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Homemade Hypercube Case

blkmagic writes "I have to say this is probably the most amazing homemade case I've seen. The HyperCube^2 was inspired by Vincenzo Natali's first film, Cube. This is a long article, so here's a link to the gallery of images of the final product. I read about this on CubeOwner.com, a Cube site with a slightly different focus."

115 comments

  1. Movies by flatface · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Excellent first movie with a not-so-good sequel. The case is awesome, though. I'm still looking forward to Cube Zero. w00t for Canadian movies!

    1. Re:Movies by Simon+(S2) · · Score: 1

      Cube is one of the best films ever. A must see. 6 sides of the Cube, 6 people, 6 personalities... grat movie!

      Hypercube was crap.

      --
      I just don't trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn't die.
    2. Re:Movies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      by the same director as the original cube, cypher is well worth a look.

    3. Re:Movies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Excellent game as well...

    4. Re:Movies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I have no idea what you're on about. I saw that movie when it did the first circuit of arthouse cinemas, and it was largely forgettable. Apart from the opening sequence, which was good in a tacky-horror kind of a way. Acting was lousy, script was all over the place and completely lacking in any kind of insight, and the movie itself was pretty dull. But I guess if you wrap anything up in enough X-Files bullshit people will think it's great...

    5. Re:Movies by wayne606 · · Score: 1

      It was a clever idea, but there was only so far you could take the concept. At the end you were left thinking "WTF???" so of course they needed to make a sequel, which was one of most boring and unwatchable movies I've seen in a long time.

  2. amazing case by thundercatslair · · Score: 0

    that looks, pretty amazing. But if I made it, it would exist in four dimensions

    1. Re:amazing case by NoseBag · · Score: 2, Funny

      Ah! That's the secret...it DOES exist in 4D. You just can't see the other one. :))

      Seriously, isn't there a mathematical projection, i.e. a 3D "shadow" that a hypercube would cast if it existed that's pretty cool looking? I recall seeing a drawing long, long ago. Uh, I think the shadow is infinitly large so they only draw a segment, but it was neat anyway.

      --
      Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.
    2. Re:amazing case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      IANAM (I am not a mathematician), although I did pass Calc 3, Linear Algebra and AP Statistics, but a tesseract projection shouldn't be infinitely large. You can think about the projection into 3D by analogy: let's say you start with a square, and want to make a cube. All you have to extrude the square upwards. If you look from the top down, however, it looks almost like a square still. Then, if you look at it isometrically, it looks like you dragged a copy of the square at a 45 degree angle from the original and connected it point for point with the original. The 3D projection of a hypercube similarly looks like two cubes, seperated orthoginally depending on the hypercube's rotation in 4D, but connected point for point. At the correct orientation in 4D, it'll actually be a cube. Here's some sites that explain it better and include pretty pictures:
      http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/docs/outreach/4-cube/
      http://casa.colorado.edu/~ajsh/sr/hypercube.html
      http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Hypercube.html

  3. Best part... by tommertron · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    His girlfriend's pretty hot!

    --
    Random rants about technology: http://technorants.blogspot.com
    1. Re:Best part... by Omicron32 · · Score: 2, Funny

      I really don't see how you can say that from that angle. I mean alright, there's the cleavage, but what if she's horribly disfigured or something on the right side of her face?

      (Ten minutes later...)

      I was searching for an artical I read somewhere about a porn star that regularly features on some TGPs. She's got a club foot that she hides pretty well most of the time. Sadly, I've found more free porn and must go now...

    2. Re:Best part... by CdBee · · Score: 5, Funny

      Do you think his domain (CubeOwner.com) should be pronounced "Cue Boner..." ?

      --
      I have been a user for about 10 years. This ends Feb 2014. The site's been ruined. I'm off. Dice, FU
    3. Re:Best part... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      She's cute, so what if she was disfigured, I'd bet she has a wonderful personality that makes up for it... you shallow bastard...

