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MacBook Modded With Second Monitor Inside Logo
An anonymous reader from the Macmod forum wrote in with this appealing hack: "This is one of the coolest mods I've seen all year. Mac Moder EdsJunk submitted this mod to our forums late Thursday night. By cracking open a MacBook he was able to put a second monitor inside of the screen. The end result is sweet. The second monitor can make the Apple logo have any kind of background, like the clown fish, or the flurry screen saver."
we herd you like screens so we put a screen on your screen so you can watch while you watch..
i'm it must be an oled screen! they should be hired by mac (i'm sure that's what the stunt is for)
I wa amazed that they could get one screen into such a thin lid!
"From the MacMod forums..." ... "Sorry but the board is temporarily unavailable, please try again in a few minutes."
Seems like a relatively trivial hack, if you can get the video-out from the DisplayPort connector to work inside the machine somehow. Since the panel backlight is already exposed at the rear to light the Apple logo, the hardest part ought to be getting the backlight off of the LCD you want to cram in there.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I could see the use of it being an extra interface for quickly showing you the date and time, and perhaps even if you have unread mail or IM's waiting for you, but if its just to display images its just a toy
If somebody managed to put a screen behind the logo, that means that there was some extra space in the original design. That seems very un-maclike. Apple has, repeatedly, shown a willingness to make considerable design sacrifices in order to shave off a few millimeters.
You could do virtually anything with this mod - as one poster put it, put the image from the camera on it, or you could scroll RSS feeds, put other logos inside the Apple cutout just to screw with people, an animated eye looking around and winking, etc.
Maybe just a toy, but a very cool toy that could easily be very useful.
I really like the idea of an eye looking around and blinking. You could even have it follow your cursor on the screen that you see so you could have it look at people and follow them around the room. Wink on a click.
Very fun! The guy is clever!
...as "An anonymous reader from the Macmod forum wrote in with this appalling hack"
Given the amount of effort required just to install a tiny screen that faces away from you while you use the MacBook, I think my interpretation might be more accurate!
You can advertise in this sig from as little as £99.99 a month!
Anyone else think that said "MacBook Modded With Second Monitor Inside Lego" at first?
My other car is a 1984 Nark Avenger.
Maybe just a toy, but a very cool toy that could easily be very useful.
I really like the idea of an eye looking around and blinking.
You and I have very different definitions for the word "useful".
For those who may be having difficulty accessing TF(slashdotted)A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5GZNHPfo0
Reply to That ||
I read the article before the site went down, and the video is very impressive, the screen is recognized as a secondary screen, so you can basically display anything you want on it. In the video it shows playing some videos, an iTunes visualization and the output of the built in webcam (iSight).
The best weapon of a dictatorship is secrecy, but the best weapon of a democracy should be the weapon of openness.
You can see the screen glowing through the black plastic slightly. He should have painted the inside of the lid in that area to prevent the bleed-through.
Not sure how useful or if it's even an improvement, but based on the bleed-through, he's not quite finished yet.
Sheldon
the video is very impressive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is5GZNHPfo0
Reply to That ||
Windows sideshow!
Wouldn't it have made more sense to cut out a portion of the lid and make the whole screen usable? I'm thinking presentations in environments that have no beamer handy. Say a meeting consisting of four people or so...
A toy if your case is open. Closed it could give you information in the form of icons. Or you could rent it out as ad space. Or a clock or ...
And anyway indeed way cool. Makes me want one.
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.
While the visuals are absolutely stunning... I think this takes MacLoving to an all new level. I mean come on, a flaming apple? Whats next? The two Steves doing the tango?
Unfortunately you can't close a Macbook without it going into standby. Not without a hack anyway.
The back light is off when the case is closed, so you can't see this. This is just a "toy" as you said, or more accurately a way of showing off (which is what the glowing Apple logo has always been). The sell an amazing number of machines because of that logo. It's easy to look around a room and see who's cool and who isn't.
Why do we still have this particular rating? Do comments moderated "Overrated" still skip metamoderation, and if so, why is it still there? If a comment is overrated, isn't it overrated for a reason? I usually get modded down as "Troll" when someone disagrees with me, I guess iFanboys are slightly smarter than the average troll.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
What would be extra cool would be to put a touch screen there. Then you can have a user interface to a music player, ability to check mail, etc. without opening your laptop.
