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"Y2k Bug", and Others Proves PCs Can Be Art
the_raptor pointed us to a pretty impressive case mod called the y2k bug. In addition, the site features
several other cases
that will job your jaw. Besides inspiration, the site features practical advice, like why not to window mod hard drives.
until this bug gets squashed by the /. effect?
that will job your jaw.
At least one part of me will be employeed.
The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
Still its only another case mod
like why not to window mod hard drives.
Reminds me of a funny story. I once worked in support, and a woman had the hard drive on her machine crash. She wanted to send it off for recovery, but it was gonna cost like $500. She was a manager and didn't want to spend the beans. So she told one of my co-workers that she "knows a guy" that said he could do it. He asked her if the "guy" happened to have a level 1 clean room in his basement. She sort of stared back blankly.
Not surprisingly, "the guy" wasn't able to help her out... and fuX0red the drive in the process.
Opening up the hard drive to put a window on it. Now that's one way to guarantee failure!
I'm glad I don't have something this nice. I'd feel so bad every time I kicked it across the room.
At least it'd probably get better distance than normal, what with wings and all.
No trespassing. Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.
Besides inspiration, the site features practical advice, like why not to link to a site without asking them first. ;-)
have you been seen on slash?
indexhere...
y2k casemod here...
"practical advice, like why not to window mod hard drives."
I can think of a good reason not to window mod your hard drive, lest one not know what RMA stands for... Besides, why risk lessening the life of a drive by breaking the clean room sealed environment? The link was /.ed before I could peep it but I'm a little disturbed that window modding a hard drive and practical advice are in the same sentence here... I'll stick to modding things without 105 million transistor microchips, things that don't have parts that rotate at over thrice my truck's redline, and things that don't convert 550 watts of power.
I liked 3 a lot, but I would prefer 52
This
Apparently he picked the Dung beetle to use as his inspiration...
Who are you? The new #2 Who is #1? You are #617565. I am not a number, I am a free man! Muhahaha.
It's pretty sad that you think Slashdot only posts "newsworthy" items.
This is the same level of advice as "how to use a toothpick", "How to eat a burger", etc.
Don't open up a clean-room piece of precision hardware. It's stupid.
Sheesh.
Simon
Physicists get Hadrons!
I know that they don't, I just want them to.
Until Slashdot fixes the funny modifier, use insightful or interesting. The poster knows your intentions.
The cool case gallery is also a good site for impressive cases. To see some sweet ones do a search and just set the rating high. My all time favorite has got to be the Hellraiser case that's modeled after the puzzle box from the Hellraiser movies
Just reading the site, minding my own, and then WAM! Cannot connect to server, check /., yep, it's the top story... Grrr...
A nice case mod show-off site that I Googled into when looking for information on hobbyist usage of acrylic and other plastics for robot parts:
http://www.pimprig.com/
Some of these folks are pretty professional about it, they have some useful tips, and lots of photos.
The MAJORITY of data at data recovery firms is done with simple DOS based utilities like those from here:
www.grc.com
Yell & scream & rant & rave... it's no use... you need a shaaaave ~ Bugs Bunny
mashie.org...
We apologise for the fault in this post. Those responsible have been sacked. -- Signed RICHARD M. NIXON
The old radio case mod? The centre piece is a spectrum analyser. And pretty cool, IMO.
It reminds me of the spaceship drawn on the cover of Journey albums.
This isn't offtopic, it's on the topic of this story. This story sucks, it doesn't need to be on the site, let alone the main page. I'm not talking about another story, I'm talking about this one.
It's too bad that they won't allow people to see who moderates a particular post. I'd really like to find out who these jackass karma whores are.
Until Slashdot fixes the funny modifier, use insightful or interesting. The poster knows your intentions.
they can be a part of the fashion cycle.
In 10 years when there's no such thing as an ugly beige case, someone will start selling marked-up ugly beige cases calling them "retro".
-... ---
is another man's waste of time. Frankly, i find case modding to be a waste of time. Oooh, look, i can put neon lights and a clear window in my case, im so l33t. Please. case modders are the computer equivalent of rice boys.
