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Not quite 'The Brick,' but fun anyway
It's many bricks, technically: Lego Bricks. Students at the San Francisco Art Institute used 2,588 bricks to build an enormous Mac Pro case. The design wasn't without its problems -- partway through the movie, three "Lego engineering catastrophes" forced the addition of a support beam under the middle of the case, presumably to support the weight of the hardware inside. The exterior design isn't the only thing impressive about it: On the inside, it's a Mac Mini that's FireWire-linked to a PC Hackintosh. Nice. The case was submitted for the 2008 MacMod Challenge.
Munk Bogballe turns MacBook into luxury "Workstation"
It's far from the first to turn a standard issue Mac laptop into entirely different, but Munk Bogballe has gone a bit further than most with its new Workstation laptop, which turns an otherwise modest MacBook into a full-fledged slab of excess. That includes an anodized aluminum surface, European aniline leather on the underside, and even a specially designed leather bag (which costs a hefty $640 on its own if you want a second one). As for the hardware itself, you get a standard 2.4GHz MacBook under that shiny exterior, right down to the MagSafe adapter, although it is at least topped off with 4GB of RAM and it apparently comes with Windows XP pre-installed for your convenience. If that sounds like the laptop you wish Apple had made, you can get your order in now for £3,500 (or just over $6,700), which also generously includes a donation of one OLPC XO laptop to make you feel a bit better about your ridiculous purchase.
Mac mini gets the steampunk treatment, matching keyboard and monitor
It takes quite a bit for a steampunk mod to get our attention these days, but this Mac mini created by steampunk enthusiast Dave Veloz certainly fits the bill, and the matching keyboard and monitor aren't too shabby either. As you can sort of see in the images above, the detail even extends as far as the cables connecting the mini to the keyboard and monitor, with a suitably Victorian-looking Apple logo rounding things out nicely. The monitor also one-ups similar projects with a genuine granite base, while the keyboard goes all out with leather in place of the felt used on other attempts. Be sure to hit up the read link below for a closer look at the whole package.
MacMod '07 has begun
Each August, we anticipate the start of the MacMod Challenge, a time for case modders to compete for bragging rights and glory (among other prizes). Last year's entries included the iMac mini LCD and the Tonka iMac. In fact, did the 2005 challenge produce the first iMac with "Intel inside?"The list of prizes and judges for 2007 are yet to be announced , but a glance at the information page reveals a new category: "iPhone mod."Thanks, Timmy!
MacMod booth tour
The mad modders at MacMod have their very own booth at Macworld this year with a myriad of mods on hand for your enjoyment. Go check them out and say hello at booth N4320 in the oft-neglected North Hall of the Moscone Center. While you're there, grab a Sharpie and autograph the PowerMac to be a part of the community mod project!Check out the Gallery for pictures we took of some of the mods currently on display at the booth.
Variations on a theme: It's not a Mac O'Lantern, it's a Pumputer
More Halloween hacks for you - check out the Pumputer, made by Brenda and Adam. They say "The Pumputer was conceived of to bring home the company's carving contest award for the Information Technology department. A 1990 Macintosh Classic computer was obtained and carefully dismantled. After insertion into a large pumpkin, it's peripherals were color coded to adhere to the Pumputer 1.0 model standards, and connected via VineBus, a very advanced serial connection."Before you check out the pics - let me caution you. There are some serious power tools involved! Not for the faint of heart or collectors of Mac Classics.Thanks, John!
2006 MacMod entries are in!
Oh, how I love the annual MacMod challenge. The entries for 2006 are in, and some of them are just great. Check out the Clockintosh, the iMac mini LCD (a mini with a LCD right in the top of the case, maybe my favorite mod this year) and the Tonka Mac. Voting ends on Tuesday, September 12. Here's hoping that your favorite does well.
A Mac mini in an NES
This is an impressive mod. Brent Housen's friend has taken a Mac mini, gutted it, and reassembled it inside an 'old school' (as the kids say) NES. The power button on the NES puts the Mac mini to sleep, and the Reset button ejects the CD tray. Pretty sweet, I just hope you don't have to blow on the CD's repeatedly to get them to work.[via Joystiq]
Crazy Eastern European G4 Car Mod
If there was ever a doubt about Eastern European Mac fans, let that shred of uncertainty be squelched. Today on MacMod one of the most amazing car installs of a Mac I have ever witnessed was posted after being translated [from Czech?].Jiri Jirout first created a custom housing with waterproof-yet-breathable Gore-Tex ports for his 450MHz G4 (codename Sawtooth). The Sawtooth model is near and dear to my heart, I am writing this post off my 400MHz Sawtooth which was upgraded to 2GHz with a Powerlogix CPU. Next, he modded his Eastern European Tatra brand car to include: An ethernet network Wifi for hotspots GPRS to internet for the car in cases where one is too far from Wifi GPS with a Garmin module and Route 66 mapping software Custom front end software written in Cocoa for car data Custom movie player software Scripts for iTunes so that back seat passengers can listen to different music than in the front And much more... The fact that the original article from which this is translated dates from the winter of 2003/2004 makes this mod all the more amazing. Huge props to Jiri Jirout and his crew of microcontroller designing and software writing friends.
How To: Build your own computer speakers
I am not an audiophile by any means. My iMac is hooked up to some JBL creature speakers which sound just fine to me. However, if you are an audiophile and a do it yourselfer (another group I do not count myself amongst) then has MacMod got the project for you!With the help of some tools and some raw materials you can create your own HiFi computer speakers and be the envy of computer geeks the world around, or at least have an excuse to use use the word 'tweeter' more than is normally socially acceptable.
