Wooden Computer Accessories

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Posted by timothy on Monday March 22, 2004 @05:07PM from the anna-kronistik-on-the-line-for-you dept.

polyp2000 writes "It's always interesting to read about case-mods, but this company has a novel twist, for nature loving geeks. Maybe even the perfect accessory for a wooden case mod. Swedx do a nice line in wooden monitors, keyboards, and some sweet looking wooden mice in a selection of different woods."

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Still... by detritus` · 2004-03-22 17:09 · Score: 5, Insightful

Definitely not the case and/or setup for those overclockers out there :) especially with heat output getting real close to 100W...

--
drunk chemists
1. Re:Still... by mabinogi · 2004-03-22 17:54 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  no, Joules are a measure of energy, watts are a measure of power, which is energy over time. Specifically, joules per second.
  
  But regardless, the 100 joules per second of energy being produced are not necesarily 100% heat.
  
  lemons are yellow, but that doesn't mean all yellow things are lemons.
  
  --
  Advanced users are users too!
2. Re:Still... by Rob+Simpson · 2004-03-22 18:14 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It all ends up as heat eventually - unless you use it to drive an endothermic process or store some of the energy. Most of the joules used by a computer would probably be heat from resistance, etc. and any light, sound, and whatnot produced should wind up as heat pretty quickly, too.
3. Re:Still... by LarsWestergren · 2004-03-22 19:30 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  Definitely not the case and/or setup for those overclockers out there :) especially with heat output getting real close to 100W...
  
  That does not really matter. As others have pointed out, the heat disappation of your metal case is close to zero compared to how much is dissappated by the air circulated by your case fans, so switching to wood won't make any difference.
  
  There are lots of predicatble jokes here about it catching fire, but most traditional Finnish saunas are made from wood. You can actually have wood panelling right next to metal that is so hot it's glowing red without the wood smoldering. Though just like with saunas, it would probably be best not to use wood that is impregnated or treated with anything for the cases, as that might give off not very healthy gasses if warmed up.
  
  With regards to being heavy - it might be a bit bulky, but I think I read wood is actually one of the strongest materials compared to its weight in the world. Hey, here is an idea, how about spider silk cases?
  
  Finally, the environmental question: wood is about as renewable resource as there is, and we have lots of it in Sweden. As long as the wood doesn't come from protected forests ("ur-skog") or rainforests, you can't really get more environmentally friendly.
  
  --
  Being bitter is drinking poison and hoping someone else will die
You love nature so much that you by pair-a-noyd · 2004-03-22 17:14 · Score: 3, Insightful

cut down a tree in honor of it?

Hmmmmm..... Anyone else see somehting wrong with this picture??
1. Re:You love nature so much that you by Brandybuck · 2004-03-22 17:30 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Cut down a tree (renewable resource) versus mining bauxite (nonrenewable resource). The answer is trivial when you think about it. While it's a bad thing to cut down entire rainforests of hardwood just to make mice, it's even worse to mine entire mountains level just so you get a 1337 aluminum case.
  
  --
  Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
2. Re:You love nature so much that you by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-22 17:46 · Score: 1, Insightful
  
  What do you mean? It makes perfect sense here in America. To prove that killing people is wrong, we kill people who kill! And we try to impeach Clinton for getting a blowjob, but we let Bush steal an election, lie about WMD to start a war, and hook up Cheney's old companies without punishing him. Chopping down a tree to honor nature makes perfect sense in American logic.
3. Re:You love nature so much that you by Brandybuck · 2004-03-22 18:19 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Pine, oak, ash, beech, maple, etc., are all "farmed" woods suitable for mice that don't require any rainforests to be stripped. Even apple and cherry wood from old orchards is suitable for small items like these, and would be very cool.
  