That said, i think that what this guy does are so far from your average case mod, that the light from case mod will take one million years to reach them.
This guy is doing what apple does, desigining and fabircating a very very good, premium case that looks effing amazing. Is it "art"? eh, maybe. it certainley looks like sculpture. But i dont think this can be anyway contrued as just a case mod.
Look out honey cause I'm usin' technology
Ain't got time to make no apologies
Alright, so that's a bit tongue in cheek but there is a point here - mainstream computing doesn't have to be ugly. I'm the owner of a Powerbook 12" and it's pretty sleek. On the PC side, I run a Shuttle small form factor, so that too looks pretty nice. Even the co-lo server I run looks nice, as it is a Raq4.
It is possible to get decent looking kit and leave the beige boxes behind, without having to go to the lengths presented on that site. It's just a question of whether it matters enough to you. For me, it does.
Cheers,
Ian
Yes, I just read through the entire article on that radio case mod. Each page took longer and longer to load, after the third page or so, I could tell it wasnt going to last, I pulled up every page in new tabs at once hehe.
Its a really cool case. He bought an old bakelite radio case from the 1940s, polished it up, and built a computer inside. Has a red, inverted LCD at the top, behind a plastic sheet from a candy box, that is transparent enough you can only see the LCD when its on. Interesting idea. He bought a spectrum analyser kit, and instead of mounting the LEDs on the circuit boards, he soldered them all to a bunch of wires, and encased the whole thing in clear plastic resin.
Sure beats my idea of putting together a HTPC in an old VCR case...
/usr/games/fortune
way to void your warranty and shorten the drive life....
I feel the same way. I hate the "cut a window in the side, stick in neons" case mods, especially since EVERYONE is doing it now. It was fine when it was the one kid at the lan party that had the window, now you go to a lan party and its like "Dude! Awesome computer! When are you putting in a window and neons?" "Im not." "Dude, you HAVE to! It would be SO AWESOME!" "uh..."
These mods are original. Not everyone might like some of them, but at least they are different. I especially like the 1940s radio HTPC case.
/usr/games/fortune
Has anyone who's done one of these case mods ever gotten laid?
I doubt it, but best of luck.
I mean really, look at how ugly it is.
-----
This exact comment has already been posted. Try to be more original...
I mean really, look at how ugly it is.
I'm pointing to the second page as it has the first pictures of the case on it. The quality of the work and the attention to detail is just fantastic. This is custom modding at its finest, not just slapping some lights in a case. http://www.bit-tech.net/article/114/2
development.lombardi.com
For idle times, the wings should be low; at full capacity, the wings should be highest. Maybe if you over clock it, the wings flap. :)
~afniv
"Man könnte froh sein, wenn die Luft so rein wäre wie das Bier"
Richard von Weizs
Forget about a bug in the system, this one's got a system in the bug!
"Accept that some days you are the pigeon, and some days you are the statue." - David Brent, Wernham Hogg
There can only be one true Y2K Bug (even with many incarnations).
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
That and you can sometimes fix a drive that's gone totally south by finding the same model and swapping the controller board (drive electronics).
Slashdot is proof that Sturgeon's Law applies to mankind.
Is this really a story? Okay people, here it is in a nutshell: Build something cool. Hollow it out. Shove in a few mini-itx components. Boom, you've got yourself a cool looking computer. But who cares? If you manage to run Linux on a toothbrush, then yes, I'm impressed. But if you're going to build models of everything in the universe, shove in a computer, and call it a case mod.
Check out BlingMethod.
the radio is ok but :
Convertion of a 1996 Silicon Graphics O2 workstation to a gaming PC.
that's quite a stupid thing to do
With that aggravating beauty, Lulu Walls.
I find some of the new lights really annoying. Blue LEDS in particular cast a light that is just very bright but thoroughly unpleasant, kinda ghastly.
If I feel a need to "decorate", i find random and hopefully amusing stickers (not slogans) do a much more interesting job.
SO YOU'RE GOING TO DIE: The Comic for Dealing with Death
Wasn't it one of William Gibson's cyberpunk books where a character was running around with a custom laptop, where the case was made with wood, seashells and other all-organic materials? IIRC the maker did a small but good business with those sorts of things.
