Technabob » hardware

Old Tech Turned into New Stools

Shane McGlaun — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:00:44 +0000

You never know what a geek is going to get up to with some old hardware on their hands and a little bit of time. Rodrigo Alonso had some donated, chopped up computer parts that were left over from obsolete machine, along with some whole computer mice and keyboards. He combined the parts with some clear resin to make something really cool.

Rodrigo took the old computer parts and layered them into a mold, and then poured in a mixture of resin and some sort of melted aluminum. The finished product is called the N+ew Stool. I’m sure that resin is hard and not particularly comfortable to sit on, but these may still be some of the coolest stools ever.

It’s hard to tell from these pictures, but I wonder if some of the computer parts stick out from the sides of the stool, or if he managed to keep the edges smooth. The parts look awful close to the sides.

The stools are a limited-edition and it’s not clear if you can buy them or what the price would be to get your own. I would think looking at the stools if you have a bunch of old computer parts lying around, can build your own form, and can get your hands on resin you could probably make one of these yourself.

[via Inhabitat]

Artist Builds a Room Out of PC Parts

Shane McGlaun — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 18:59:55 +0000

I have about six different computers around here along with a hoard of old hardware that is just crammed into boxes. Artist Marek Tomasik has taken three years of his old computer parts and used them to make a room that is creepy, cool, and reminds me of the Borg all at once. Apparently, the parts are from about three years worth of computers.

With all the stuff I have around here, I might be about to build myself a new house with all the parts I have. Some of the stuff I see doesn’t look that much like computer parts and I suspect that there are way more computers in this room than most of us would have from three years of upgrading. I also see some parts like that wheel that didn’t come off any computer I am familiar with.

It would make an awesome basement game room though or a geeky office. The room is 5m x 4m x 4.5m and the parts are placed inside of wall made from wooden studs. The walls have a lot of space between the computer parts so unless you’re comfortable with your body you won’t want to go walking naked through this room.

[via Bit Rebels via Geekosystem]

250gb Playboy Hard Drive Features 56 Years Worth of Magazines, Just as Many Nights in the Doghouse

Chris B. — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 12:55:01 +0000

Playboy. That one word conjures up so many images.

If you’re done thinking about naked ladies, there’s more to read down here. It seems that the people at Playboy realize that you might not want to have a garage full of old magazines, and decided to give you a way to clear it out. Or better yet, if you never started collecting, you can still get them all.

I’m talking, of course, about the new 250GB Playboy Hard Drive. This drive comes packed full with every issue released up until the December 2009 issue. What’s amazing is that 56 years of magazines only takes around 50GB. You’ll still be left with that other 200GB to do with what you please. The $300 price tag is a bit salty, but I’m guessing it would be far more expensive to try and round up a copy of all 650 issues. It’s actually quite the bargain once you think about the cover price of all those back issues.

Just don’t try convince your wife or girlfriend to buy it for you for Christmas. That rarely ever goes over well.

[via LikeCool]

Bitfenix Survivor Computer Case is Cheap and Cool

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 07:38:14 +0000

Being a computer geek, I can tell you from experience that not all cases are created equal. I have had cases before that won’t fit my longer video cards and I have had cases where the cooling system let the PC hardware inside run too hot. A decent computer case can cost hundreds of dollars.

If you are a computer gamer or enthusiast looking for a new and cool case that won’t break the bank, the new Bitfenix Survivor may be perfect .The thing has some really cool features like a matte black coating called SoftTouch. The case also has a carry handle that hides when not needed by folding down.

If you frequent LAN parties, there is always a fear of some douchebag stealing your mouse and keyboard, so the Survivor has a special locking mechanism that keeps your cables tied to the computer. The case has a number of internal and external drive bays and a robust cooling system that has LED lights in the fans.

The Bitfenix Survivor will sell for a just over $100 and will ship starting this November.

Nintendo Dsi Ll Officially Revealed: Bigger on the Outside, Still the Same Inside

Lambert Varias — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 12:23:55 +0000

The rumors were right – Nintendo officially unveiled the DSi LL, which is basically a Nintendo DSi but with much larger 4.2-inch screens, a 93% increase over the 3.2-inch screens on the DSi. The DSi LL also has 2 pens, a relatively jumbo sized 5-inch pen and a smaller pen that’s still slightly larger than the touch pen on the DSi. The big N says that customers have long wished for a DS with a bigger screen. Did customers also wish for a five-letter product name that is not a word and has to be said letter by letter?

