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Hardware Technology

A Different Way To Recycle Old PCs 213

Posted by timothy from the better-than-most-modern-art dept.
Anonymous Coward writes "Glasgow based artist Sandy Smith has some slightly different suggestions for what to do with those outdated PCs and Apple Macs -- build your home out of them! Photographs of his work; rooms and structures made out of up to 100 (switched-on) computers and other equipment can be seen at computersforart.org/create/; these should be of interest to anyone who has a habit of collecting old (working) computers, or just hates the thought of throwing out their old 486 friend."
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A Different Way To Recycle Old PCs More

A Different Way To Recycle Old PCs

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  • Hmm. (Score:5, Funny)

    by The Amazing Fish Boy ( 863897 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:26AM (#12125201) Homepage Journal
    Glasgow based artist Sandy Smith has some slightly different suggestions for what to do with those outdated PCs and Apple Macs -- build your home out of them!

    I'll have to ask my mom if I can build a house in her basement.

    Aw, she says I have to bathe first.


    BTW, Coral cache mirror [nyud.net], MirrorDot mirror [mirrordot.org]

  • Junk (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:26AM (#12125203)
    It looks like my basement. [computersforart.org]

  • You wouldn't need a heater... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Mikito ( 833242 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:27AM (#12125207)
    ...if you had a house built of running PCs.

    That would be quite an electric bill, though.

    • Re:You wouldn't need a heater... (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dncsky1530 ( 711564 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:56AM (#12125312) Homepage
      Funny as it may be, the parent as a point, with the worlds store of oil depleading, and the ozone layer getting worse by the day, projects like this aren't helping the problem. This may only be one case, however many more people keep old, old computers running for no reason, using up alot of electricity that doesn't need to be used.
      • Having all these computers turned on will generate some heat. His ovens will probably have thermostats, so they will simply spend more time being idle. You have probably heard that energy doesn't disappear, it just takes on new shapes? Well, the heat output from a computer compared to the electricity input is no less than that of an oven. It doesn't really matter whether you spend 1000W using an oven or a bunch of computers.

        But I just remembered that large parts of the world isn't quite as cold as Norway,

        • Re:You wouldn't need a heater... (Score:5, Interesting)

          by wwwillem ( 253720 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @09:06AM (#12126077) Homepage
          Here in (also cold) Canada, I visited a customer recently to discuss a thin-client solution. One of their comments was that when all those PCs would disappear from the desktop they could be having a heating problem. They had a rather new building and when the heating system for that office was dimensioned, the amount of heat produced by the PCs was calculated in. Which resulted in a smaller furnice.

      • Re:You wouldn't need a heater... (Score:4, Informative)

        by argent ( 18001 ) <peter&slashdot,2006,taronga,com> on Sunday April 03, 2005 @08:55AM (#12126012) Homepage Journal
        This may only be one case, however many more people keep old, old computers running for no reason, using up alot of electricity that doesn't need to be used

        How much electricity does it take to make a new computer to replace them?

        Not to mention that when I switched from a new 1.7 GHz PC to a 400 MHz half-decade-old Mac my room became much cooler in the summer. Older computers may well use less electricity than newer ones.
        • "running for no reason"

          He appeared to be giving out about those who run old computers for the sake of keeping up geek appearances. Certainly, if an old machine does the job, use it, so long as the job isn't adding to the matrix screensavers around your desk.
          • He appeared to be giving out about those who run old computers for the sake of keeping up geek appearances.

            Those tend to be "run" in the sense of "yes, that one still boots up, let me show you...".

            If someone's keeping a computer on just to display a Matrix screensaver and leaves it running much of the time, that's a different kettle of CO2 emissions.

    • Re:You wouldn't need a heater... (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I tried building one once, but I ran out of IP addresses just below the roofline...
    • There's nothing like spending a cold winter's night curled up infront of the firewall...

      When that thing catches fire, my irony meter will go through the roof:

      A wall of firewalls, on fire. Something named after a method of fire prevention, on fire. Someone call the Brits, only they can handle this one...

  • had to say it (Score:1, Funny)

    by sfcat ( 872532 )
    Imagine a beowolf cluster of these...
    • Imagine a beowolf cluster of these...