Companies like AlienWare are only scratching the surface of what kind of profits "custom hardware" can provide. There must be one or two low-profile shops in New York City or San Francisco that specialize custom jobs on hardware. If not, the first person to successfully market one to the rich geek elite has a killing to be made.
Seemed to me you were saying that you questioned the person's "repair guy" and made them feel like a dildo for using him. The reply stated a fact of the matter, not a rebuttal or offense
Respect to the lad for doing something original, but I personally think it is hideously ugly.
Oooh, look, i can put neon lights and a clear window in my case, im so l33t. Please. case modders are the computer equivalent of rice boys.
Yes and No.
if you slap a cheap ass wing on your car, neon, rollerskate wheels and a 3 inch exaust tip on your car is called customized then yes, it's the same as a poser-riceboy.
Now if you are the kind that make your own custom case or mod he hell out of one by creating your own front plate, building a vacu-forming jig to make a part or bowed out window, and or building the whole damned case from scratch....
Those people I am impressed with. they are engineers.
any moron can go buy things, a real engineer makes things completely on their own, things you CANT buy.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
A case is more than just a box holding your computer components in. Apple has known this for years. The compact G4 Cube was designed in such a way as to allow natural air convection to eliminate the need for a fan. The G5 is designed literally inside and out to maximize cooling through individual parts of the interior. Some components must be close together, others far apart, and at all times cooling must be kept in mind if you want it to run more than three days.
Cool cases look like regular cases with windows and neon. Cooler ones look like insects with glowing eyes. Really cool cases combine form and function, in the same way the best architecture does. Why not integrate a water-cooled case with a small Zen water bubbler outside? Or a super-slim case that can be mounted on the wall with an LCD monitor attached? Or a true "media PC" that looks, acts and works like just another stereo component? Or a kids' PC with rounded and rubberized edges and a color-changing chameleon skin?
These are the sort of mods that really show a person's skill -- both technically and artistically imaginative. You don't have to be as radical as the above suggestions to be a great case modder, but you should know that it takes more than neon and windows to make a case mod into art.
heh, this is pretty funny. Im sure it will be modded down.
Case modding is such a wonderful waste of time though! Do not forget that man who put neon lights in two Sun Fire 15K's. I'm engineering software for a startup company right now and we will also be building servers that ship with our software, and you had better believe that our boxes are gunna be eye shocking. After seening so many racks and racks of crap in so many server rooms, all I know is "I want it to be NEON! and Blink!" =D
I too got tired of /.'s nasty ass color schemes, and how every section looked different. I wrote a little bit of CSS that can go into your userContent.css file if you're using Mozilla, and will make everything look the same, and display in the colors of your choice.
I tried submitting the instructions as a story, but I guess they were offended when I talked about how to make Slashdot look decent. Oh well.
Instructions are at my journal.
Does anybody here see the resemblance of the case mod to one of the calamari-like sentinels from the Matrix triology?
;)
Now if you really want to impress me, make a case mod out of tiny little computers that comprise somebody's face
All kidding aside, this is a great mod, which really stands out against the bazillion other case mods which all look the same.
IGB: More fun than eating oatmeal!
That mod is the shit. No wait, it's not a mod--it's done from scratch. It's amateur industrial design!
I've dabbled a bit in this stuff (for work, not for play) and I have some small idea of the difficulty of this project. Hats off. Wow.
Well, it really isn't art, in the "fine art" sense, as it's really design. While design is often taught in the art department, art to design is a lot like math to engineering, IMO.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
Maybe I'm under or oversexed, but those does anybody else notice that the two glowing harddrives look like breasts?
I think, therefore I am an Atheist.
Now, when they say "why not to windows mod hard drives" Do they mean making a window mod on your case?
(I hate it when people call the case that holds the computer the "hard drive"!) Or, do they mean not to make a window mod to your actual 80 GB Hard disk?
Or do they mean not to install M$ Windows on your computer? I know any of the above could have certain negative affects...
I love NetHack.