    4. Re:Best part... by dahamsta · · Score: 1, Interesting

      You're probably thinking of Kate. And "article".

    5. Re:Best part... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Cue Boner..." ?

      This is a computer geek site, shouldn't that be "Queue Boner"?

    6. Re:Best part... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah yes... the two toed porn star.

    7. Re:Best part... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

      God, how I love the Slashdot/geek mentality. Open your eyes to the real world sometime.

    8. Re:Best part... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Camel toe?

  4. This seems to be the perfect Microsoft case by Anv*l · · Score: 1

    We are the borg, resistance is futile you will be assimilated!

    1. Re:This seems to be the perfect Microsoft case by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ve-a ere-a zee bork, reseestunce-a is footeele-a yuoo veell be-a esseemileted!

    2. Re:This seems to be the perfect Microsoft case by notthe9 · · Score: 1

      This person made a bog themed case, though it isn't actually a cube.

    3. Re:This seems to be the perfect Microsoft case by Mr_Whoopass · · Score: 1

      Yes, but then due to spontaneous swamp gas ignitions and the smell of methane seeping into his neighbors homes all the time, his neighbors promptly convinced him revert back to his Lian-Li.

    4. Re:This seems to be the perfect Microsoft case by hesiod · · Score: 1

      > a bo[r]g themed case, though it isn't actually a cube.

      Nor does it resemble anything borg-ish...

  5. Gone already by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    any mirrors?

    1. Re:Gone already by flatface · · Score: 2, Informative

      The site's still pretty responsive, but I still coralized all of the pages before it came out of TMF.

    2. Re:Gone already by i41Overlord · · Score: 1

      The coralized site seems to be hurting more than the original site.

    3. Re:Gone already by SlashdotMeNow · · Score: 2, Informative

      As usual the coral link is worse than the site.

    4. Re:Gone already by QuaZar666 · · Score: 1

      to be honest I have found that coralized links really don't work that well. The idea is nice, but has failed so many times.

  6. Re:FragBOX is better... by holymoo · · Score: 1

    ummm, yeah, this is for people who enjoy putting together stuff themselves...

  7. Obligatory by eclectro · · Score: 1, Funny


    The website has been slashdotted into the fourth dimension.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
  8. Projectlog by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Worked fine at the time of this posting, hopefully it being a Coral link it shoud last a little longer than the rest.

    http://users.telenet.be.nyud.net:8090/hypercube/

  9. Coral links by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Coral links just in case:
    http://www.bit-tech.net.nyud.net:8090/artic le/152/

    link to image gallery
    http://www.bit-tech.net.nyud.net:8090/art icle/152/ 17

  10. Most impressive by confusion · · Score: 4, Funny
    That case is amazing. I really wish I had the ability to work with aluminum that well.

    Everytime I try something like that, it is eligible for the trash bin.

    Jerry
    http://www.syslog.org/

    1. Re:Most impressive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This person is spamming his url, I have sigs turned off, and it always turns up. Please mod him down.

    2. Re:Most impressive by Bobdoer · · Score: 2, Funny
      You see, you're going about it all wrong:
      Everytime I try something like that, it is eligible to be a trash bin.
    3. Re:Most impressive by albamuth · · Score: 1

      I believe that the guy sent his diagrams to a machine shop that cut the aluminum frame for him (very sensible, but expensive) as well as the stainless steel side panels.

      Aluminum is really hard to cut right unless you have the proper tools, and most shop tools (in a woodshop) are essentially useless and will make a mess of the aluminum. T1-4 can be cut with a die grinder with a carbon blade or a 20-tooth(per inch) hacksaw blade. Even doing that will take a few hours of extra burnishing to get the edges straight (large screwdriver--run the round part of the shaft down the burrs on the edge). Forget about working with T6. Using a sawsall, jigsaw, or regular grinder will just create a nasty, jagged edge.