      Yeah, I can just feeeeel the awsome computing power equivalent to three gameboys and a HP48 pocket calculator.

  • Looks like my garage .. (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:29AM (#12125212)
    .. or the study when something's cooking.

    But seriously - what to people consider art ? This looks like someone who just piles computers up and plugs them in. Kind of like kindergarten but with stuff only adults can lift.

    • What defines art? No, it's 'WHO' defines art (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Jerry Smith ( 806480 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:40AM (#12125268) Homepage Journal
      Definitions of art:
      http://www.google.nl/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q= define%3Aart [google.nl]
      That's a lot of definitions. Art is art when 'articians' say it is so.
      Authoritarial justification.
      Even extreme things, like burning crosses or crossdressed foetusses can be considered art. And before modding me down for this: I do not agree with the examples I just gave.
      • I disagree...
        Art is "art" to an observer whenever they think something has the qualities of art.
        Errm, in other words:
        Anything at all is art (to the observer) when the observer thinks it is because of a (artistic) quality or meaning percieved...

        If I find a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk artful, then it is to me because I think it is.
        It is arrogant (and unfortunatly common) though to force a perception of art upon others.... that's what pisses people off about the "what defines art" question.
        • So, something can only be defined as art by the person doing the defining, and that definition may or may not agree with another's definition. So, if something can have multiple definitions, does it in fact have no definition at all? And this is why I avoided all the art classes I could and just took more science classes.

        • I think what constitutes Art is something that conveys emotions or a new perception to the observer / listener / participant.

          A lot of "modern" art may mean something profound to the creator (they claim) but it singularly fails to convey anything to the observer - at least not without reading a two page explanation of the work, at which point an intellectual understanding of the meaning may be grasped, but nothing that really stirs the emotions or the mind.

          Of course, my definition could conceivably ru
        • Wow, its like I'm back in art school again! :-)

          I think you are very close to dead on here: art is essentially something that someone calls art. But there is one thing that is being left out. In order to be art there has to be human intervention at some point. Art must be (to at least some extent) man made. Even in the case of those damn painting cats (too lazy to find a link), someone at least had to dip the cat in paint and throw it on a canvas.

          Ultimately the difficulty is not qualifying somethin
        • You are applying your own nihilistic vision of existence upon art. It is attitudes such as your own that are destroying human civilization as we know it.

          Art is not MERELY whatever you want it to be. Art is propaganda. It is the conveyance of an idea, in the hopes that it will instill others with a change in their own value system.

          Your floppy disk is irrelevant in the grand scheme of human existence. It is a tool, not art. No creature alive will be moved by its existence or lack thereof.

          What you call arro

    • Re:Looks like my garage .. (Score:4, Insightful)

      by ksheff ( 2406 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @04:00AM (#12125324) Homepage
      or my living room.

      I would look at some of those pictures and start thinking "I have one of those computers..and one of those..that one too.."

    • Just as something is humor when it makes you laugh, something is art when it makes you stop and wonder. So art is, just like humor, quite personal, and it's not because you don't get it that it's a bad joke per se.
      • I think that the creative process is a necessary part of both humour and art.

        If one creates something and thinks it's art, then it is art. There is an intent involved.

        Of course, you could argue that the creation of an image on your retina with a given intent was thus the creation of an artistic work .... and I probably wouldn't argue with that.

        Other things just happen to be nice to look at or funny. I don't call this art / humour.

  • When laid off, build your shelter out of your pc. (Score:4, Funny)

    by ABeowulfCluster ( 854634 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:30AM (#12125218)
    Looks at old 486... "And this is my living room"

  • Remember (Score:1, Funny)

    by timothv ( 730957 )
    Lead is good for you.

    • Re:Remember (Score:2, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I'm going to feng shui my garbage and pawn it off on ebay to some unsuspecting idiot who thinks it's art.

  • Lain (Score:5, Interesting)

    by tricops ( 635353 ) <tricops1111@@@yahoo...com> on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:36AM (#12125250)
    After looking at the "Untitled (The Sky is Blue)" pictures, I have this strange urge to watch Lain again.... For artwork it's pretty neat, but I can't help thinking "mmmm, radiation".

