Much as I dislike Apple stuff, those were very pretty cases. They're cheap enough on ebay now that I'm almost tempted to buy one and mod it into a case for my next PC...
Pro who killed Apple's Power Mac found... masquerading as a coffee table
The Register has been shooting some video of late, and on a recent visit to Key Studio came across a coffee table we think is worthy of some attention. Apple G5 coffee table Yes, we should have picked up that bag to tidy up this shot The table's pedestal is a Mac Pro, sucking the juice from two dual core Intel Xeon 5150 …
COMMENTS
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Friday 22nd April 2016 08:39 GMT phy445
tougher than it looks
IIRC the motherboard in the Mac Pro is a weird size and you struggle to get a PC in there (that lines up with the slots on the back etc). Also, in a move completely out of character for Apple, the PSU block in those beasts is nearly, but not quite, standard. So you will have to find a way round that as well.
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Friday 22nd April 2016 10:29 GMT Bumpy Cat
Re: tougher than it looks @phy445
I rescued one of those cases from work, and after keeping it under my desk for a year, then taking it home (by bicycle!) and keeping it under the desk there for years, I'm too committed to it to throw it away. Also I can't let my wife win this argument.
Anyway, here is someone a lot more dedicated than me who actually did the PC conversion:
http://build-its.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/how-to-fit-your-pc-in-power-mac-g5-case.html
And at some point I will do the same ...
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Friday 22nd April 2016 11:14 GMT picturethis
Re: I have
The "guts" of those old 5-1/4 HDDs were chock-full of very strong (for their day) magnets. I have probably gutted 15-20 of them over the years. I don't think they are "rare-earth" types, but still very strong for their size.
In fact there are 10 of those magnets on my refrig door as I write this. I still have one un-gutted drive. I just don't have the heart to gut a CDC WREN III SCSI 700MB drive that cost me $3300 back in late 90's.. At least not yet..
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Friday 22nd April 2016 21:05 GMT Down not across
Re: I have
In fact there are 10 of those magnets on my refrig door as I write this. I still have one un-gutted drive. I just don't have the heart to gut a CDC WREN III SCSI 700MB drive that cost me $3300 back in late 90's.. At least not yet
Ah I had some lovely full height Imprimis (as well as earlier CDC and later Seagate) WREN ESDI disks. Back then (early 90s) using voice coils as arm actuators were a new thing and I recall fondly the sound those made when seeking. They performed exceptionally well.
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Friday 22nd April 2016 16:08 GMT Chris King
Re: I have
My boss in a previous job kept a Hollerith punch around as a conversation piece, and yes, I used punch cards as bookmarks too. I think they even kept the little knives (for cleaning out chads and pulling out damaged cards) as letter-openers.
I even threatened one bad user with the Hollerith, yelling "If I had my way, THIS would be the nearest you'd get to a computer for the rest of your course !"
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Friday 22nd April 2016 14:44 GMT Fatman
Re-use of old hard drives
Once, a long time ago, in a fit of anger brought on by the demonstrated incompetence of a PHB, I used a 5-1/4 inch full sized 140MB Micropolis hard drive as a PHB attitude adjustment tool.
That uncontrolled display of aggression cost me that job.
When the incompetence of the PHB in question could no longer be covered up, he lost his job also.
Their HR department decided that I 'just succumbed to the stress of the job', and in a vain attempt to forestall any legal action on my part, offered me my old job back. I had already accepted a position elsewhere where those higher up in the organization did not suffer from "Terminal Stupidity" (aka "Shit For Brains Syndrome"); so I blew off their offers. Served them right, the former employer went titsup in 18 months.
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Friday 22nd April 2016 08:54 GMT fruitoftheloon
My recently departed MacPro
My much loved MacPro had to go, due to being not terribly portable (recording music).
Whilst clearly old, it was perfectly usuabke, my lad's primary school were pleasantly received to have it, FCP (including manuals & media) together with a humungous Wacom tablet.
One of the munchkins genuinely recoiled in shock as I carried it along the corridor, then I suspect it is probably the biggest computer that most kids will have seen.
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Friday 22nd April 2016 11:23 GMT picturethis
iFurniture next?
Maybe this is the next business direction for Apple?
All of the signs are there:
- Expensive for what it is
- Relies on being "in style" (or designated as such by industry pundits)
- Lots of other alternatives that fulfill the same function, but none with "i" designator
Can the iCouch, iChair, iLuvSeat, iTable, iDiningSet, iSeat, iDavenport, iBed, iChest, iShelves be far behind?
I"m sure if you buy an iChair, only iCushions will fit it (and the cushions will have rounded corners that are patented, at least at first)....
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Monday 25th April 2016 10:04 GMT Dave 126
Re: iFurniture next?
>iFurniture next? Maybe this is the next business direction for Apple?
I know you're joking, but Apple now employ Marc Newson, whose Lockheed Lounge set the record for a 'design object' when sold at auction.
http://www.dezeen.com/2015/04/29/marc-newson-lockheed-lounge-new-auction-record-design-object-phillips/
>rounded corners that are patented,
That was what in the UK we would call 'Trade Dress', like the shape of the grills on an Aston Martin for example, but confusingly called a 'Design Patent' in the USA. Whether or not Apple's implementation of the rounded corners is enough to qualify as a design patent is a valid question, but it was never a 'Utility Patent' (USA) or 'Patent' (UK).
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Monday 25th April 2016 13:12 GMT SImon Hobson
Re: iFurniture next?
I thought they already did - p**stake on Youtube
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Friday 22nd April 2016 13:38 GMT TheManCalledStan
Still life in em yet!!!
I also rescued an old 2 intel processor one from the WEEE pile at work...
it now acts as a media server with SERVIIO holding all my kids DVD movies available for them to watch with no danger of the DVD being turned into coasters!
These workhorses still have plenty of life in them for the right application...
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Friday 22nd April 2016 14:59 GMT jelabarre59
Wang
I used to have a Wang OIS-50 from an old job. The RMU board was shot, and I didn't have a terminal anyway.
I had at one time entertained the thought of using it as a PC case, but then I thought "nah, that would be a lot of work to modify it". Seeing the sorts of "case mods" done since I got rid of it, I expect it would have been a cinch compared to what some folks have done.