      I've heard that machine shop guys will take a table saw blade and turn backwards--can anyone confirm this?

      Just the amount of work he did with the plexiglass alone was incredible! Not to mention removing and polishing the stainless steel casing for his HD's and DVD-drives.

      --
      [pink beam of light]
  11. Let's get these two out of the way. by double-oh+three · · Score: 1

    so here was a link to the gallery of images of the final product.

    You must be new here... Let's get these two out of the way.

    --
    "For years, I struggled with reality... but I'm happy to say I finally won out over it." -- Elwood P. Dowd
  12. Mirrordot links: by b0lt · · Score: 5, Informative
    --
    got sig?
    1. Re:Mirrordot links: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ok i admit that is quite a nice case.

      still going to stick with my beige brick though.

  13. The guy is an architect? Cool! by phr1 · · Score: 1

    I want him to design the next Fry's Electronics "theme store" that they put up around Silicon Valley. It should look just like that hypercube2 case. Yow!

  14. obligatory middle school mathematics by Daedalus-Ubergeek · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    HyperCube^2

    What happens when you square a cube? ((Hyper^3)^2) == Hyper^6
  15. Neat however by cr0y · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I really think people going overboard with these types of things is cool however, i would really like to see some effort being put into very clean looking cases. Ones that really make people drool over the beauty that a computer can be. I know off the shelf computers that look like things other than computers exist, I just sometimes wonder why they aren't featured that often, especially when things like this are so opinionated it is hard to say what is worth noting and what is not.

    --

    ItWasFree.com - Take the mystery
    1. Re:Neat however by Huring · · Score: 0

      Jonathan Ive, Apple...

      --
      There is never, ever, any need for MS Comic Sans
  16. Neat however-Standard look and...look. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Part of the limitation behind computer cases, is the same that made them so cheap. Standarization. All motherboards are basically rectangles. All cdrom's are basically boxy rectangles. Internal cards are rectangles, that are at right angles to the MB. Ribbon cables still prevail. The only saving grace is that all of it is getting smaller. Makes it easier to rearrange space (just like Legoes)

  17. Just be sure... by dj245 · · Score: 1

    ...That all your calculus and factor-giant-numbers-in-their-head friends have one too so that when they throw you into the Hypercube for copyright infringement you can find your way out.

    --
    Even those who arrange and design shrubberies are under considerable economic stress at this period in history.
  18. Most impressive-P's by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The three "P"'s

    Patience, Planning, and Practice.

  19. But does it... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...slices your hand of, when trying to eject the cd-rom?

  20. That explains it ... by jstockdale · · Score: 4, Funny

    I knew he couldn't pull off this case design in 3 dimensions. 6 ... well that makes things easy!

    If I had 3 extra dimensions to hide all the duct tape and string in I'm sure I could make a pretty cool case too :)

    -S ...

    --
    **AA: a bunch of mindless jerks who'll be the first against the wall when the revolution comes
    1. Re:That explains it ... by hesiod · · Score: 1

      As much as I dislike "me too"-style worthless posts (mine, not yours), I still have to say that is hysterically funny :)

  21. He figured out the trick by nasor · · Score: 1

    All you have to do to make your case mod twice as cool, apparently, is make it twice the size!

  22. Gone already-Pee 2 Pee. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "to be honest I have found that coralized links really don't work that well. The idea is nice, but has failed so many times."

    Quick! Let's Freenet it.

  23. Shame about the movie, though by jbrandon · · Score: 1

    That's easily the coolest case I've ever seen.

    It's easily the worst movie I have ever seen.

    I watched it in a marathon with Sphere, and Sphere was the good one!

    1. Re:Shame about the movie, though by knipknap · · Score: 1

      [i]It's easily the worst movie I have ever seen.[/i] You haven't seen 'Spartacus'?

  24. Wow by Entrepreneur · · Score: 1

    This is absolutely awesome. The movie (hypercube), I agree, was terrible, but this case is amazing. I want one.

