What is the Coolest Mac Hack/Mod you have ever seen?

[Cosmo]

Absolutely that QuadraMini is coolest there is. Looks like actual product. Would be reasonable doable with AppleCD SC -box, not excatly the same but..

Forgot there were already Trash doing this, of cos http://68kmla.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=18092

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

:lol: That's another case of "Trash almost doing a hack." Mine's in the same condition as mcd's CD SC, the guts are boxed up and I haven't had the heart to mod it yet, so the ATOM board is still almost homeless.

I've been thinking about this lately. If I ever actually finished a hack, the mystique of the process would be lost forever, which is far less important than having the fun be over with at the end, of course. I hate the letdown at the end of a great book, the end of a hack would be a lot worse. I have a tremendous amount of respect for anyone who finishes what they start, but I spent so much time doing projects on a deadline IRL that I can't be bothered. Figuring out how to pull something off and proving the concept is the siren call of the hack, finishing it would be a far distant second. The hunt for a new home for the Plastic Fish and the ATOMic NetTop is far more alluring than establishing a permanent residence could ever be.

I've been wondering if the QuadraMini and the rest of those gorgeous hacks still have Minis inside or if Mr. Hanabusa moves a couple of them around like a shell game to keep costs down and rotate his collection of display cases he's crafted for his main machine.

I'm right there with Bunsen on doing a scroll up the main page to see the evolution of craftsmanship and art over time on Jeffrey Stephenson's site.

My favorite is probably the PSU-PC, re-packaging into found objects is more alluring to me than custom re-creations like the PolyTankMini, while the homage approach to classic design examples falls somewhere in between.

Different strokes . . .

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

Oh wow Uniserver! That's amazing! Do you take requests?

heck yeah for the right price

BRB, selling both kidneys. I'll have mine in Grape.

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Play nicely, BB! :lol:

 

[mcdermd]

:lol: That's another case of "Trash almost doing a hack." Mine's in the same condition as mcd's CD SC, the guts are boxed up and I haven't had the heart to mod it yet, so the ATOM board is still almost homeless.

Come on, man. Mine is functional as a CD drive. The original (dead) Sony drive was removed and replaced with a Toshiba caddy-loader. The only "hacked" parts are on the Toshiba drive which needed some cutting and filing of it's metal housing to fit into the CDSC case and it's got jumper wires soldered to the front button, activity light etc. So it looks and works like stock but any modifications to the original housing are fully reversible if I ever get a functional Sony drive again.

 

[BlastoiseBlue]

Play nicely, BB! :lol:

Hey, a guy can dream, ehh?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Come on, man. Mine is functional as a CD drive.

That was meant to be complimentary . . . I'm not even finished with my editing period . . .

. . . mine is still waiting for a DVD drive. :-/

edit: GAAHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I hate page rollover continuity breaks! :

 

[mcdermd]

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

;D

 

[Cosmo]

I am thinking of RasperryPi inside an broken down G4 Mac Mini running an Minivmac..

..or inside of a Apple Disk ][ drive with USB optical drive (there's an perfect hole, why not fill it).

:lol:

} rasperrypi's sold out (again) at local electronics shop, just when i'd have had some extra time for this.

 

[beachycove]

Yesterday, while looking for something else in an antiques/ bric-a-brac shop, I saw a bacelite radio from probably the late 1940s for sale at $45. This was a bit steep given the condition, so I did not buy. However, it sure would make a very nice case for something like an LC475 logic board. The effect would be reminiscent of some of those designs from Jeffrey Stephenson.

The thing that especially interested me was that the radio brand was written in chrome italic lettering across the front: Motorola. 8-o

I'm still thinking about going back for it, doing the hack, and adding 040.

 

[Bunsen]

1. Sp: "Bakelite"

2. $45 is a bargain for those things in any condition

3. Motorola

4. DO IT.

Give it a NIC and some speakers and set it up as an audio player.

 

[superpantoufle]

The coolest hack/mod I've ever seen... is most defintely my very own Macminitosh!

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

Thanks for that posting that link and the second round of inspiration! Your's could very well be the coolest ever, can't think of any better offhand.

 

[Bunsen]

I quite like the HiFi Plus myself: http://www.arawak.com.au/hifiplus/hifiplus.html

 

[antony701]

Impressive. I am currently looking for a set of speakers for myself actually.

 

[tecneeq]

Not bad. However, the tweeter behind the floppy slot might be a bad idea. I would instead choose another driver, maybe a fullrange speaker, either a very cheap Tangband or something like a Mission koax.

Anyways, here is my vote for the best hack:

http://www.kiwidee.com/kiwidee/cs_e.html

An iMac with a coffee maker inside. With milk frother option. |)

 

[Bunsen]

http://www.kiwidee.com/kiwidee/rms_e.html

Heh...

 

[uniserver]

trash80 you said something about a IIsi and bankA ram replacement, I think that needs its own thread.

Do you already have a configuration of ram chips figured out? Has this been done before?

 

[Trash80toHP_Mini]

That post here was a goof, it was in a PM I was sending to Bunsen, I thought I deleted it before the cat got out of the bag.

Nope, AFAIK it's never been done before. I haven't gotten any farther than what's already explained in the SuperIIsiHack™ thread. When the second IIsi MoBo arrives, it goes under the soldering iron for an experimental, incredibly fugly, RFI antenna kinda transplant. The empty IIsi case is slated for an end run around the IIsi/Rocket software issues.

If I ever actually finished a hack (never finishing maintains the mystique surrounding them :lol: ) that one might actually be worth mentioning in here.