  If you want some exotic rainforest hardwoods instead, there's no need to "strip log" them. Selective cutting preserves the ecostructure quite nicely. Clearcutting is a sign of bad government management of resources. It's easy enough to brand "eco-friendly" lumber to make sure you aren't buying mouse made from clearcut timber.
  
  --
  Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
4. Re:You love nature so much that you by Penguinshit · 2004-03-22 18:43 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  actually, if you cut the tree correctly, the stump will live and produce yet another tree. Only the part you cut away dies (and even that could be coaxed into becoming its own tree).
  
  I propagate roses all the time in this fashion. It's called "asexual reproduction" (something with which many slashdotters are invariably familiar...).
  
  --
  I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...
5. Re:You love nature so much that you by bluGill · 2004-03-23 03:02 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I don't know much about washington state, but I do know that in MN where most of the logging is Aspen (for paper, a fast growing tree), the best way to harvest them is clear cutting a small area, and letting nature take over and re-seed. There is a lot of wildlife in MN that prefers this system. Some like the forest just after the cutting, while others like it just before, but if they would leave it, the forest would change again.
  Note that I'm talking about one particular type of forest, and this practice is only done on land the lumber company owns. State and private land is managed differently, for different growth, even there though, clear cutting and then replanting gives all the new trees a better chance at survival.
Getting Slashdotted?? by aarku · 2004-03-22 17:26 · Score: 2, Insightful

You'd think a company would make sure they have the bandwidth ready before they advertised err submitted the story.

Wouldn't sweat wreak havok on a wooden mouse, anyways? My lowly plastic one gets stained and dirty enough.
Yes, wood is "nature loving" by zachrahan · 2004-03-22 17:34 · Score: 1, Insightful

To all those (sanctimonious) posters who say "gosh, those guys claim that they are nature loving, but then they condone cutting down trees to make computer parts" :

Well what renewable resource is your computer case made of?

Well, they have to remove entire mountains from the ground to get metal, and I can't say that the petrol industry (you know, plastics!) is too "nature friendly." So come back when you're typing on keyboards assembled from windfall wood and bones of animals that died of natural causes. Otherwise I really don't want to hear about it.
To all the damn-hippies by Julian+Morrison · 2004-03-22 17:47 · Score: 1, Insightful

What, you think nature doesn't fell trees? Imagine how much termites must itch, and never being able to scratch...

When you whine about "cutting down trees", consider the fate of useful and useless species. Corn versus wildflowers, for example. Wood is probably the sole reason there's any trees left standing anywhere.
Re:Nature-loving geeks? by fbjon · 2004-03-22 17:49 · Score: 4, Insightful

Building something, anything, out of wood is a very natural way of doing it. There are a number of species on this planet that cut down trees to build structures, humans are not the only ones.

Wood feels nice, sounds nice, and looks nice. It is renewable. And you're forgetting WHERE this tree is cut down, is it in an ancient forest with 300-year old trees, or in a homegrown backyard lot?

"I'm nature-loving."

Then why not do it the natural way?

--
True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
IT people and woodworking by LuxFX · 2004-03-22 18:07 · Score: 2, Insightful

I'm an amateur hobbyist woodworker -- it's nice to build things you can hold -- so I love seeing stuff like this, and hope one day I'll be good enough to make them, too.

The funny thing is how many people seem to be in my position. When reading newsgroups like rec.woodworking, I came across a lot of tech-types that have either turned to woodworking as a hobby in their spare time, or in their laid-off time.

Anybody else on this board that have moved toward woodworking?

--
Punctanym: alternate spelling of words using punctuation or numerals in place of some or all of its letters; see 'leet'
Re:Plenty of wood already .... by Cali+Thalen · 2004-03-22 18:51 · Score: 2, Insightful

Gods...I hate to post this in reply about wood, but....

Did anyone else see the URL for that site and immediately try to figure out if it was something akin to goatse.cx?

See... ./ does rot the brain...

