People have been stuffing PCs in all kinds of things they don't belong in for a while now, but this Linux cluster creatively packed into an Ikea Helmer filing cabinet might be the first time we've seen furniture actually modded into a useful case. Sure, it looks like an ordinary filing cabinet, but it's packing six machines with Intel Core 2 Quad processors on Gigabyte S-series mobos with 8GB of RAM each, allowing it pump out 186 Gflops -- enough to complete a render job that takes a 2.66Ghz quad-core Mac Pro nine hours in just 64 minutes. Yeah, that's quite a filing cabinet. Hit the read links for tech specs, instructions, and updates on Helmer II.

[Via Make]

Hot on the heels of Gamerator's stupendous MAME cabinet and AOTS "world's largest arcade machine" comes a DIY project that gives both of the aforementioned products a run for their money. The aptly-titled IKEA MAME Dinner Table cleverly crams a MAME machine into a standard dinner table, which we're absolutely sure any warm-blooded mother (and / or gamer) could appreciate. The table can slide open to reveal a 15-inch LCD, Happ Controls and an Ultimarc I-PAC, and while a myriad games can be played, the creator's personal favorite is the famed Ms. Pacman. Click on for a couple more looks, and then head on to the read link for a slew of pics from the underside.

[Via MAKE]

Granted, we've seen some oddities in our day when it comes to creating music makers, but the Spherical Speaker Array ranks pretty high up there in terms of sheer peculiarity. The overriding goal of this DIY project was to keep costs at a minimum regardless of quality, which means that the creator opted for speakers that would probably make even a casual audiophile weep. Nevertheless, taking a dremel tool to a number of IKEA bowls, wiring up a multitude of speakers, and finding an amplifier to power your new dangling ball of sound just about takes care of it. So if you're anxious to one-up the almighty 7.1-channel surround sound smartphone, or you just need a sufficient (and noisy) replacement to the dusty disco ball hanging in your pool hall, be sure to tag the links below to get to rockin' (but mostly rolling).

[Via HackNMod]

Sure, step-by-step instructions by some of the best modders we've ever seen can help you turn your Jaguar into a portable or stuff a Linux box inside an Apple monitor, but what if that newfangled computer desk just magically assembled itself as soon as you got it home? While we're not quite there just yet, a group of Swiss gurus have devised a prototype system that utilizes multiple series of LEDs that glow and fade based on user input, direction, and tasks remaining. Designed to be used on typical flat packed tables, chairs, and other forms of IKEA-derived furniture, the diodes act in "proactive fashion" and "adapt to each movement the user makes" in order to guide the assembler to screwing the right bolt in the correct location and in the appropriate order. While there are far too many specifics to get into here, be sure to hit the read leads for the full skinny, including a comparison to the often used "paper and frustration" method. [Warning: PDF links]

Read - LED furniture assembly explained
Read - LED furniture design details
[Via infosthetics]