  25. Disappointed! by ralphclark · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I went to the site expecting to see a computer case built in the shape of a tesseract. Damn!

    1. Re:Disappointed! by sharkey · · Score: 1

      Really? I, for one, do not want ants in my computer.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  26. I don't know.... by spdt · · Score: 1

    ....it still just looks like a regular old cube to me..

  27. Boring... by BalloonMan · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Can we just have a special /. category for l33t case-mods? Please? That way I can filter it out completely. This is not a meaningful form of hardware hacking, any more than putting Batman(tm) fins on a Cadillac is automotive hacking.

    1. Re:Boring... by Bit-tech.net · · Score: 1

      "This is not a meaningful form of hardware hacking" and slashdot content is limited to "hardware hacking" ??

  28. Too bad about the Maxtor... by macmurph · · Score: 1, Insightful

    My condolences about the Maxtor drive you decided to install.

    1. Re:Too bad about the Maxtor... by DemonCow · · Score: 1

      No kidding.... after having about 20 of them die in a mass installation of Dell comps.... we started calling them Craptor drives....

    2. Re:Too bad about the Maxtor... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And i thought i was the only one who avoided maxtor drives like the plague.

      Had a bunch die on me a few months ago.

  29. ice-cubes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now there's an idea; the ice-cube mod, alot of overclocking potential as well!

  30. Boring...Modding an idea. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is more an example of a mod to the idea of a standard case, than an actual mod to a preexisting case. Modding a caddie with fins is more the latter, than the former.

  31. Slashdotted again by Mr.+Byaninch · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Hey! Am I the first person to wonder why Slashdot doesn't cache the stuff they link to, so that when it gets killed we can still see it? Gee, it would take someone 2 or 3 minutes to do it on a big site, 15 seconds on a single page thing. I mean, /. regularly busts people's bandwith allocation, all the while making money off the ads on the page that everyone links from. Doesn't anyone there (at /.) think it would be nice to at least spring for a $100 hard drive and cache the pages for a few days? Lots of times some reader does it knowing the site will get put offline, but why should it be up to good hearted readers? Why doesn't OSTG do it? Would that kill them? Should we take up a collection? Or am I all wet?

    --
    Sig not available, please try again later. If the problem persists, then the submitter is an idiot.
    1. Re:Slashdotted again by pyite · · Score: 1

      You must be new here. Oh, yep, you are.

      --

      "Nature doesn't care how smart you are. You can still be wrong." - Richard Feynman

    2. Re:Slashdotted again by Mr.+Byaninch · · Score: 1

      So... does that make me wrong??? WTF? Why don't they help out the people who are making them money? If it was Billy Gates, people would be screaming. Why is it OK for /. to cost people money, when they push people over their limit, and then not even bother to help out? If you had a cool website that was generating $100 a month from the ad or two you had, and then someone posted a link to you here and you either had to go offline or pay for a big bandwidth increase... is it OK that Slashdot didn't even cache the pages? True, you're not going to get any more ad revenue, but couldn't they at least provide a way for the readers to see your stuff? And isn't that the point? You want your stuff seen and they want to 'find' it? Your stuff is what they're making money off. So should they be fine with costing you money yet not spending a few bucks themselves to help everyone: themselves (we'd all get to the links), the readers (we'd all see the stuff) and you (we'd all see your stuff)?

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      Sig not available, please try again later. If the problem persists, then the submitter is an idiot.
    3. Re:Slashdotted again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      just think about it

    4. Re:Slashdotted again by Mr.+Byaninch · · Score: 1

      Boy, that was insightful.

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      Sig not available, please try again later. If the problem persists, then the submitter is an idiot.
    5. Re:Slashdotted again by the+pickle · · Score: 1

      Hey! Am I the first person to wonder why Slashdot doesn't cache the stuff they link to...

