Rants of A Coyote

When I was a kid, I loved (and still do) playing with Legos. The joy of being able to see your creations take shape, one brick at a time, was amazing. From Legos to Kenex to Erector Sets.. I love constructing things, breathing life into creations!

After I graduated from High School in 2001, I spent the summer working an internship at the Boeing Plant out in Troutdale, OR. I used the money from that (14.25/hr back in 2001... Yeah, you do the math... Straight out of HS, too!) to build MY first PC.

In HS I had worked on some 386s and 486s during Junior Year in a program called STRUT (Students Taking and Reusing Used Technology), but this was my first computer that I will have assembled from scratch. A couple of friends gave me some advice on what to get for my computer (Something other than myPowerbook G3, cause they wanted me to join in on their LAN parties without bogging the network down with my Virtual P(iece of)C(rap). Don't get me wrong... I love my old Powerbook G3 and still use it for select applications today (10 years later...) but I needed a windows computer.

So, first computer was a AMD Duron 700Mhz, with Nvidia GeForce2 MX400 with 64MB Graphics memory and a screaming 256MB of Ram! (Yeah, I know... Get the groans out now...)

I used portions of that machine for many years, and over the last 10 years there has been one part that has repeatedly made it's way back to me.. the ugly silver and gold case!

A couple of my friends know which case I am referring to, cause they used it for a while. but this case was large, and heavy! I think the case itself weighed 10-15lbs and over time has become an aesthetic eye sore.

At my computer shop I have over 20 cases right now, in varying states of disarray. They all have potential life in them, but they are all ugly as sin!
So, I think it is time that I start working on some carpentry skills for a past time (Without lacerating any more appendages)

My first case that I designed a few years ago I have affectionately dubbed my HoboPC. It is a tiny little MiniITX computer board that doesn't even have a harddrive. It has an embedded 800mhz processor and 256mb ram. The case... Well the case is a combination of a couple pieces of wood and a framed cardboard box!

I think it would be fun to make some custom cases, bot stylish and novelty base. Most of them will probably be more of custom "Shells" for the 20 or so metal frames that I have right now, but eventually I would love to make some custom wood cases for people that would be stylish and functional.
Depending on what I find, I might even try to make some different style Lego computer cases.