I still pop around every now and again, although not as often as I used to do before the site crash
I still pop around every now and again, although not as often as I used to do before the site crash
Hey, I'm still here occasionally. I'm in my last year of undergrad now, so I'll graduating with a BS in Global Supply Chain Management within the next year. Hoping that I can get myself a good enough job when that time comes.
edit: wow, I've been here since 2008
I pop in about once a week. Been around, here and there keeping an eye out and trying to keep some ideas going. Been around since 07 so I might count as an 'old dog' Had to do a move back cross country so I left Nebraska and settled in North Central MA. Hoping with the room I have now I can get some projects going in the future. Nice to see some people popping back in.
Oh my god this was just a major throwback seeing all of you guys on here. I usually pop in every 6 months or so to see whats going on.
Haha, to give you an idea of how longs it's been, I don't even think the Modder's Wiki in my sig exists anymore. --edit: Aww, it sounds like that's a recent development. So sad but makes sense. I think I had written a lot of that. I actually used it to get a job at Sears back in high school and put it on my college resume back in 2007.
I was just checking the site out today to see the state of it, and ran across this thread. Figured I would drop in my 2p.
There was a time when I would have torn myself a new one for posting in a thread that had been inactive for 1.5 months, but hey, times change many things I suppose.
Been around since 2008, give or take, but haven't really been active since 2011...and apparently it's been almost two years since I last posted...wow. I noticed that I still have the #4 top post count (was #2 once upon a time )...that actually makes me a little sad.
Good to see so many of the old names on this thread, though.
I have a couple projects that I'm planning that I think I'll be documenting on here. Not "mods" per-se, but interesting applications of computer hardware. So you may see more of me around in the near future. Nowhere near what I used to be (actually have a job that requires my full attention now; who'dathunkit), but more than the last few years.
Last edited by x88x; 12-14-2014 at 09:35 PM. Reason: grammar
TBCS 5TB Club :: coilgun :: bench PSU :: mightyMite :: Zeus :: E15 Magna EVThat we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.
--Benjamin Franklin
I think it's kinda strange how the whole concept of modding has fallen by the wayside as mobile has taken over. Very few people are willing to tear-down a phone and rebuild it. I tried vinyl wraps, paint, and plastidip but couldn't get anything to stay on my phone. I think it all started with laptops replacing desktops. It's just weird but not unexpected really.
I'm planning on going back to a desktop because I can't add any more monitors to laptops :-P. When I do I think I'm going to give it a full over custom build like the old days and document the whole build in video.
I'd love to do a video log of a build, but I'd have to convince my wife to let me get the equipment to do it. I also think a major reason why modding has become less common is that there are actually good cases available on the market. It used to be that you got your Dell, HP, Gateway case and so did everyone else. They were generally crap and definitely not unique, so you modded so you could add a few extra fans, do some cable management, and add a window to show off your hardware. Today there are 1000+ cases at newegg.com, and they aren't even exhaustive in what's available. It's easy to get something good that fits exactly what you are looking for, and you'll still be one of only a handful of people with that case.
I've always liked this video. I would like to do something similar if I did a video log. He has a behind the scenes too where he shows off his film setup.
Wow, nicely done video.
Not to give you a reason to stay away from desktops, but I've had wonderful results with assorted of the current crop of USB 3.0 DisplayLink products. I've used both of these[1][2] dual-head adapters, and had great results with both. No lag or anything. Drivers have some occasional quirks, but overall, unless you're needing to do anything more graphics intensive than desktop work and displaying video, these things should work great.
That being said, I do still have a desktop myself. Custom miniITX build in an NCASE M1.
[1] http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G5OAT88
[2] http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B006ZB328U
TBCS 5TB Club :: coilgun :: bench PSU :: mightyMite :: Zeus :: E15 Magna EVThat we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.
--Benjamin Franklin
Funny progression for me and case mods. I have done several, but only _partially_ documented 2 of them. Over the last five or so years I have trained half a dozen folks on how to neatly wire computer systems and racks. I have also designed 2 full cases and 2 custom face plates. Most of that was on paper and handed to my metal fab guy. I am now working with an industrial design group to help them with a new rack design for a large company. They mainly need my help for how to handle the cabling since some of it will be visible and to make sure their design is "serviceable" (I did something similar when I was working at SGI).
One project I keep putting off is a mod of the Intel NUC. I need to create a custom case unique to my company. I have also been tasked with helping to design an custom face plate and bezel for a line of storage boxes we are working on.
It is also interesting to see the full circle of water cooling in the data center. Looooong ago, there was the chilled water cooling for the IBM servers and then everything went to air. Now I have seen water cooling back into the data center with small closed loop systems that work in a 1U server, all the way up to racks with a radiator on the back door and all the servers have drip-less connections on the back to plug into the rack system. My how times change.
It is also pretty cheap to go from a concept drawing to a full custom built chassis in less than 2 weeks and under $500. Even cheaper and faster if you have a real CAD drawing. One of the companies we use for metal bending can take a drawing and feed it into their production machines and it will tell you exactly how many different pieces need to be made based on the metal brakes, water/plasma cutters and punches the shop has on hand and how long it will take to fab. For one project (duplicate an off the shelf chassis with a custom face plate and mounting brackets) the guy took a couple of photo's with his phone, fed it into the system, added some detailed measurements and it created a drawing and a production packet. Took him less than 2 hours.
I will say that I have seen a lot more orders for desktop systems lately. We only really do desktops for existing customers or to go with a server order for new customers, but the demand has risen again. Some of them want "unique" desktop systems with their own logo and custom face plate. But then again, the Silicon Valley is booming right now and there is room in the budget for extra items.
"...Dumb all over, A little ugly on the side... "...Frank Zappa...
I took my Samsung Galaxy S3 apart to fix the GPS. Some guy posted how to fix the intermittent GPS connection by helping the contact on the board touch the antenna with a little piece of cardboard. My wife looked at me and said, "What are you doing?" She believed that I was going to destroy the phone. I have a fully functional GPS in the phone now. It can get a signal indoors.
You are correct. Modding is fading away because the desktop is. If the new USB type C connector can act as a universal docking port, you will easily be able to use your mobile device as a desktop. When it comes time to upgrade, I may just get something portable that I can dock at my desk.
I have come to realize that I really do not need a heavy duty high powered desktop machine for the things I do at home. I use virtual machines, but I do not need to run more than one at a time. I like using my big monitor, keyboard, and mouse. All three of those items can be plugged into something portable. If you ever have to take a trip, you can take the portable device with you that already has all your software set up.