It might save on battery life when you don't have to look at the full screen. That's assuming that the smaller screen draws less power.
Much harder mod though.
... they could put a server in their server to withstand a /. tsunami!
that's what xeyes is for...
If you just installed a second screen in a laptop lid, I doubt that's going to phase you...
If by useful you mean useless, then yes I agree.
I usually get modded down as "Troll" when someone disagrees with me, I guess iFanboys are slightly smarter than the average troll.
Whooops! I guess I spoke too soon. Hey kids, if you believe what you're saying, you're not trolling. To suggest otherwise is to abuse the moderation system. Too bad the powers-that-be don't actually care - they took the suggestion to report abuse of moderation out of the FAQ. Slashdot is a video game (why else do you need a scoring system?) populated primarily by griefers. Too bad they seem to get a disproportionate share of those mod points that guarantee that the people most qualified to comment and vote on a particular story will only be permitted to do one or the other.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I always wanted to have laptop's back lid logo something like alienware's alien head. But this one would be slightly bigger and with eyes connected to the inverse HDD activity. Just imagine how distracting that would that be.
Trolls are like broken clocks. They show the truth two times a day. The rest of the day they talk nonsense.
Not true. If another display is attached, they can go into clamshell mode. Or you can just install InsomniaX
-mkb
If only there was some kind of forum to discuss and learn how to do that... :-)
Come play free flash games on Kongregate!
You can have a laptop with a screen on the outside like Asus etc have done for Windows machines for the last couple of years. You know, that feature that Vista introduced.
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
at 10:58 est
an animated eye looking around and winking, etc.
That begs the question, can you wink with one eye?
I haven't read any other comments yet, but I'm using my psychic powers to predict that they will be full of people who cheer when someone spends months on a Windows or Linux casemod, calling this stupid because it's on a Mac.
Let's go check, shall we?
What idiot thought that was a good idea?
What if i was just going to the loo and just wanted to hide the screen?
Now it goes into standby, possibly killing sessions, etc.
Hm, not quite as many trolls as I expected. Pleasantly surprised. I guess I'm...sort of psychic?
(ftr, I am typing this on a MacBook, as my ThinkPad charges next to me).
Dude, I think I can see my house from here.
Yes, this would instantly be 100x better with a touch screen, makes it infinitely more useful because now you don't even need to open the thing to see those e-mails or RSS or control music.
The only awkward part would be the edges of the apple interfering with rectangular windows.
The part at the top could be used to scroll through things, top-right to scroll up, bottom-left to scroll down.
I guess they could easily just write a simple interface for other programs, plugins, etc.
If i were Apple, i'd so be stealing his idea right now.
Its a silly (but very impressive) hack, but its a lot of fun. It strikes me that Apple ought to consider building a tiny screen into the logo themselves in the next generation.
It catches the attention of anyone looking at the laptop, its a way to show off or distinguish your laptop from any others nearby, and the entire time you are looking at whats happening *you are looking at an Apple logo*, surely thats got to be a marketing dweeb's wetdream. All they need to do is include it in the system without it using up the 2nd monitor slot. :P
"The first time I got drunk, I got married. The second time I bought a chimpanzee, after that I stayed sober" Arian Seid
Yo dawg I herd u liek monitors so i put a monitor in yo monitor so you can display while you display!
Srsly u guys. U guys, srsly.
There really should be some sort of licensing procedure for using the phrase "beg the question"... but yeah, agree with the winking/blinking distinction.
Set your phasers on "funky"!
Who cares, its a personal computer. If you installed a webcam on a server or are dual screening on your print server its stupid. If its your own personal laptop you can, you know, have fun with it. That's why people have things like games, or music, or movies, or spinning 3d cube desktops, etc... on their computers.
The comment a little further down has a youtube link, and the cool factor on this is through the roof (IMnsHO). I can't wait till OLED screens get commercially viable so manufacturers can throw in nice touches like this for people that want it on the cheap.
I would say so. Blinking mostly involves the eyelids where a wink also includes movement of the face below the eye and optionally head movement.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
So what are you then, a wannabe with a Thinkpad?