My latest case is one I picked up at work. They were throwing out an old Compaq dual Pentium Proliant server with SCSI drives. I actually got it working, but decided I wanted the case for my computer. It is a big honkin' steel tower case. I figured it would be good for cooling (lots of room inside) and noise (heavy steel, not flimsy crap or aluminum). I took the SCSI drives out, but can use the drive cages for my IDE drives. When done, it should be a monster case, just shy of 3 ft tall and about 75 lbs. I think I'll put a picture of Calvin on there whizzing on a window-modded aluminum case. :-)
My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.
I'm looking, not seeing anything...
Read it. The guts weren't working anyway. Or they just weren't there.. one of the two.
My personal favourite is this one
Yeah, I got clobbered. First time I have ever made it down to -1. Maybe they thought the fake goatse.cx link was real. Heck, it's not even a link, just bolded type and [ ] brackets.
There are 01 kinds of cars in the world. The General Lee, and everything else.
What's so bad about having a window modded hard drive fail?
Well, there is that whole loss of data thing.
Yes, I know that one should have 15 backups of all their data, stored in seperate climate controlled locations, along with multiple hard drive images. But why do something that is going to have minimal positive effect (who cares what your hard drive looks like?) and is going to cost you time, money, and posibly data?
I have blog like everyone else
...On the magnitude of a sculptor or an architect.
/. effect, which can most be likened to a dandelion's experience when caught in a hurricane - points out that computers as art is as possbile as anything else, given the appropriate drive and determination on the behalf of the artist. Form *can* be melded to function in astounding ways, and can enhance and compliment each other in ways modders are just beginning to understand.
Having been an artist and computer enthusiast for many years, I've always wanted to try my hand at modding, but I've been unimpressed with the options available to me. While being very intrigued by the likes of Alienware and Falcon NorthWest, their gorgeous work still came off as clunky boxes with cool plastic doodads and pretty graphics on the outside. This site - which is sure to soon suffer the
My faith anewed, I shall soon seek to combine my interests in a way I'd previously thought impossible. If anything comes of this effort that I find worthy, I'll post a site about it and see if I can't get some of that hurricaney goodness myself. Thanks.
Sure Bill Gates' hair is fugly, but give his barber some credit! At least he managed to cover the horns on his forehead.
case modders are the computer equivalent of rice boys.
Yeah, except for two minor points:
1) Case modders don't ride "their $10k car with $8k worth of mods and a ear-splitting fart can" through your neighborhood, wishing that Ricing was a capital offense, and
2) There is a big difference between "ooh, I put in a light and clear window" and doing a real theme.
I built someone a custom red "Mustang" PC with a clearcoat paint job, red neon interior, logo decals, and customized OS theme. Everyone who comes over and sees it on his desk compliments the uniqueness/snazziness of the box. There is no derision deserved for people who invest time to do case mods like the bug; it's functional, it's unique, and it's art. And, by the way, it sits on their desk, so it's for their enjoyment, not yours.
If you have no imagination, that's YOUR problem.
actually, I've been considering modding a hd with a window and led.. would be an incredibly intense operation, since the slightest wrong move could mean a permanently corrupted disk, and I dont necessarily have dollar bills sprouting from my pocketbook
also want to get a translucent case mold for my mouse and replace it with a VERY bright blue led (so it'll work, if a blue led is too dim, your mouse will act funny, like not move..
so, yeah, I might mod my 486, since it's my "labrat" computer, my 386 serves as a doorstop btw. my 433 mhz machine, I'll mod that when I get a new machine, after modding that machine as well.. modding is fun, because it takes you away fron the typical bone white or jet black case with very little look, you at least want to make your computer not look like a cold sterile machine.
Shame you got modded down. You were just poking fun at all the tired old cliches. I found it amusing and it was good to get them out of the way in one hit.
I think some of these case mods are really nifty, and I've even ordered my new machine with a few glowing cables and other non-utilitarian visual stuff.
,and imagine the fun you will have when they show up at your door if you are jamming their system! Same if you show up on an operational military frequency!
But there is one concern when people are doing this: RF Interference. Modern computers generate a lot of radio frequency interference. If not properly contained (and any computer sold must meet FCC Part 15 emissions rules), that radiation can cause problems ranging from a nuisance to a hazard.