      No. You must be new here.

      p

    6. Re:Slashdotted again by the+pickle · · Score: 1

      Boy, that was insightful.

      So were yours.

      (That sarcasm is free of charge, by the way.)

      Honestly, though, did you ever take the time to read the FAQ?

      p

    7. Re:Slashdotted again by Legion303 · · Score: 1
      "Hey! Am I the first person to wonder why Slashdot doesn't cache the stuff they link to"

      You must be. I mean, if anyone else had ever thought about it in the history of the site, I bet it would be in the FAQ or something.

    8. Re:Slashdotted again by Max+Romantschuk · · Score: 1

      The idea is good, but it's not as simple an issue as it might seem at first glance. As pointed out in a sibling post it's in the FAQ: Slashdot should cache pages to prevent the Slashdot Effect!

      Basically the core issue is copyright. Mirroring stuff is a form of publishing, and all forms of copyright I know of requires permission from the copyright holder in order to publish their material. Do the math.

      --
      .: Max Romantschuk :: http://max.romantschuk.fi/
    9. Re:Slashdotted again by FlynnMP3 · · Score: 1

      HelloOOo?! McFly?

      This is easily taken care of. When a story is submitted, include an option that reads:

      Original content can be mirrored for 24 hours upon story approval? Yes [ ] No [ ]

      There are some mechanics involved with this. Such as notification of story approval to original content provider. click rate data capturing and forwarding.

      As long as the option exists for automatic approved mirroring, then there is nobody to blame but the story submitter. Besides, it would finally give some accountability to story submitters. It would take time, but the system would even itself out.

      Just think about it.

      -FlynnMP3

    10. Re:Slashdotted again by hesiod · · Score: 1

      > True, you're not going to get any more ad revenue, but couldn't they at least provide a way for the readers to see your stuff?
      > Your stuff is what they're making money off.

      If the banners never get shown, they aren't making more money. So you steal their content without getting them paid for the content they took the time to post (or in most cases, created). Not to mention the copyright liability of copying an article from another site.

      That's one of those things that sounds great at first, but when you hear why, it doesn't look quite as good.

      This all assumes you don't believe in the free exchange of information (the lack of which which leads to things like patents and copyright abuse).

    11. Re:Slashdotted again by Mr.+Byaninch · · Score: 1
      OK, somebody boosted the score on this, and it doesn't deserve it. I was stooopid not to look for a FAQ. I don't agree with it now that I've seen it -- I mean, who that got mentioned here would start a legal issue over mirroring/caching their site to keep them visible? It's an honor, not a threat. The banner ad issue is bogus too. When the site gets shut down, they're not making any money. If mirroring it can't be done with the ad link-backs intact, then they're still no worse off, right? The 'Slashdot effect' took them and their ads offline. But it does seem to me that a mirror of the site wouldn't break the ad link-backs (or whatever they're called).

      I see the answers in the FAQ as a cop-out; I think the real issue is the person in charge doesn't want to go to the trouble. So I still think /. should help out. The good samaritans who DO mirror surely aren't getting sued, and the site owner isn't going to get all boiled over because a mirror or cache didn't pick up his/her latest update. So my original issue is still a valid one in my mind. I just should have done my homework first.

      Anyway, I/my post doesn't (don't?) rate the score boost. Thank you, whoever did it. I appreciate it, but don't deserve it.

      --
      Sig not available, please try again later. If the problem persists, then the submitter is an idiot.
  32. who cares? by nblender · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Look, I have a welder, a plasma cutter, and various other bits of metal torture... The absolutely last thing I would ever consider wasting my time on is a stupid box to store my computer. I mean really. What's next, neon under the honda? Maybe some fake disc rotors to hide the little girly drum brakes?

    It's all about function and substance, not form.

    Chrome don't get ya home.

    1. Re:who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And who are you to decide what people should do in their spare time? The guy had a good time doing that, and the result looks damned good. Don't like it? Don't look at it. You make it sound like you had to pay for that or something.

