Beautiful Case Modding 311
Miles S.F. writes "Thought you guys might appreciate this little project I've been working on.
This is what happens when the left and right brain get bored and start talking with each other." Excellent case mods, entertaining reading, good ideas, and a solid site design. Worth a read if only to see the case modded to include a furby.
Nothing special... (Score:5, Funny)
What's the advantage of having to click your case to get at the power supply?
not on the web (Score:5, Interesting)
But seriously, I think Slashdot submitters should make sure the linked information is on the web. Flash doesn't count.
A tip for Mozilla users:
-- or wherever your plugin directory is. It works with other Mozilla-based browsers such as Phoenix and Galeon. It stops the browser asking if you want to get Flash every time you load a page with a flash file on it. You will get just one more annoying pop-up, on which you can tell it to stop bothering you about plugins.
You can use a special separate instance of Mozilla for when you want to use plugins. It's much less trouble than dealing with them all the time when you're just trying to browse the web.
Furby (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Furby (Score:3, Funny)
Mainstream (Score:5, Interesting)
I think case modding is rapidly becoming to computers what hot rodding is to cars. More and more people are customising their systems to add some individuality, which is hardly surprising given the prevalence of beige...
Re:Mainstream (Score:5, Funny)
"Trading Cases"
You're quite right (Score:3, Funny)
Just like a market sprang up to take advantage of idiot teenage kids by selling them coffee cans mufflers for $300 a piece, I'm sure an industry will also spring up to sell heatsinks engraved with Wozniak's autograph and licked by Torvalds' pet goat for $500 a pop.
No wait, how many of these teeny bopper leet-freaks even know who Woz is?
Re:Mainstream (Score:2)
Uhhh yeah - except that case modding has absolutely no *practical* value. Zero.
At least with hot rodding you end up with a faster car. Or that's the idea anyway. I still haven't figured out how a cherry bomb muffler and a "Type R" windshield sticker make your Honda any faster.
Re:Mainstream (Score:2)
's funny you say that. I used to work at a mathematics center where we had big supercomputers, IOW "Tomorrows technology". Only, we always said that "Tommorows technology broke down again today", because our SGI Origin 3800 had a few, well, problems when we first got it :)
Oh, and no, I don't work there anymore. It was interesting though.
Re:Mainstream (Score:2)
Yea nice, but.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Nothing... (Score:2, Interesting)
I don't know of any great pictures off by heart, so here are two random links:
http://www.coolcasemods.com/gallery.php?p=50
h
Re:Nothing... (Score:4, Insightful)
Except the fact that it now has like NO ventilation. Well very little anyway.
Acer case (Score:2, Interesting)
Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:5, Informative)
So, use Plexiglass if you want to help prevent scratches. Use Lexan if you want to try to bulletproof your PC.
Bulletproof PC (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:3, Insightful)
Somehow I doubt plexiglass is good for a computer considering the amount of static that stuff has. The plastic wrap you see on it isn't wrapped around it, its held on each side due to static cling.
Re:Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:2)
Re:Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:2)
WTF? Were you backcatcher for the Archery team?
Re:Lucite is NOT Lexan (Score:3, Interesting)
I fight in armor, and in the kingdom I'm part of, we have archery on the war field, and use lexan face protection (as well as the heavy guage bars) to prevent arrow splinters from getting into our eyes.
The arrows themselves had "markland blunts" on them - rubber tips about 3/4ths of an inch across, and a maximum draw weight of 30 pounds at 30 inches.
Lightweight, and soft hitting - but shards or the butt end of an arrow could still ruin your day. The lexan needed to be tough because it was taking blows from rataan swords that were NOT light, and would cause lesser plastic to shatter.
Case mods are fun! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Case mods are fun! (Score:4, Funny)
I think that some people would just drive better if you just blackened out all their windows and installed a computer screen in the front window. Hook it up a digital camera and then they convince themselves that they are in a racing game and I believe that their driving skills would improve.
The only bad thing would be if the driver thought it was like GTA3 and started running over pedestrans because "They are not real."