--
Chaos, panic, disorder...my work here is done.
Re:(OT) Re:an actual link by Patik · 2004-03-22 19:57 · Score: 2, Insightful

If you have not clicked on a slashdot link and got an unexpected goatse link then maybe you have not slashdotted much.
First, by default Slashdot mentions the link target's server right after the link in brackets. Second, I when I hover over the link, the URL is displayed at the bottom of the browser (and yes I do look at this before clicking). Third, try quoting sometime, it's very useful, but oh, wait, you can't use HTML, never mind. Fourth, you've got legs, why bother with a car or bike? Just walk everywhere.
if you are an M$ (l)user
Wow, any credibility you had left was lost with those two lame, overused typos.
Re:I think... by dabadab · 2004-03-22 21:57 · Score: 2, Insightful

Well, wood will not resonate as badly as thin metal plates do and probably it very effectively dampens any noise, so yes, it is probably silent.
Nice, big, low RPM fans can take care of the heat.
And transparency... well, that's silly :)

--
Real life is overrated.
Re:I think... by Moraelin · 2004-03-22 23:21 · Score: 4, Insightful

Well, here's what I don't understand. (And please don't take it as a flame or anything.) Why would anyone want an ugly transparent contraption?

The innards of my computer are a twisty maze of cables, all alike. Between the hard drives, two CD drives, Audigy 2 Platinum front tray, case fans, etc, it's one big mess of cables.

Not that it would be any better without the cables. It's a colour cacophony of red PCBs, blue PCBs, traditionalist green PCBs, aluminum heatsink on the CPU, copper heatsink on the graphics card, and whatever else.

Now if I were to also add some lit fans or neon lights, as seems to be the custom, then it would only get an even uglier colour cacophony.

What's that supposed to look like? A cheap circus tent? A bad acid trip? A sad clown on a really bad makup day? A terror attack on a paint warehouse?

And the real question: why on Earth would I want to look at that every day? Also: why would I want the others to see that?

Now I can see haow that would have a novelty factor in the beginning, and can appreciate at least the work of those who personally modded their own case. (Even if to a butt-ugly result.) But... you know... it's been some years already. The novelty ought to have worn off, and you can already buy that kind of cases mass-produced.

--
A polar bear is a cartesian bear after a coordinate transform.
Re:oh please by smittyoneeach · 2004-03-23 00:23 · Score: 2, Insightful

Or, the concern may be lack of RFI shielding, where the wood looks about like plastic wrap. YMMV with a Telefunken U47 nearby.

--
Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
Re:I think... by rpillala · 2004-03-23 05:21 · Score: 2, Insightful

I think the grandparent post meant the computer itself should be transparent as in not drawing attention to itself. Not a physically transparent case for the computer. Maybe a better word would have been "unobtrusive."

Correct me if I'm wrong though, grandparent.
Ravi

--
When the axe came to the forest, the trees said, "Look out - the handle was once one of us."
Re:Please learn something new today. by Anonymous Coward · 2004-03-23 08:01 · Score: 1, Insightful

So, because you've hiked in a couple forests, you're an expert? Also, since when does beauty have anything to do with good ecology?

Environmental fascists promote no practical solutions--in their eyes, the only solution is "less people." A lot less people. A founder of Greenpeace has a different, more sensible viewpoint. He promotes more use of wood, as opposed to use of non-replenishable resources or things like plastics that cause worse harm to the environment. (Perhaps you've read the Wired article on him that tried to paint him as a sellout.)

Q. Why not spend some time investigating environmentally sensible solutions instead of reiterating the same shrill pablum? A. Because that's not as fun as crying wolf.

As far as the pristine public forests of Oregon are concerned, blame your government for letting them at the trees so cheaply. As mentioned elsewhere, loggers aren't stupid. If they own a fixed amount of land, they'll always be regrowing on that land. If the government is dumb enough to let them rape public forests, take your beef up with the government. Last I looked, Oregon was an extremely liberal state; I'm sure they'll listen.