  • Queer eye for the... (Score:5, Funny)

    by merpal ( 873013 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:39AM (#12125261)
    basement-dwelling nerd who has saved every system he's owned since 1980. :)

    http://www.computersforart.org/create/blue/big/san dy_smith_07.jpg [computersforart.org]

  • Pretty? Scary? Sad? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by The Amazing Fish Boy ( 863897 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:43AM (#12125276) Homepage Journal
    I don't know if it's supposed to be pretty or scary.

    Pictures [computersforart.org] like [computersforart.org] these [computersforart.org] remind me of how eery a society we live in. It's actually kind of depressing or even scary.

    (In an I'm-in-front-of-my-computer-at-4:45AM kind of way)

  • The beowulf cluster... (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    ...it now can compile Gentoo as well as provide shelter from the dreaded sunlight.
  • be sure to call your power company and explain you want to hook in 50 old useless computers in your room and have them permanently plugged in and turned on. They will shortly have a team of very efficient workers there at your beck and call! (it's true and you know it)
    • or if you dont call the power company first then the cops will show up expecting to find a grow operation with hundreds of plants. boy will they be dissapointed. instead they will just find all your pirated software and music you downloaded off of kazaa.

  • Great Concept. (Score:2, Insightful)

    by popo ( 107611 )

    Amateur Execution.
  • Reminds of one guy who builds all his furniture out of computer boxes. unfortionatly I cant find a link for this, otherwise I would provide it. but just to show im not BSing you can see that it was on TV. Ripley's Believe it or not had it on episode 317.. well here is a link, but it only has one pic <URL:http://www.sonypictures.com/tv/shows/ripleys/ database/ep_317a.html>ep317<URL>
    • eh, so im too tired to make the link correctly. sorry about that. here is another link i found
      http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,49473, 00.html ?tw=wn_story_related
    • I've done this myself.

      I had an old base unit - desktop style - with most of its guts ripped out and installed in other working machines - which now has a piece of perfectly shaped wood on top and acts as a bedside cabinet.

      I also have a sliding cup holder which came as standard in my new PC. In my first PC I had to fit one of those myself but was rather relieved to see they came included with new PCs these days...

  • Untitled (The Sky is Blue) looks a lot like Darth Vader's throne. Eh?

  • His bathroom. . . . (Score:3, Interesting)

    by cra ( 172225 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @03:58AM (#12125319) Homepage
    I wonder how he wired his bathroom to avoid execution when taking a shower.
  • Right now I'm looking at my main monitor, which is on top of a commodore 1701 monitor, which is on top of my main computer. Next to that is the C64 itself, surrounded by the floppy and tape drive. On the other side is a socket7 box next to a 486. Scattered in neat little piles nearby are apples, amigas, etc.

    Hey, I'm an artist! Who knew?

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
    • What if someone thinks your desk at work is a piece of art?
      Are they not allowed to?
      Eg, Some 60's memoribilia is now considered art that wasn't thought of as being at the time - but not by everyone, just those who consider it to be art.

      Anything can be art if you believe it is.

  • Oh hell no (Score:4, Funny)

    by EvilStein ( 414640 ) <spamNO@SPAMpbp.net> on Sunday April 03, 2005 @04:07AM (#12125348)
    My apartment already looks like this. My electric bill is about $700/mo. The neighbors complain about brownouts, and the insane fan noise scares away the women. [computersforart.org]

    So, if I call it "art" I can claim my pad is an art gallery, eh? :D

    • Re:Oh hell no (Score:4, Funny)

      by MisterSquid ( 231834 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @10:09AM (#12126344)

      and the insane fan noise scares away the women

      It's probably your cats and not women who are scared by the "insane fan noise." You can't fool your neighbors into thinking you have women over just because you keep saying "Here, pussy, pussy."

  • 100 per structure... (Score:3, Funny)

    by SharpFang ( 651121 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @04:12AM (#12125358) Homepage Journal
    say, 2000 per house x about 200 watt each.
    400 kilowatt power usage, and emission. The "emission" part would be good if you live in Alaska or Antarctic, or so. The "usage" part would be acceptable if you're a millionaire or own a power plant. I've also seen many CRT monitors. a LOT of them, and old ones, when emission wasn't taken into account so much...