Cray did even a more weird thing, on a multi million supercomputer which at most 4-5 super security cleared technicians would see in physical form.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cray_T3D
(from Wiki)
'The Cray T3D MC cabinet had an Apple Macintosh PowerBook laptop built into its front. Its only purpose was to display animated Cray Research and T3D logos on its color LCD screen.'
And it was 5th on Top 500 back in 1998.
If only they had added a second server inside it too...
Well my Macbook still goes into standby with another display attached. The reason it goes into standby is because it vents heat out through the keyboard. If you install a hack like InsomniaX, you risk overheating your CPU.
MySQL its better for websites? well, not so much!
Database Error: Unable to connect to the database:Could not connect to MySQL
Hey guys.. im the one that did the mod.. I have put up a small website to keep you guys updated with tutorials, and even this very macbook on ebay here soon! Check it out! http://www.edsjunk.net
On my MPB, if it's plugged in, I just have to attach or remove a USB device to wake the computer up, even while the lid is closed. It does get a little warm but it's not bad. The important thing is to leave the back unobstructed.
Keep up with the news of this mod here.. http://www.edsjunk.net
I will post tutorials, services, and even a link to a ebay auction if i decide to sell this macbook!!
To everyone who bashes this because it's not "useful," how about spinning rims? They're heavier, less practical, and more expensive than regular rims - not "useful" at all - and (some) people love them. I look at this the same way. If you think it's stupid, OK. But just admit that while you find it stupid, there are a lot of people who would love it (like the parent post says).
This post has the "personal computer" thing right. It's not a whole lot different than the purely cool-looking window effects that Compiz provides.
My grandmother used anecdotal evidence all the time, and she lived to be 120 years old.
I would love to see an animation of the Apple logo being eaten. All white, then play a "crunch" noise, blacken out a bite-sized piece of the screen, repeat.
It's a cool-looking mod, I think, and since it's a screen it's instantly customizable to the user's preference. I'm honestly surprised that a laptop maker hasn't tried this before. A bendable e-Ink display could be applied to the back of the screen, allowing you to make your laptop look like anything you like, for instance, without draining power. I think we'll see a lot more of this in the future.
They should import the image from the iSight camera :)
Your house must stink ;)
He likely used something like this USB OLED kit. That would make more sense than using the external video port for sure.
The pictures look so obviously fake.
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http://forums.msiwind.net/osx-guides/guide-glowing-apple-logo-using-lcd-backlight-wiring-t9266.html and from Hackintosh: "..hacking a hole in the lid of his netbook and letting the LED backlight shine through. He even ordered an old iBook lid from Ebay to mount in his hole." http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/hackintosh-with.html
Argh... sorry. I am wrong - last page of the forum post says something about a second screen - sorry!
Apparently if I make a comment about the Bush administration inventing false intelligence to justify an illegal attack on a foreign nation using Bush's name it's flamebait, but if I just allude to it by mentioning Saddam and the WMDs I can get a +5 comment. Way to abuse the moderation system, children. (Sure, it seems a lot like whining. But if we don't complain then obviously we enjoy the status quo.)
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
That is such a gross mis-characterization of the dynamics within the Apple community that it truly sickens me.
Everyone who is anyone knows that Steve Jobs can only get off by rubbing his unit between a man's thighs.
em ... so why do we need this? it is not so useful thing ... also we should pay for this mini no micro monitor .... IMHO main monitor is just enough ...
PS. so even you dont see the second monitor
It doesn't beg the question, it raises it!
You want to talk wanna-be, talk about the guy at my job who, on his work ThinkPad, has an Apple sticker placed just so.
What a loser.
Someone should mod the camcorder used to document this, possibly with a tripod?
You can keep your Macbook awake after closing the lid. In fact, a little free app called InsomniaX makes it very easy.
I could see it fitting a clock with email notifier or something else handy.
LOL, I'm typing this with my MacBook, which is also sitting next to a Thinkpad. I'm also toying with the idea of cloning the Thinkpad into a VM and running VMWare fusion. It'll run faster than the T41 does, and would have more RAM & disk space... However, I doubt that the nanny-ware and other crap IT forces on us would work. That, and customers would not appreciate a camera in their fab. As to the whole LCD in the apple bit, that is a bit much. Pure geek, to be sure, but utterly pointless.
OSX pwns.