Build Your Own Digicomp Mechanical Computer! The Digicomp is a plastic mechanical computer from the 1960s.
It offered three bits of tabletop computing, back in an age where corded telephones were considered high-tech. The machine arrived in kit form; your first task was to assemble the jumble of tubes, rods, and elastic bands into something that resembles a Jetson's parking garage. Once complete, it's a fantastic hands-on way to teach Boolean algebra and binary numbers.
I'm a bit too young to have enjoyed the Digicomp era, but enthusiast Larry Groebe explained the attraction of these clever toys to me, "Digicomp 1 in particular (the cheaper model) started a bunch of kids on a career in computers -- myself included. I got mine for Christmas in 1968 and took it to the 5th grade show and tell, where I tried to explain binary numbers to a deeply suspicious teacher and uncomprehending class. " And now for the best part... Build your own Digicomp mechanical computer! James from Retrothing writes – “The classic 3-bit Digicomp mechanical computer from the 1960s has been reissued as a $49 kit.
It looks fantastic.” Link. Phillip Torrone Editor at large – Make magazine. Creative director – Adafruit Industries, contributing editor – Popular Science. Hide a Hub in a Humidor? Dept.: You Built What?!
Investigator: Paul Wallich Hardware: Wireless hub humidor Time: 30? 35 hours Downside: Cigars fry Jeffrey Stephenson's polished wood and chrome humidor sits gracefully in his living room, holding four dozen cigars, all dried to a crisp. While many case-modders cram PC components into toasters or motorcycle helmets, Stephenson goes for class.
Mini-motherboard maker VIA provided its latest server design and the cigar vault came from eBay. A Thompson Broadway art deco humidor. B Clock to replace superfluous hygrometer. C Chrome I/O panels, with dual 2.4GHz wireless data antennae (removed from wireless hub), multiple Ethernet ports, and a DSL jack. D DSL modem receiving 700-plus-Mbps Internet through incoming DSL line. E 802.11b wireless access point, delivering 11 Mbps to all computers in range. F Toshiba 20GB notebook hard drive, screwed to bottom of humidor tray. J 48 Wal-Mart cigars, baked at 95. Projects - humidor64. Voting opens on $1M Intel challenge. Intel puts $1m concept PC contest shortlist to a public vote. High performance access to file storage Intel has called on the rest of us to pick the compact PC with the best chance of beating Apple's Mac Mini - and net its designer a cool $1m.
Intel launched the contest in September 2006, asking computer designers to come up with a smart compact system based on the chip giant's Core 2 Duo processor and meet its Viiv platform specification. That rules out the Mac Mini, which isn't a Viiv box. Slipperyskip. Certified Site Metrics are metrics that are directly-measured from the website instead of estimated.
The website owner has installed an Alexa Certify Code on the pages of their site and chosen to show the metrics publicly. For the website owner Certified Metrics provide: A more accurate Alexa RankA private metrics Dashboard for On-Site AnalyticsThe ability to publish unique visitor and pageview counts if desired Certified Metrics are available with all Alexa Pro plans. Global Rank. Slipperyskip / Pinterest. Jeffrey Stephenson (slipperyskip) Mission - A new concept PC enclosure - Ars Technica OpenForum. Or Roccocco!
God, I'd be 80 before I could finish anything with that style Currently, I'm trying to figure out a way to include two themes into my case design (yay solidworks for messing around with stuff!) Level Eleven by Jeffrey Stephenson (slipperyskip) Project Log: Here Following his superb 2009 Mod of the Year entry, the Ingraham radio project, Jeffrey Stephenson, or slipperyskip as he's known on the forums, has churned out several new amazing projects in 2010.
Our favourite of these is Level Eleven; a take on Thermaltake's Level 10 modular case. It houses a VIA P820 pico-ITX motherboard and an Intel SSD, but the case is what really caught our eye. Level Eleven is mainly constructed from plywood with a cherry veneer, and the carpentry is amazing, with both futuristic and Streamline Moderne influences visible in the design. A visit to Jeffrey's project log on bit-tech is also well worth the effort if you want to marvel at the incredible amount of skill that went into the project. Click to enlarge. Jeffrey Stephenson's computers with class. Engineer and computer designer Jeffrey Stephenson cranks out custom-made PC's in stark defiance of everything going on in current computer design: he produces them in styles ranging from Mission to Art Deco to Machine Age and more.
His website, Slippery Skip, says nothing about why he makes them--or if they're even for sale--but it's impressive to see the breadth, and fidelity, of his work. Check out the main gallery here. (And Jeff, if you're reading this, we'd like to see a Mid-Century Modern!) Don Draper's PC? J. Stephenson answers Core77's challenge to design Mid-Century Modern computer (and seeks Core reader feedback) We first wrote about Jeffrey Stephenson's killer computer designs back in May, and he wowed us with his Art Deco, Mission-style and Machine Age machines (above), which are not just concepts but working PCs.
We closed our entry with a request for a Mid-Century Modern, and Stephenson has taken us up on the challenge! (A caveat: Stephenson has warned us that this machine, unlike the ones on his site, is "a crude draft" and "not ready for primetime" and that he had no intention of posting it in such an early iteration; but he did want to get some feedback, and agreed to let you Corohounds take a look and offer your opinions.) Jeffrey Stephenson impresses with another wood grained, retro casemod. Last time we heard from Jeffrey Stephenson he had crafted an art deco-styled casemod that, spiritually at least, brought us back to the watery confines of Bioshock.
Mission-style PC casemod easily slides into your La-Z-Boy collection. Wooden Level Eleven PC gets inspiration from Thermaltake Level 10 chassis. PC modding takes an architectural twist with Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired Usonian. We admit, we're pretty jaded when it comes to PC casemods, having seen everything from the inscrutable Edelweiss to Russian Ark of the Covenant-like monstrosities. Jeffrey Stephenson, though, charmed us with his wood-carved Level Eleven case, and now he's back with Usonian, inspired by the work of famed Fallingwater architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Split-level cantilevered roofs made of teak, mahogany highlights, all that Cherokee Red and Covered Wagon coloring – it's enough to make an architecture nerd swoon. Wooden Aerodyne PC makes you want to live in Rapture. Jeffrey Stephenson.