Re:Case mods are fun! (Score:2)
what's he doing? (Score:5, Funny)
is he ASKING to be slashdotted? what is he, insane?
Re:what's he doing? (Score:5, Funny)
I used to work where his site is hosted, please, everyone press refresh a few times more for me
Based on Experience? (Score:4, Funny)
Was this something you found out from personal experience or just an old case modder's maxim that you're repeating for the sake of posterity?
Uhm, no. (Score:5, Funny)
> This is what happens when the left and right brain get bored and start talking with each other.
No, schizophrenia is what happens when the left and right brain get bored and start talking with each other.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Mirror: (Score:5, Funny)
Not a quote you want to hear out side of modding.. (Score:5, Funny)
A cool site (All that flash stuff will just increase the
Re:Not a quote you want to hear out side of moddin (Score:3, Funny)
Noooo!!!!!!
Re:Not a quote you want to hear out side of moddin (Score:3, Insightful)
i think flash probably REDUCED the
Fast and the Furious II (Score:3, Funny)
Mastercard lives (Score:4, Funny)
18" inch wheels: $1600
ridiculously high functionless wing: $1000
noisy coffee can like tail pipe: $500
mp3 player that resembles furby and takes up the entire back seat: $1200
Knowing you're the liberace of side show circuit with your 115 hp honda civic: Priceless
"Thought you guys might appreciate this" (Score:2, Funny)
What was he thinking? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:What was he thinking? (Score:2, Informative)
Slashdot: Don't bother linking to Flash-only sites (Score:2, Insightful)
It appears that a LOT of readers either don't have or have disabled Flash, and I'm one of them. It might be worth waiting until the website repairs their site into something standards-conforming. HTML + PNG preferred.
Re:Slashdot: Don't bother linking to Flash-only si (Score:3, Interesting)
Actually he probably should convert all the images to ASCII so that someone with Lynx can see it. Common, the site isnt Broken cuz its flash. If you dont have falsh installed your missing alot of funny and interesting stuff on the web.
Re:Slashdot: Don't bother linking to Flash-only si (Score:2)
I have one machine here that has Flash installed, but Javascript is disabled, so the site is useless anyway [unless it was just not responding due to the /. effect].
Now I'm in danger of being called names for not enabling Javascript, no doubt. It's not even that a site needs to be terribly "standards" conforming -- who cares if the webpages starts with a DOCTYPE or just goes straight to an HTML tag? And while PNG might be nice, GIF and JPEG work just as well.
Ah, well, I wonder how hard it would be to modify the /. preferences to include "Ignore articles that refer to flash-only or javascript-required sites."
Re:Slashdot: Don't bother linking to Flash-only si (Score:2)
It appears that a LOT of readers either don't have or have disabled Flash, and I'm one of them. It might be worth waiting until the website repairs their site into something standards-conforming. HTML + PNG preferred.
give me a break... you know what you are? a standards snob. is xhtml ok? will gif cut the mustard if it's lighter and looks the same? do you roll over all of the images of every site you visit and get their url to make sure they conform to your standards?
marshall mcluhan aside, the medium is not the entirety of the message. it's really pigheaded to reject content out of hand based on the delivery format.
flash is an open file format (look here [openswf.org] and the latest version of flash has gone a long way towards meeting accessibility requirements [nngroup.com]. so suck it up, and stop spreading FUD.
Re:Slashdot: Don't bother linking to Flash-only si (Score:2)
Yes, you can make a perfectly good information bearing website out of pure HTML. If you're a company trying to promote your business, or just a person trying to promote themselves, then you probably do want to use the most backward-compatable code you possibly can. But not all of the internet is about doing business. I know it's hard to imagine, given that it has more ads than NYC, but there are parts of the internet not entirely about self-promotion.
