OSDev.org

I am taking a Computer operations/IT class at school and we got a project to do that is due in May, we have to plan/build a non-conventional PC (not a standard case) and my team on the project decided that we do a shadowbox PC (those large, deep transparent glass frames that you see in hobby stores).

What is all your personal opinions on my team project?

Is that a joke, or is IT education really that bad? You're being asked to decorate a PC?

DavidCooper wrote:Is that a joke, or is IT education really that bad? You're being asked to decorate a PC?

I was looking for a polite way of bringing that general idea across, but thankfully now I don't have to anymore.

If I was tasked with building an unconventional PC, it would probably have a weird CPU architecture, say Microblaze, and an OS no-one's ever heard of. And as web browser it would exclusively run Netscape Navigator or something. Hey, "useful" wasn't in the list of criteria.

DavidCooper wrote:Is that a joke, or is IT education really that bad? You're being asked to decorate a PC?

Wow. What are you talking about?

nullplan wrote:

DavidCooper wrote:Is that a joke, or is IT education really that bad? You're being asked to decorate a PC?

I was looking for a polite way of bringing that general idea across, but thankfully now I don't have to anymore.

If I was tasked with building an unconventional PC, it would probably have a weird CPU architecture, say Microblaze, and an OS no-one's ever heard of. And as web browser it would exclusively run Netscape Navigator or something. Hey, "useful" wasn't in the list of criteria.

That wasn't even the point.

Seahorse wrote:

nullplan wrote:

DavidCooper wrote:Is that a joke, or is IT education really that bad? You're being asked to decorate a PC?

I was looking for a polite way of bringing that general idea across, but thankfully now I don't have to anymore.

If I was tasked with building an unconventional PC, it would probably have a weird CPU architecture, say Microblaze, and an OS no-one's ever heard of. And as web browser it would exclusively run Netscape Navigator or something. Hey, "useful" wasn't in the list of criteria.

That wasn't even the point.

It looks like the first attempt to communicate it failed. Try again.

I should have communicated this better.

In the class we are assigned to assemble PC components in some other item like a fishtank or VCR. One group in a previous year even assembled a working guitar PC. The components are of course standard though.

Seahorse wrote:I should have communicated this better.

In the class we are assigned to assemble PC components in some other item like a fishtank or VCR. One group in a previous year even assembled a working guitar PC. The components are of course standard though.

Well, that'll do for an artsy section of our forum.

What does it have to do with programming or OS dev though?

alexfru wrote: What does it have to do with programming or OS dev though?

General Ramblings
All off topic discussions go here. Everything from the funny thing your cat did to your favorite tv shows. Non-programming computer questions are ok too.

Yep, it's an art project. Results may look very cool, but I don't know what it's doing in an IT course other than as a refreshing break. Oh wait... there are some things specific to electronics: airflow, static electricity, grounding, and not making conductive contact in the wrong places. Maybe shielding, but no-one seems to bother any more.

Recalling some pictures, I've seen a steampunk PC where they mounted the motherboard in a circular baking tray (or two). I suppose it must have been a fully integrated motherboard because there was no depth to it, just this big blank disc on some sort of arm or frame, a small box for the disk drives (just big enough for 2x3.5" drives, I think), and some other gubbins which might have included an even smaller box or pod of some sort. That was just-about the most unusual PC I've seen. I'd like to own it except it requires an integrated motherboard.

Another which made an impression on me was a Star Wars style case. It had this vertical cylindrical case with lots of angular relief in a 3-fold pattern, including 3 vertical strips for windows, and a big triangular motif on top. I think the motherboard was horizontal at the bottom, so the whole thing must have been huge. You'd need craft skills to make the shape and again to produce the used/distressed look.

A simpler steampunk PC was probably based on a conventional tower case, but the bottom bulged out into an impression of a steam engine's boiler. I think the whole thing was clad in strips of wood like very early steam engines.

One of my steampunk ideas I never used included a large slow-turning fan at the front lit by the yellowish light of under-volted grain of wheat bulbs. (They're normally under-volted.) The trouble with this was I wanted a screen to keep the dust out. I later found speaker cloth can work well for that. New idea: Large slow-turning fan behind screen, back-lit to silhouette it. I don't think a slow-turning fan will make much airflow, but you've got the rear fans for that.

There's probably six million more ideas on Youtube, if you need them.

... I should be making cases instead of operating systems, shouldn't I?