a bunch on a live pc board, and they just swarmed over certain components, the ones i'm assuming that had strong em fields. This may be just fire ants though, i have no idea.

Hammerhead Sharks & Electric Fields

[handy_vandal]

Hammerhead sharks can detect subtle electric fields -- the "hammers" are actually sensor arrays, which the sharks use to find the bioelectric signature of prey animals buried in the mud. The sharks also follow geo-electric paths to feeding grounds.

And to think

[Perdition]

people said that Linux wasn't ready for your ants and uncles...

Re:If this was *BSD the ants would do all the work

[scubacuda]

And if they were SCO ants, they'd kill the Linux ants, only to be eventually eaten by the Windows ants.

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Ants are attracted to electricity

[Stonent1]

Ask any air conditioner repairman. The ants get stuck inside the relays and cause the relay to fail. Sometimes they eat the insulation of the wiring, cause it to short and trip the breaker. So don't be suprised if your power supply starts smoking one day.

Re:Finally!

[FireballFreddy]

C'mon now, no more making fun of Windows for being buggy. That's like making fun of a retarded kid wearing a crash helmet. Sure, it's worth a laugh, but the laugh isn't socially acceptable. Keep it on the inside.

Re:More details?

[petecarlson]

"your local bookshop" had around 3,000 hits but it didn't help.

Incompatibility

[Throatwarbler Mangro]

What Kevin failed to mention in his notes is a major flaw in this system...

It's incompatible with RAID arrays.

Yes, I'm ashamed of myself for that one :)

Keep that Anole!

[interactive_civilian]

I lived in FL for 5 years (4 years of university and then one year of work in Melbourne). All I can say is that the anoles (and any geckos that you may have around the house) are a blessing in the war on fire ants and other insect life.

My room had a door to the outside, so I would leave it open to let the anoles in and probably had a good 4 or 5 living in my room at any given time. Since they were there, the ants were not (nor were the cockroaches/palmetto bugs). They took good care of me and they stayed away from the photography chemicals (my room doubled as a darkroom...guess they didn't like the smell...this was another reason why I would leave my door open).

However, sometimes they did there job a little too well. Though I would rarely find any insect life in my room, there were the sad occasions when I would find a dead and mummified anole when cleaning. :-(

Never found one in my computer case though. I wonder what attracted one to yours (heat? electric field? curiosity?)

Anyway, in the war on bugs (hehe), natures defense turned out to be the best defense in my experience. Especially the geckos. If you have an insect problem and can effectively seal off your house/apartment/room, catch or buy a gecko and set it loose in there. Don't forget to catch it after a few days, because it will probably eat everything and you need to keep it from starving. Then you can either set it free, or keep it in an aquarium and feed it crickets and stuff until you need it to be out and around again.

At least, these were my experiences. YMMV.