Comments on: Cyberpunk, multi-booting briefcase

By: Robert Landrigan

Robert Landrigan — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 14:55:00 +0000

This is…well, it sure as hell isn’t cyberpunk. Modding a computer into a keyboard chassis, sure. Wearable computer sewn into a duster with flip-down chording keyboard, certainly punk. But a really crappy laptop in a briefcase, and a crappy briefcase at that? Nah. Maybe he could glue some old watch parts on it and it would be steampunk, too…

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 21:30:00 +0000

Yeah, it would be better to take it out of the briefcase and attach the pieces to your sweatshirt.

By: Michael Smith

Michael Smith — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 20:57:00 +0000

Yeah its almost… silicon punk?

I imagined a farm of raspberry-pi’s running off a gel cell.

By: Rob

Rob — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 18:51:00 +0000

Cyberpunk would be VR goggles and a keyboard on a shoulder strap.
This is something else…

By: Westfakia

Westfakia — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 17:56:00 +0000

It would be more impressive if the builder had incorporated a UPS so the machine had some capacity to run off the grid.

By: jandrese

jandrese — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:55:00 +0000

It’s a little hard to see in the picture, but it looks like he blocked the exit vents on his power supply, which would be bad for the longevity of the system.

I would be a little more impressed if he had a real solution to storing the keyboard and mouse instead of just tossing them on top of the motherboard, but otherwise it looks pretty decent.

By: Edward

Edward — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:49:00 +0000

love to see you try to get that on a plane,

By: dustindriver

dustindriver — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:46:00 +0000

And then it burst into flames.

By: Preston Sturges

Preston Sturges — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:45:00 +0000

Its destiny is to drown in a quarter inch of Mountain Dew.

By: Jim Saul

Jim Saul — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:52:00 +0000

I can hear the screechy guitar theme just looking at it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLBbJAD69N4

By: Dlo Burns

Dlo Burns — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 15:20:00 +0000

But then clockpunk will take over. You have to think about upcoming voids.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:34:00 +0000

“Well, the durability of the parts is pretty impressive, if it still functions after a lot of jostling of that keyboard across those pins, switches, and solder points.”

Isn’t that what cases are for? :)

It’s definitely fun! I just don’t think it looks very impressive – you can build a PC into anything, people often do.

By: bzishi

bzishi — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:32:00 +0000

Fire hazard, stay away.

By: John T.

John T. — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:30:00 +0000

I thought cyberpunk went away years ago… now if only all things ‘steampunk’ would join it.

By: technogeekagain

technogeekagain — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:25:00 +0000

Agree with the others. It’s a fine build, and if you haven’t seen this approach before it’s sorta cute. But from what I hear from serious twitch-games (which I am not), this sort of thing was coming to “LAN parties” for Quite Some Time, as gamers sought higher computing power to give them an edge over the other players.

“Cyberpunk”? Only in the sense of being partially homebrew. Would be more so if some of those components had been modded in innovative ways. But even so… Exposed guts does not make inherently pretty, especially not when the components are the expected ones and not arranged in a particularly artistic manner.

Good practical solution to a specific problem. Mildly amusing.

By: Jim Saul

Jim Saul — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:22:00 +0000

I think that’s the point. It’s supposed to look like a 1993 kludge. The parts cost more than a basic laptop, so the look of it is the objective.

Think Johnny Mnemonic, Lone Gunmen, Snow Crash, Sneakers, Neuromancer, Mirrorshades, etc.

By: Jim Saul

Jim Saul — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:11:00 +0000

Well, the durability of the parts is pretty impressive, if it still functions after a lot of jostling of that keyboard across those pins, switches, and solder points.

As an X-Files tribute, it does look like a prop from Kill Switch, the episode Gibson wrote. Or something the Lone Gunmen would use.

By: Maverick

Maverick — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:36:00 +0000

1995 called. It wants its geek cred back.

By: garyg2

garyg2 — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:31:00 +0000

Makes me think of the briefcase that came with my Oscar Goldman doll as a kid… greatest toy accessory, ever.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:16:00 +0000

I hate to be that guy, but what’s impressive about it?

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:14:00 +0000

Probably enough room to store one for each OS.

By: wizardru

wizardru — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:09:00 +0000

Man, don’t take this thing anywhere near an airport, bus terminal or train station. Yeesh.

By: pizzicato

pizzicato — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 13:09:00 +0000

http://www.mini-itx.com/projects.asp

I think these are much better

By: WaferMouse

WaferMouse — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:57:00 +0000

That mouse mat. Fuck yeah. Comin’ again to save the motherfuckin’ day, yeah.

By: Tudza White

Tudza White — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:55:00 +0000

Clear all that junk out of there and you’d have room to carry a laptop.

By: Mladen Kalinic

Mladen Kalinic — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:40:00 +0000

homemade laptop he couldn’t afford

By: 0ffh

0ffh — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:39:00 +0000

I’m sorry, really I am, but this is SOOO much of an old hat! I’ve seen contraptions like this freaking decades ago! Where? Demoscene parties! For example at Assembly 1994 (!) in Helsinki there was a group of three who all had their self-made portable computers in identical briefcases! (Altough in this case the CRT monitors went extra…)
This is more like an old staple than a new idea by now!
Edit: Same party there was at least one person who used an LCD monitor as shown in the picture.