HTML and its variants can also be an artistic medium; easily as much so as actual programming languages or traditional media. Maybe you believe that nothing on a webpage should move, but perhaps a web designer with an artistic streak feels that his personal, non-promotional webpage really Needs to have a spiffy rotating interface. If you don't like it, don't go look at it, but don't try to tell us all how to design webpages. This guy's page is just about his personal case-modding. He's not trying to sell cases or promote himself for something. He's not even offering any content that you might really need access to. He's writing about his artistic expression, and I can't think of any more appropriate subject matter to be creative in the formatting of. I'm sure he could have made a very sleek, stream-lined, professional page in pure HTML with PNG images, but he apparently didn't want to. I happen to have flash and javascript both enabled, and (as a former professional web designer with an artistic bent who never used flash or javascript for a professional page) I thought it looked pretty good.
So if you don't like flash, then fine, turn it off and be happy. But don't say that if it's not pure HTML it's not worth looking at. It's like saying that painters should only be allowed to use black and white, so as to not offend the colorblind.
Am I missing something? (Score:5, Interesting)
How about a wood case? How about a leather clad case to match your wife's purse? How about a faux fur case? How about a carpet case to match your floor? How about a Shoji-Screen type case? How about a pyramid case? A dice-colored case?
Or how about a case that doesn't slowly cook their users by emitting massive unshielded electromagnetic radiation?
Of course that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Re:Am I missing something? (Score:2)
That, and wood is highly combustable. PC's generate great amounts of heat. Excessive Heat insulated even more by a Combusatble Wood Case. hmm...
Re:Am I missing something? (Score:2)
Re:Am I missing something? (Score:3, Interesting)
1 [overclockers-network.com] 2 [overclockers-network.com] 3 [overclockers-network.com] 4 [overclockers-network.com] 5 [overclockers-network.com] 6 [overclockers-network.com] 7 [overclockers-network.com] 8 [overclockers-network.com] 9 [overclockers-network.com] 10 [overclockers-network.com] 11 [overclockers-network.com]
Re:Am I missing something? (Score:2)
Scientific Discovery! (Score:5, Funny)
1) Slashdot will post just about any case mod "story" that gets submitted.
2) People who submit case-mod "stories", even with the knowledge of what the Slashdot Effect is, will gladly let their web-server burst into flames just so people can see what shaky-handed work they did with a Dremel tool and a piece of aluminum.
Flashdotted (Score:2)
sofa mod (Score:2, Funny)
Re:sofa mod (Score:2, Funny)
Recommendations (Score:3, Insightful)
And on the subject of design: your front page would be a hell of a lot better if you did it in HTML. It's a static page -- nothing's moving around, no music (not that this is a bad thing). You could design a page in HTML with images that looks exactly the same, would be smaller, faster to load, and viewable by those without the Flash plugin. You don't need a forklift when you can just use your hands.
CD-Rom (Score:5, Insightful)
Basically the CD-ROM runs open, painted nicely, and under a plexiglass opening in the top. You can watch the disc spin. Very nice, something I will keep in mind if/when I get around to doing a case mod.
I also like the heavy use of those $6 rope-lights. Much cheaper/more flexible than neon, though they do get warm (I have one, it's like 35 watts and runs on house current)...
Danger! Danger Will Robinson! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Danger! Danger Will Robinson! (Score:2)
Re:Danger! Danger Will Robinson! (Score:5, Informative)
That dummy opens up his monitor and doesn't even mention to the general public that they need to discharge the 20 000 Volts inside before doing anything.
What a dumbass. Not to mention his shiny new monitor will blow up in no time now -- old IBM monitors were famous for blowing their output transistors (or so I'm told) due to heat buildup. Since he has about 1/10th of the original ventilation... BOOM!
Not to even get into the RF coming out of the gaping hole in that case. I wouldn't want to be this guys neighbour...
BIG EFFIN' WARNING (Score:5, Informative)
They should not really be mucked about with by case modders unless they carry lots of life insurance and don't care about getting electrocuted.
If you're going for the "Young Einstein" look, then maybe modding monitor cases could be a lucrative career option for you, but for everyone else? Well, the what-should-be-obvious applies:WARNING! HIGH VOLTAGE!
Re:BIG EFFIN' WARNING (Score:2)
on average, 12 people a year die from dropping a monitor. and its not a pleasant death, either.