It can interfere with your AM radio, your FM radio, your TV, your satellite, MY HAM RADIO, etc. If it has a small amount of power on 121.5MHz, 243 MHz or 406 MHZ it can literally interfere with search and rescure, because the satellites that pick up emergency beacons are very sensitive (as those of us in Civil Air Patrol who track them down can testify - we have found computers interfering with SAR satellites in the past). It can interfere with police radio repeaters
So I would suggest that case modders keep all this in mind. The best approach for RFI would be to put the real computer in a conventional case (maybe a shuttle or other little bitty one) and then put the art on the outside.
In any case, if you find you can't listen to your favorite radio station any more, look around for a neighborhood kid with a case mod!
The only good weather is bad weather.
the metal casing of the drive helps bleed off the heat thats created by the platters. I imagine trying to window mod a 7200 and greater drive would have to take the heat into account as well.
At least until scotty comes and tells us how to build transparent aluminum, I don't see anyone getting a modern drive to work with a window for very long.
-
It's a pissing contest for the weak minded. The only people that are impressed by such things, are the others losers that have wasted an intense amount of time trying to 'accomplish' the same thing.
..
One thing for sure
ITS NOT FUCKING NEWS!!!!
Carbon Fibre in a PC case? WTF? Is it to absorb the impact of a crash? To save weight during acceleration?
Drill baby drill - on Mars
Okay, you brought it up, I have to ask.
What is your definition of "rice burner" and "rice boy."
Everyone I ever knew in New England defines a riceburner as a car with lots of stupid additions that do nothing for performance, like a 8 inch exhaust pipe and neon, and rice boys are the people you drive these angry-bumblebee-sounding cars. These are not to be confused with import tuners and their modded imports that could beat a Cobra in a drag race.
Then I moved to Texas, where "rice" = "Asian" and suddenly my Maxima became a riceburner(?!)
So, what's your definition? Don't make me bring up the koozie vs. cozy North vs. South arguement.
But back on topic, modding is just another form of art. Some people try to be "cool" (resulting in 1,000,001 window mods) and others try to express themselves and may result in something amazing. My modding honestly started by accident out of necessity (blue led fans cost the same as regular fans...), and now, like many of my computer projects, has gained a life of it's own...
It pains me to say it, but the only time I ever got inside Redmond I was impressed by the X shaped case for the X box prototype. I didn't have the nerve to stick Tux on the wall in the restroom. I failed.
Does it run ME?
--
E_NOSIG
Yeah, I look down upon the rice boys who take whatever car their mommy and daddy gave them and put rims on it and go home satisfied too. However, true modders, of cars or computers actually put a great deal of time into their creations, and I have respect for them. My case right now has the lighted fans and stuff, but thats just for fun, and I don't go around bragging how 1337 my case is. IMO, it is shitty, because I didn't put that much time or effort into making it look that way.
Talk about choosing the right OS!
Finally...... truth in packaging for windows....
That is the stupidest thing I've ever seen.
Do you think we could interest one of the drive manufacturers in building windowed drives? I'd certainly rather buy a factory-sealed unit then cut up my own. Or perhaps use a raid configuration and mirror each modified drive with a non-modified one?
"Freedom means freedom for everybody" -- Dick Cheney
see link:n dow.php
http://www.themodfathers.com/articles/hdwi
Just a word of caution. If anyone here decides to use carbon fibre in their case mods, keep in mind that it is conductive. Yes, computer cases in general are made of metal, which is conductive as well, but since the carbon is basically a piece of cloth, people forget that it too conducts electricity.
No, I think he has found the most useful thing to do with an O2.....gut it.
This is somewhat off-topic, but it needs sharing. A very large bag of pretzels purchased at Costco (I think it was 6 pounds) had blatant evidence of Y2K buggery on it. The "best if eaten by" date had a three-digit year. Can you guess what it was? 104. heh. I laughed for a while when I saw that one, because it's gone uncorrected for at least four years now.
Reinvent the wheel only at either a lower cost, greater effectiveness, or your own personal enrichment and satisfaction.