      --
      Smorgreff

    2. Re:who cares? by hesiod · · Score: 1

      Who cares? I care, you pompous bitch.

      You know, some of us aren't too involved to look at art from time to time. Regardless of the function (in this case (NPI), a computer), it is a work of art. If the guy had used a dremel to cut out a bunch of strip of metal & riveted them together around their head, it may look stupid (and I would have no desire to see it, probably), but it might be art to someone else. If you wasted your time going to the site... you were already wasting your time on /. so quit whining.

  33. The sequel was as good as the first . . . by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It had the same basic story, same plot, similar charactors.

    1. Re:The sequel was as good as the first . . . by flatface · · Score: 1

      IRT Hypercube, the basic story may have been simillar, but the plot wasn't nearly as good (Come on, no -logical- way of escaping?) and the character development was very weak in comparison. It may have been a decent movie, but a lot of us were still disappointed.

    2. Re:The sequel was as good as the first . . . by martinoforum · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Character development was weak in comparison? Well, maybe. But When you consider how crapulent the first movie was in this respect, it's probably not even worth making any kind of comparison.

      I saw the first Cube during the early arthouse circuit in 1997, and even sans any kind of underground "cult movie" hype it still sucked.

      But at least the inexplicable popularity of the movie answered one question for me: Who the hell were the people responsible for continuing the drawn-out death of the X-Files after it became obvious that There Was No Big Vision? The answer: Cube fans! Dress a turd up in enough psuedo(x) (replace x with "Science" or "Philosophy" or indeed "Dialogue" as you see fit) and you're bound to convince some people that you're a genius...

      Now, while we're here, I've got this religion I'm starting...

  34. cool, but RFI-uncool by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    - yea, modded cases are neat looking, but most have piss-poor RF shielding, are possibly noisy, and can be potentially nasty sources of electrical interference...

    = i'd rather have a butt-ugly desktop that's quiet as a mouse and is electrically 'clean'

  35. Re:ug by rtt · · Score: 2, Informative

    Should be a little quicker now :) Traffic out of the img box has just doubled since i changed Apache's conf :P

  36. 3d renders... by dioscaido · · Score: 1

    Anyone else think the pictures in the 'final product' linked page are just 3d renders? The lighting and geometry is great, but too perfect to have been taken in a real room under real lighting conditions. Nice 3d model though.

    1. Re:3d renders... by rebelcool · · Score: 1

      I'm a photographer. It looks like very simple lighting (1 overhead) done in a seamless box. It's actually not very good and doesn't really flatter the box all that much...

      --

      -

  37. HyperZZzzzz... by MerryGoByeBye · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Am I the only one who thinks that case isn't, um, how to put this, worthy of its own /. article? For Crissakes, it's not even a proper hypercube! I know it's the holidays and everyone's all fat 'n' content, but can't you come up with better filler than this?

    OK, so you can't make a friggin' hypercube... But then don't call it that! Sheesh! And if you *must* use the name, can't you make it more interesting than just some white lights shining through plexiglass? How about some mirrors or something inside to at least mimic the illusion of having an actual tesseract case?

    My $0.02...
    Well, whatever; back to eating.

    1. Re:HyperZZzzzz... by Tarwn · · Score: 1

      I'm fairly certain the idea was not to make a proper Hypercube, but to make something reminiscent of the movie Hypercube :)

      --
      Whee signature.
    2. Re:HyperZZzzzz... by MerryGoByeBye · · Score: 1

      Ah.

      Well, chalk that up to my (apparently beneficial, if the posts here are to be taken seriously) ignorance of the movie, then!

      I do, however, maintain that this sort of thing doesn't really qualify for its own article. (Must get that last word in, dammit.)

  38. Off-topic but remotely relevant by multiplexo · · Score: 1
    OK, if you have a hypercube how do you find the area of it's surface? Is the area of a hypersurface a hyperarea expressed in three dimensions instead of two?