Please don't do this. (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Please don't do this. (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:BIG EFFIN' WARNING (Score:3, Informative)
A screwdriver is designed to protect you from crossing line voltage at 110 volts -- 25kv will very likely break down the insulation in the grip instantly, shocking and possibly killing you. Even if it doesn't -- 25kv will cause a small explosion when it hits the screwdriver. Pieces of metal, fire and smoke will fly everywhere. There's a reason the procedures for shorting a CRT involve using electrical gloves rated over 10kv, a faceshield, goggles and a shorting probe that's certified above the level of electricity you're dealing with.
Re:BIG EFFIN' WARNING (Score:3, Informative)
If anyone wants to do a bit of monitor modding, please PLEASE keep it off for about a week or so. The problem is that the CRT is basically a huge capacitor, storing something like 25,000 volts. Let the damn thing drain before taking it apart.
Good luck
Re:BIG EFFIN' WARNING (Score:3, Informative)
Another point: Even if you do know how to do this, don't work alone -- it's too easy to make a mistake, and 25kv can seriously mess you up. It may not even kill you right away -- I've heard of cases where someone was shocked, failed to report it, and dropped dead up to 12 hours later for no apparent reason. High voltage is EXTREMELY dangerous.
Re:BIG EFFIN' WARNING (Score:2, Informative)
I did, however, learn from the local TV repairman how to fiddle with them safely & have torn apart a TV or two in my time for spare parts & whatnot. Basically, there are some *huge* capacitors and that lovely coil on the back of the tube that can carry a charge. Generally, you should leave the device unplugged for a few days (depending on how humid it is there; the more humid it is, the more likely it is that more of the voltage has leaked away--do NOT store things in a very humid environment on purpose, though!) and things will be allright. HOWEVER, you should still get a good, fat wire (so it can handle the current without melting), connect one end to ground & the other to the blade of a screwdriver (with a NON-CONDUCTIVE HANDLE, mind you--wearing rubber gloves, too, might be overkill, but they wouldn't hurt...). You then poke the screwdriver around, shorting all the capacitors you can find & being sure to touch that big, fat coil you see in there, too. After you've seen enough sparks & can't seem to find any more, THEN, it should be safe to work on the electronics.
Oh yeah, BE CAREFUL concerning the tube. It's a *vacuum* tube so it *will* implode if you crack it. If you're destroying the TV/monitor anyhow, it's best to remove it, put it in *several* thick plastic bags & gently tap on the back, where it's drawn out into this thin little protrusion until you hear a soft hissing. That's air finding its way into the tube. Wait until it's done (you DON'T want to have to clean up the thousands of glass shards if you really get it to violetnly implode--many of those shards would otherwise be embedded in YOU) and then you can dispose of the tube safely. DO NOT just put a vacuum tube like that in the trash. Your garbage man will hate you for it when it implodes on him & scatters glass shards everywhere.
I think that's about it. If anyone has any other questions, get someone qualified to answer them & DO NOT TRY THIS unless you know what you're doing... It's a good way to get hurt; thankfully all I've ever suffered were burns from my soldering iron (*ouch*)
ROFL (Score:5, Funny)
That is soooo wrong!
And a lil PS to all the whiny bitches complainin' bout the site. Boo freakin hoo, cry me a river. Flash may suck, but so did Java, and that didn't stop everyone from mounting it like a rabid dog, eh? Stop yer complainin' and enjoy some resonably-decent mods, wouldya?
Re:ROFL (Score:2, Funny)
What I was annoyed at was the people who posted "flash sucks!" without anything else to say. If it was just a few of them, or if it was put in with viable comments, that would be fine, but 30 of them in a row ticked me off. If I was the creator of the site, I'd hope for some insight from a front-page slashdotting, not hearing how I must rape small goats because my front page is flash.
That said, I agree it blows. I want a plain text version with ALT text. If I'm feeling generous, I may allow you to use frames. (remember when web pages had, like 7 different frames? damn, those were the days). Change your front page to a pretty picture, and link to your flash and your text.