The larger screen makes the portable system more suited for ”for internet and as a music player as the larger screen is able to display letters and characters in a bigger font.” I don’t have a DS so I don’t know if the browser and the speed of browsing are okay or not. Whatever the case it’ll still be the same because the DSi LL’s innards are pretty much the same as the DSi’s. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the DSi and the DSi LL, as seen on Nintendo’s website.

The Nintendo DSi LL will come in three colors: Wine Red, Natural White and Dark Brown, and will go on sale in Japan starting November 21 for ¥20,000 (appx. $220 USD). No release dates have been announced for other markets. So DS fans, are you happy with what Nintendo gave you?

[via Exophase & Kotaku]

Computer Repair Book Educates Through the Power of Flowcharts

Lambert Varias — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:25:29 +0000

Let it be known that on this great and blindingly sunny morning I accomplished yet another first here at technabob: I got dibs on the word flowchart. As unbelievable as that sounds this is indeed the first post here that contains that superficially geeky word. But a flowchart itself, if used by masters like Morris Rosenthal, is not just truly geeky but truly helpful as well. Rosenthal’s book, Computer Repair with Diagnostic Flowcharts: Troubleshooting PC Hardware Problems from Boot Failure to Poor Performance, Revised Edition (Paperback), has a long-ass title for a very short book, but his flowcharts are relatively easy to follow, with questions and instructions that a person with average knowledge of computer hardware can easily understand.

Above are the flowcharts that anticipate most, if not all, of the things that can go wrong with your computer that will prevent it from starting up. Rosenthal knows how the internet works – it’s all about sharing – so he has a link to the full pdf file on his website. Rosenthal is cool with you printing the poster for personal or educational uses (I converted it to jpeg and turned out to be a massive 4500 x 4500 image). His website also has flowcharts in more manageable sizes too, like this one about optical drive problems:

Any flowchart with a step that tells you to “Laugh at self” is a good flowchart. The flowcharts on Rosenthal’s website are somewhat interactive: clicking each step takes you to a more detailed explanation of what’s going on and what you can do to fix it. You can also download a free pdf of the flowcharts on Rosenthal’s site. If you only have one computer you’d better print that ASAP, or better yet get a copy of Rosenthal’s book. It’s only $14 (USD) on Amazon. And remember: I was the first one to use the word flowchart in this blog.

[via Boing Boing Gadgets]

“Black Lines of Death” on the Wii, Just in the Time for the Release of the Black Wii

Lambert Varias — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 11:54:22 +0000

the bbps‘ Marc DeAngelis is one unhappy Wii-owner. His friend pointed out several black vertical lines that flickered on and off the screen while they were playing. His friend added that that same thing happened to him; he had to have his console’s GPU replaced. So DeAngelis did what anyone with a problem would do: surf the ‘net and see if anyone else was having the same problem. Sure enough, DeAngelis found forums complaining about the GPU overheating as well as the symptomatic black lines. Here’s a sample picture from the Gamespot forums:

Note the lines below the coins and on the tree leaves. Here’s a closer look (but with a different game):

Unfortunately for him, DeAngelis’ Wii is already out of warranty, so he’ll have to pony up the money for repairs. If you’ve seen the same black lines while using your console, better have it replaced before anything worse happens. The Gamespot thread is nearly 2 years old, so I’m wondering if this only applies to a batch of Wii consoles or if it’s a problem all Wiis will eventually have.

Ybox2: Set Top Box in an Altoids Tin

Technabob — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 17:18:43 +0000

Here’s a fun weekend project for all you hardware hackers out there. The Ybox2 is the latest version of a programmable IP-connected set top box which can fit entirely inside an Altoid box.

The system can be programmed to display widget-like channels on your television, using a library of freely-available software. There’s even a built-in IR sensor so it can you can change widget “channels” with a remote control.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Designed by engineer Robert Quattlebaum, the Ybox2 connects to your computer network using a built-in 10BaseT Ethernet port, and outputs video to your TV using a simple Composite video output (NTSC or PAL). The device is based on Uncommon Projects’ original Ybox platform, which first surfaced back in 2006 (shown in the video above).

The entire Ybox2 can be built for about $50, less than half of what the original version cost to build. At the heart of the system is a programmable Propeller 32-bit multi-processor, and the latest version improves on the original by adding an internal speaker as well as a multi-color status LED.

You can find more details, including the board schematics, parts list, and source code over on deep darc.

[via MAKE]