    On the subject of the case it's beautiful. He should see if Lian Li or Coolermaster would be willing to license his design and produce these for the rest of us. I'd love to have one of these, it's cool looking and lots of fun.

    Of course if it were truly four dimensional that would be even better, perhaps if he could get some mono-isotopic unobtainium to fabricate the next version of this he could pull it off.

    --
    cheap labor conservatives - they want to keep you hungry enough to be thankful for minimum wage.
    1. Re:Off-topic but remotely relevant by wayne606 · · Score: 1

      > if you have a hypercube how do you find the area of it's surface

      That's like saying "if you have a cube what's the length of its edges". Probably a more relevant question is "what's the surface volume of a hypercube".

    2. Re:Off-topic but remotely relevant by Phybersyk0 · · Score: 1

      I imagine that the fabrication costs would be too prohibitive to market this case on a large scale.
      You'd only be able to market something like this to VERY high-end customers -- and those people probably could pay somebody to use a computer for them.
      Attempts to fab a case with anything less than this guys attention-to-detail would make the effort worthless.

    3. Re:Off-topic but remotely relevant by neuromortis · · Score: 1

      On the topic of finding the area of its surface, I would guess that it comes down to what you mean by "surface." Personally, I'd argue that surface is always two-dimensional. Perimeter would be the 1D equivalent, and volume the 3D equivalent. After that we get to make things up.

      I think it comes out to 36L^2, where L is the length of any given edge of the hypercube. That's assuming I counted the number of sides correctly, of course. So I guess a hypercube has six times the area of a regular cube (as well as eight times the volume, I think).

      We definitely need to work on that extradimensional housing (though the prototypes should probably not be built in California).

      --

      I build model citizens.
    4. Re:Off-topic but remotely relevant by bcmm · · Score: 1

      The surface area is not a good measurement of a 4D object. The equivalent would be the volume of its three dimensional "surface". The 4D equivalent of a 3D volume (i.e. the total 4-space inclosed) would be a hypervolume measured in meters^4.

      --
      # cat /dev/mem | strings | grep -i llama
      Damn, my RAM is full of llamas.
    5. Re:Off-topic but remotely relevant by TheoMurpse · · Score: 1

      Area refers to the two-dimensional area of a figure by default. So, to measure the surface area of a hyper-dimensional figure, you measure the area of each of its two-dimensional faces.

      You may also refer to three-dimensional area (or volume! -- same thing) of a hyper-dimensional figure.

  39. Holy SH-------- by Second_Derivative · · Score: 1

    .. That case looks absolutely fantastic. First case mod I've ever seen that really Doesn't Suck.

    Mad amount of effort put into it but damn that shit's gorgeous. I want one :{ but then again it's not the same if you haven't made it yourself.

    Maybe this guy could help me build my IIDX ASC :D (I'll be surprised if anyone here has heard of IIDX.)

  40. The only promblem with it. by gnovos · · Score: 3, Funny

    If I remember the movie correctly, I think the blue screen of death has an entirely new meaning when using this case... I suspect upgrading to the newest specs may literally cost an arm and a leg. Possibly an eye as well.

    --
    "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
  41. The Cube by freaker_TuC · · Score: 1

    I knew it had nothing to do with aliens ; it shows clearly a power outlet, something "they" are probably very much more advanced in... (tinfoil hat -is- on so I ain't being brainprogrammed he*$#)

    I have The Cube and Hypercube(2) on DVD and am glad I bought them... Although the first, older one looks more "realistically" in effects it's still a fascinating sci-fi/mystery/thriller with certain horror effects ; the second one is more sf and advanced .. where the ending is a big difference with the first one (no spoilers).

    I like the design of the case even more, but certainly because I have seen the movies a few times and it has a certain designaspect/boxed scenario; I wonder why no more case manufacturers go behind these designs and give the PC a breeze-for-the-eye too...