Damn, now I'm nostalgic... remember the little gifs that said "Lynx Unfriendly"? I loved the irony....
Ok, I'll go away now =)
Actually it's more of a work in progress (Score:2)
Kjella
Don't Be A Darwin Award Winner! (Score:5, Informative)
How did he do it? He removed the cover to the power supply and mounted it flush to the bottom of the case. That power supply is nekkid in the case. This is going to be his KIDS GAMING COMPUTER. The plexi cover is hinged so that, presumably, the kids can fix the interior components themselves.
Holy $#!^, this is a BAD THING. Kids will be kids, they haven't had basic electrical engineering yet. Opening up a power supply is *always* a bad idea, there are capacitors in there that'll take a dangerously indefinite "while" to discharge when the system is unplugged. I can't stress enough that a naked power supply is a high-amperage electric shock waiting to happen.
Miles, dude, if you're reading this, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THAT POWER SUPPLY!
Re:Don't Be A Darwin Award Winner! (Score:4, Funny)
sheesh. Assuming the child using the computer is at least 4, at worse hell get shot acros the floor and through a breaker. probably teach an important lesson.
www.mini-itx.com (Score:3, Interesting)
The first Slashdot story to soley boost a resume? (Score:3, Funny)
"wrote flash program viewed by over 100,000 people!"
and
"/. did a story that used my flash skills"
And the Darwin award goes to... (Score:5, Interesting)
This Guy!
Opening up your monitor should always come with some sort of DEATH IS EMMINANT warning. And running your power supply with the cover off? What the? Especially with little kids around, sheesh.
On a more intelligent note, does anyone have any background or experience with removing the shielding on cases? I remember visiting an engineering firm where they field tested new electronic devices to see if they met FCC requirements for emissions - they noted that they have tested computer equipment and cases before, although they mainly stick to car radios and whatnot, and that they have rejected many test subjects. Most case mods involve some sort of window that I would tend to think would cause interference with adjacent electronic devices. Any thoughts on this, or anyone know of problems setting modded cases next to your monitor/speakers/TV/entertainment equipment? Perhaps all the other devices' shielding is enough to protect it.
Re:And the Darwin award goes to... (Score:2)
geeze, i guess Apple Mac Tech coursework was an exercize in assisted suicide then... Geeze, I wonder how they put them together without KILLING THEMSELVES?!
An Open Fan on a Kids PC - Ouch (Score:2, Informative)
The best part of the site (Score:2, Funny)
I like this guy.
The evolution of "pretty" computers (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not making any judgements, just making an observation.
Re:It's Creativity! (Score:2)
My point was simply that until Apple came out with their "tract homes", nobody really paid much attention to how their PCs looked. If you've moved beyond the Mac and are making your own modifications to your PC case, that's great, but you have to admit that Apple sparked something.
What the fuck shitty browser do you use??? (Score:5, Funny)
"I'd like to see that case mod, but, man, that guy's using images..."
- A.P.
Re:What the fuck shitty browser do you use??? (Score:2)
We use WebTrends at work, and it's always funny seeing "RedHat -1.0" as one of the entries in the OS list (I run Windows XP and RH 8 GNU/Linux).
Be sure and remove the spaces inserted by
Jouster
Re:I'd love to look at it... (Score:4, Funny)
Apparently I am too, since the site is slashdotted.
Re:Just install flash. :-0! (Score:3, Interesting)
The major reason to not install it: How the hell do you make it go away? Why can't I disable it, or get a pop-up "Would you like ot view the Flash content on this webpage?" After installing Flash, I see lots of stupid ads that never bugged me before.
Flash was cool like five years ago when gabocorp.com was making us cream our jeans. Now it's basically a glorified pop-up ad, and I don't have the patience any longer.
Re:Just install flash. :-0! (Score:3, Insightful)
There is a way to turn it on and off at will via shortcuts (in win200), it works well.
I made the same comlaint a wile back, and someone told me how. Unfortunatly, since /.'s search engine leave much to be desired. I can't find the origonal post on how to do it. Hopefully someone will post it again.