    Run SETI@Home on it all, and expect the aliens will visit you really soon. Your house will be shining like a radio-beacon in the space.
  • Seriously... I get headaches some times when I spend too much time around too many turned on computers. I have three at my desk, or four if you count the desk... (Long story, dont ask.)

    Seriously... that much screen radiation, buzzing, hot air and electrical interferance just cant be good for... well, anything or anyone.

  • The Arch (Score:3, Interesting)

    by SharpFang ( 651121 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @04:16AM (#12125370) Homepage Journal
    The arch [computersforart.org] seems quite interesting, but I'd build it into spherical shape, like an igloo... then place an egg in the middle... switch them all on to display white screen... leave it on for 3 days... then switch everything off, and watch the egg shine in the darkness. Nice x-ray furnace, I'd say :)
  • He should have built a castle, complete with a 20ft tower and battlements. THAT would be cool. and worthy of all our respect.

    Speaking which, I have a surplus auction to budget for and some warehouse space to rent...
  • those spare computer parts in the closet actually construct the very closet they are stored in...

  • Go to the park with a giant tarp and beat the crap out of the computer. It's fun. Trust me.
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

  • Is this really recycling? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Bazman ( 4849 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @04:56AM (#12125477) Journal
    Unless these machines end up in permanent exhibitions, which I guess few will, all you're doing is moving the problem along. The organisation will have to dispose of them eventually.

    I note the lack of LCD flat screens in these projects - bet it wont be that way in five years time...

  • Waste of Power & Idea (Score:2, Insightful)

    by UnkyHerb ( 12862 )
    "Recycling", sounds more like a bunch of clunkers wasting of power on processes which could be completed with a mere Transmeta.
  • a computer farm?

    Anyway, that's obvious now artists don't know how to use computers.

  • Imagine... (Score:4, Funny)

    by erroneus ( 253617 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @05:23AM (#12125527) Homepage
    ...a beowulf housing development...
  • In the pic, http://www.computersforart.org/create/blue/big/san dy_smith_07.jpg [computersforart.org], how about if all screens got BSOD? It'll surely give me nightmares.

  • Junk... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by kylegordon ( 159137 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @05:49AM (#12125585) Homepage
    Constructed from 16 monitors and 60 computers in a dimly lit round basement space, the circular structure of The Blackhouse faces outwards, yet allows the viewer to look over and into complicated interior.
    It's the whole 'dimly lit round basement space' that gets me... I walked past this when it was built a few weeks ago, as I live 2 blocks from the Art School, and not only was it in the floorspace of an empty shop, but it was looking out onto a busy main road. To be perfectly honest, it looked like someone was bored and had arranged a pile of junk computers in a circle. Completely uninspiring and boring. I even told my girlfriend about the 'pile of crap in the shop' and that she shouldn't worry as I won't be asking for any of it. I'm sorry, but I can't see how this passes for 'art'...
    • You can see the image from the webcam in this shot [computersforart.org]. It isn't a webcam showing "a quiet road passing the Cuillins, in Skye", it's the main road on and off the island. Not very quiet at all (although there aren't any cars in that shot).
    • I completely agree that this is crap, and the post was misleading as well. There is no house or "rooms and structures," just some possibly Volkswagen-size piles of computers. Yawn.
  • A few days ago, i wondered if a wall made out of batteries would stop ionising radiation, since that tends to steal electrons, just like free radicals.
  • Say, one of those pix reminded me of a cubicle (or is it circumacle). If you aimed all the monitors toward the center and sat there at another, you should definitly be able to establish if those monitors have harmful radiation!

  • Two words (Score:4, Interesting)

    by elronxenu ( 117773 ) on Sunday April 03, 2005 @07:24AM (#12125771) Homepage
    Fire
    Hazard.
  • If anyone has ever read King's Darktower books...

    Some of those photos look like the image I got of the passages down below the City of Lud...when Jake got kidnapped by the Tick-Tock man.... King describes the place as being lined very high with old computers and monitors....

    A couple of those shots also kinda' remind me of Doom..... really dark rooms with lit up Tech-walls. But that's just me.

    wbs.

  • Wouldn't it be better to donate old machines to somewhere like Free Geek [freegeek.org] who 'remanufactures' them and gives them to people who could otherwise not afford them? It seems like a horrible waste to go and build childlike forts out of useful components. What ever happened to using cushons from your couch?

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