    The Alienware cases are nice, but the costprice is too high; there should be interests to beautify the cases in such a drastic matter ? (not a box like usually)...

    --
    --- I am known for the ones who want to find me on the net. Is that a privacy risk or a privilege? One might wonder..
  42. Trailer? by antdude · · Score: 1

    The trailer link on IMDb is no longer valid. Does anyone have a working one? I checked Movie-List and Trailers World, and both had broken links.

    Thank you in advance. :)

    --
    Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
  43. ObNerd reference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can't believe you didn't mention that it featured Ezri Dax!! That's probably the most important aspect of the film to this crowd ...

  44. Re:He figured out the trick by duncanbojangles · · Score: 1

    Not twice the size, four times the volume.

  45. The aesthetic challenge of computer cases by alienmole · · Score: 1

    "Very clean looking cases" tend to be boring. Let's compare to other instances of aesthetically pleasing objects:

    First, cars. Cars have quite a few constraints on their external shape. Designs we appreciate integrate well with these constraints - for example, smooth lines between and around features that absolutely have to be there, like wheels and windshield glass. Alternatively, some good designs may defy convention, by having deliberately boxy or unstreamlined shapes.

    Similarly, in building architecture, designs which either contrast with or integrate well into their environment tend to be appreciated. The famous architect Frank Gehry has done both: the Bilbao Guggenheim is applauded for how well it integrates into its physical setting. By contrast, MIT's Stata Center is a complete shock, utterly unlike its surroundings, or any other building, for that matter. Again, in the case of buildings, there are some significant constraints - people need to get in and out of them, they tend to need windows, entrances and exits have to be at certain levels (usually ground level!) and they may require external features such as balconies. "Clean looking designs" for buildings have to fit in with these constraints.

    Unlike any of this, the requirements on a computer case are minimal: almost anything goes. You can pretty much install a computer in any shaped object you want, and people have done exactly that. A perfectly smooth cube or sphere would be "clean looking", but is that what you're talking about? I suspect it would be pretty boring. For example, inside the transparent plastic, the Apple G4 cube had a relatively smooth, featureless case - very clean looking - which they felt the need to jazz up by inserting it into a transparent shell, which had no purpose other than to look cool (and in fact led to quality problems).

    The point is that in the absence of other constraints, "clean looking" gets you very quickly to boring featurelessness. What we see happening with computer cases instead is that people impose arbitrary external constraints on their custom cases, in order to give them meaning. In the current story, the external constraint is that of a hypercube, but we've seen all sorts of other examples. The more constraining the requirement is, the more challenging and interesting the resulting case tends to be. That's a big reason this hypercube case is interesting.

  46. Imagine... by Vo0k · · Score: 4, Funny

    Imagine a beowulf cluster of these!
    With nodes changing location within the cluster according to some obscure formula... and killing unsuspecting operators :)

    --
    Anagram("United States of America") == "Dine out, taste a Mac, fries"
  47. Re:He figured out the trick by Tribbin · · Score: 1

    Twice the size in which dimensions?

    If it is twice as high, wide and deep then it's actually eight times the size.

    --
    If you mod this up, your slashdot background will turn into a beautiful sunset!
  48. But does it prove that time is cubic? by sk1tch · · Score: 1

    And does it allow for four simultaneous computers to exist within one? It must if it claims to be cubic.

    --

    when I find myself you'll be the first to know.
    1. Re:But does it prove that time is cubic? by TheoMurpse · · Score: 1

      as far as that link goes... ... ... ...what the fuck?

  49. final pics by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The article drags on, so here's the final pics: http://www.bit-tech.net/article/152/17

  50. damnit by XxXoldsaltXxX · · Score: 0

    i expected to see a 4-dimensional hypercube. meh, its still a nice case :)

  51. Nice case, crap movie by ChaosDiscord · · Score: 1

    Why would you base a case design on such a crappy movie?