Ye Olde World Charm

The Solitaire brings us a link to Datamancer, where Richard R. Nagy shows off his Steampunk Laptop. The attention to detail and the creative style, which includes a copper-plated keyboard and speakers shaped like violin f-holes, make this an impressive case mod. From Datamancer: "This may look like a Victorian music box, but inside this intricately hand-crafted wooden case lives a Hewlett-Packard ZT1000 laptop that runs both Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux. It features an elaborate display of clockworks under glass, engraved brass accents, claw feet, an antiqued copper keyboard and mouse, leather wrist pads, and customized wireless network card. The machine turns on with an antique clock-winding key by way of a custom-built ratcheting switch made from old clock parts."

Comments

That is truly amazing work ...

[ScrewMaster]

Although the HP laptop does bring new meaning to the phrase "turnkey system".

The Fossil Computer

[PIPBoy3000]

Years ago, before I had my second kid, I created a Fossil computer that was Victorian themed in brass, wood, and had an old fish fossil mounted where the tag went. It took a huge amount of time, but was one of those great father-son bonding experiences (he has a full machine shop, so he did most of the work). I loved the look and still feel I should turn it into a Media PC and stick it in our living room.

It seems a little sad that it's now my daughter's computer, sitting on the floor. The most excitement it gets these days is to play online Barbie or NickJr games.

Re:The Fossil Computer

[ScrewMaster]

Nice job. Personally I've always liked the idea of a computer system simply disappearing into the background as just another piece of furniture (never really understood the case modders that put electroluminescent tape and UV tubes inside their machines. But hey, whatever floats your boat ... no accounting for taste.) Quite some years ago, strictly as an experiment, I took my regular tower case and covered it in mahogany-grained contact paper: the front was already black so they went well together. People would look at my keyboard and display and ask me where the computer was. It was right there on the floor in front of them, but since it was almost a perfect match for my desk it blended right in and they didn't see it. I dunno, must've thought it was a wastebasket or something

I loved the look and still feel I should turn it into a Media PC and stick it in our living room.

You know, you should do that: put together another system for her, and return your wooden gem to its former glory. I have an old Compaq desktop enclosure that I use in our living room as a media PC: it fits nicely in the entertainment center and that's all well and good. However, if I were to do what you did and turn it into furniture, I'd buy myself a lot of brownie points. Well, and now you've gone and made me think about my next winter project ...

Re:The Fossil Computer

[QuickFox]

Who gives a flying fuck what YOU think? Just in case you didn't notice, I would like to point out that you are not being entirely polite.

Furthermore, please note that this is a discussion site. This means that it is intended as a place where people may voice their thoughts and opinions, just like the grandparent did.

You might consider bearing this in mind in the future, should you wish to give a less stupid impression.

Too bad about the cover

[Goaway]

It really is a shame to put that much effort into making something, and then totally ruining it with that cover, that just screams that the creator knows nothing about how clockwork actually works. It really is kind of an eyesore on an otherwise beautiful piece of work.

Re:Too bad about the cover

[CensorshipDonkey]

If you read the article, you'd see he originally attempted actual, moving clockwork on the back powered by an electric train motor. However, in order to hold gears in the very precise positions necessary, their axles must be set in a thick piece of material. This made for a top case so thick and heavy the laptop would overbalance and fall backward when opened. So, he instead went with a thinner, workable cover and cosmetic only gears.

Re:alternatives

[Hal_Porter]

You can spot these hidden goatse links quite easily. Let's break the code

Here's a search for "test" on google

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=test&btnG=Google+Search

Now q is the search string. btnG is the function. If I clicked I'm feeling lucky I'd have got btnI instead.

Let's look at the parent link.

http://www.google.com/search?Searchq=old+world+case+mod&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&gn=10&refer=4e9fd9f4624c02685096769364a81d95&ref=cff0e9b1f2db017a44b88bb0d174771d&q=goatse.ca&btnI&link=hooray

Searchq is ignored by Google. The next few things are obfuscation too. At the end we see q=goatse.ca and btnI which means I'm feeling lucky. First hit on goatse.ca is the dreaded image and btnI means "I'm feeling lucky", i.e. jump to the first hit.

Ye olde worlde .... YECH!

[Anonymous Coward]

Ye Gods.

Once upon a time, there was a letter, Thorn. It made a th sound. It came to look like the letter Y. Then it disappeared. What we are left with is Ye Olde Everything.

Thorn in the form of a Y survives to this day in pseudo-archaic usages, particularly the stock prefix Ye olde. The definite article spelled with Y for thorn is often jocularly or mistakenly pronounced /ji/ or mistaken for the archaic nominative case of you, written ye. It is used infrequently in some modern English word games to replace the th with a single letter.

Sigh. Anyway, the computer is amazing. I have to find one of those Underwoods.

/.ed

[gaderael]

Me doth thinkest yonder website has been Slashdotted...eth

Re:/.ed

[Pollardito]

Blinketh thine lantern once if the slashdotting cometh by tube, twice if it cometh by dumptruck

He'll get some of my cash

[dada21]

Here's an artist worth supporting, not for the work he's done, but for the work he's going to do.

Is it frivolous? Yes, but most art can be called that. Is it useful? Probably not, but we all need entertainment.

As a "jackass-of-all-trades" myself, my biggest wish was to be able to make my dreams into reality in a physical aspect, but I don't have the drive to work on a project as long as this guy does. Heck, even complicated LEGO designs lose my interest less than half-way through.

If you have a little bit of wealth, don't forget to support the arts -- it's the job of the wealthy to bring the unmarketable to the masses.

Corel Cache

[Razed By TV]

http://www.datamancer.net.nyud.net:8090/

Re:what the fuck is a steampunk?

[paleo2002]

I guess you didn't like Bioshock then . . .

I'm not a big fan, I've only read The Difference Engine. Stephenson's Baroque Cycle may count too. The point of the genre is to draw attention to the parallels between the modern boom in technological progress and innovations on a similar scale which appeared at the end of the 18th and 19th centuries. Appreciation of history and all that.

As for aesthetics, well art simply is.

The worlds of Belief and Reason are Orthagonal

[beer_maker]

Nice description of your position ... from a reasoning point of view. As anyone who has attempted to understand the feminine mind can attest, reason isn't everything.

I will happily agree that science (the world of Reason, or Rational thought) cannot be made compatible with any scheme of religion or belief, because they do not intersect to any great degree. Science is a wonderful tool for explaining how things work, but it cannot do diddly to explain the 2AM question "Why are we here?" (And the mere existence of the Creationist Museum proves the converse.)

My question is why people keep dragging out this moldy old conflict? We all hold mutually exclusive thoughts in our heads ('All politicians are crooked' vs 'My senator fights the good fight', for example) so why can't we just drop this disagreement? If you fervently believe that Science holds all the answers and your neighbor fevently believes the FSM hold them instead, what have you lost?

As for myself, for matters pertaining to materials, speeds, and distances, and all things that can be measured, I choose Science and Reason as my tools. I believe that the scientists who do that stuff have a method that gives a very accurate result, a very good picture and explanation of the way the world works. For matters unmeasurable, I have found no such system or method that can explain them nearly so well ... but I'm not so arrogant that I assume there can be no such system. I believe that many religious laws make excellent interpersonal 'Rules to Live By' even if they can never be "proved" to have come from their purported source.