Found it! (Score:3, Informative)
Disable: %windir%\SYSTEM32\regsvr32.exe C:\WinNT\System32\Macromed\Flash\swflash.ocx /u
Enable: %windir%\SYSTEM32\regsvr32.exe C:\WinNT\System32\Macromed\Flash\swflash.ocx
That's what I have for my shorcuts, you may have to change the path a bit for your box.
Spumco ruled the net... (Score:2)
Spumco Studios did more for Flash as art form than anyone. "Weekend Pussy Hunt," "The Goddamn George Liquor Show"...great fsckn stuff. Only people in their league was Camp Chaos, famous for "Napster Bad!" and "This Thing Of Ours" which was The Sopranos before The Sopranos were The Sopranos. I think they're still around: http://www.campchaos.com/ [campchaos.com]
Spumco now have the happy situation of being busy with two different projects, "The Ripping Friends" and the revival of "The Ren & Stimpy Show" so they can't really spend much more time doing online cartoons anymore. Their website isn't even up anymore, alas. But the prospect of more Ren & Stimpy episodes and more Ripping Friends episodes makes their web silence bearable.
Spumco contributed a lot of ideas to Macromedia during the evolution of the Flash product. Whether that's a good thing or not depends on what you think about Flash. But many of the improvements in the program during its evolution are directly traceable to feedback from Spumco.
Re:Just install flash. :-0! (Score:2)
The worst part is, my company is developing products in Flash. They wanted me to help, so I installed their content-generation tool, Flash MX. I was afraid, but I guess so many people hate what they create with the damn thing, they forced the issue--there's a box at one point that allows you to not install the plugin for IE. AND IT DEFAULTS TO NO! I just about crapped my pants when I saw that.
Jouster
Re:Just install flash. :-0! (Score:2)
If he doesn't want to bother making his information available for those that don't want to or can't install this plug-in, I'm not going to bother installing that plug-in to view his content. *shrug* It's really not worth it to me.
Standards should always be the lowest-common denominator, with fluff like Flash used for tasks where it's appropriate, and only as a supplement. Here it appears he's relying 100% on it for his entire web site (or is it a "flash site" now?).
I might as well build a web site that just contains a Windows
Re:I'd love to look at it... (Score:2)
"Go bite a sidewalk" would be a fair enough reply.
> it's just a case of tracking where the main plugin directory
> is for each particular combination of distro and Mozilla.
That part's easy. I know where the plugins go. The problem is,
convincing myself to tollerate having Flash installed. I can't.
Last time I had it installed, it didn't make it 24 hours before going
into a deletium tube. I'm one of those guys who deletes the default
plugin just so I won't have to keep getting the "install flash"
dialog boxes. (The plugins I _want_, such as Java, I already have.)
I don't _want_ my browser to flash. I want it to lay the page out
once and then leave it that way so I can read it. If the page author
has a problem with that, there are millions of other sites out there,
and I won't have time to read even just the interesting ones anyway.
Re:I'd love to look at it... (Score:2)
a) runs in a sandbox.
b) runs in a window.
c) requires my explicit permission to do anything more than add one and one together and display the result.
Neither JavaScript nor Flash have these properties. I'm on WinXP, so it's trivial for me to install Flash (just click once on the "Missing Plugin" image). There is, of course, no chance in hell that I'm going to do this.
Somebody's
And before you accuse me of hypocrisy for not liking ads but using
Jouster
Re:Site Design (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Site Design (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Site Design (Score:2)
Re:Flash Site (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:A "solid site design"... (Score:2)
Re:That Furby Mod is Pretty Sick (Score:5, Funny)
Erm... Dare I even remark on the last half of that statement?
Re:That Furby Mod is Pretty Sick (Score:2, Funny)
Could you post a picture of that?
Re:Interference from rope lights? (Score:3, Funny)
dam6 keyb0ard 1t a1way5 d0e5 thi5. 1 can`7 f1gure 1t 0u7.