Network Hub Mod

[captaincurran]

I'm tempted to mod my hub. i'm just not sure how to mod, i could do it the traditional case mod style, paint job, perhaps a window, glow tubes, a fan or two. ooorrr do it the wild and crazy trek fanatic way. which might mean i break my hub.

Quite a while ago, some guys from MIT took a teddy bear and merged it with a hub, unfortunately they shut their website down but thanks to Google's Chache we can see it still.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...dyborg/+&hl=en

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...borg/%22&hl=en

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...g2.html+&hl=en

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...+borg%22&hl=en

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache...+borg%22&hl=en

so what do you guys think? btw i suggest we get a mod section for things that aren't cases. I'm also attaching scans of my hub so you can see it.

[Favu]

I vote you add some funky cathode lights and paint those chips with UV reacant paint, then add a window.

[Áedán]

Oh wow - that's an old design! I haven't seen anything with 10Base2 or AUI on it for many many years now.

[Rondog]

That bear is really cool.

Now im temped to do something stupid like that.

Now when girls walk into gamer/nerds house's and they see a modem beside the phone they instantly bail. What if, we put the modem inside a bear?

[captaincurran]

let's just put everything in a bear! get a big enough stuffed animal and we can stuff it with the monitor, or put the tower into a stuffed something like these guys did to ET, http://mini-itx.com/projects/etpc/

[captaincurran]

i've just been giving the hub a second layer of paint, and i thought, where would i get the power to power the lights? i think some how i'd be able to tap into the hub's natural power but i have no idea where i'd have to solder stuff to. mind you i'll have to find small enough light tubes, and aquire a soldering gun. for now, a paint job will suffice, then when i go home for the christmas break, i'll be able to borrow my old high school's power tools to cut a window. not sure whether to do a plain rectangle window, or something to match my tower.

[captaincurran]

i've just given it one coat of primer, and two coats of paint. i'm gonna do the main display section the same red as the top. but i'm gonna leave the ports plain and let the lights still be able to be seen. sorry for the crappyness of my pic. i don't own a digital camera so i just used my scanner.

[captaincurran]

Posting another scan, this time of the inside of the lid, i've marked a black rectangle wher i'm going to cut, i've done pilot holes in the corners, i've even tried my hand at a little engraving in the middle of the scrap. yay!

[fantomfreq]

You, sir, are the man.

You're the first person I've ever seen do any sort of visual modding to a network appliance and you're also the first person I've seen take 'photographs' with a scanner. Bravo.

[captaincurran]

I do what i can with i what i got.

[captaincurran]

you mean others have modded a network appliance other than a visual type mod? how would one go about doing that?

[Favu]

Hey dude!

Gotta say I am loving (seriously) the like chipped paint on the front of that

I always think that things like that look awesome, like that HL2 modded machine from a little while ago.

[fantomfreq]

Originally Posted by captaincurran

you mean others have modded a network appliance other than a visual type mod? how would one go about doing that?

Well, for one example, the Linksys WRT54G is very extensible. It's the largest selling embedded linux device in the world and plenty of people have made custom firmware for it. With custom firmware, you can give it many features that it doesn't normally have like using it as a NAT device.

[Pitch]

Just a suggestion, but how about some rust and bullet holes. Some kind of industrial look.

[Favu]

Pitch you're on my wave length ! Stuff like that always looks funky

[captaincurran]

i've actually fixed up the front, the "chipped paint" was merely paint that slipped under the tape, i've since then painted the front panel red. i'll be making some stencils in a Klingon font, so i can relabel the network ports. then i shall be putting an AOA Case badge on it

if some of you know of a location online that i can get a "map" of the electrical systems on the hardware so i will know where to solder the power wires of what ever lighting system i decide to use will be greatly appreciated.

Oh, and here's a ScanPic of my first fully cut side.

[captaincurran]

Due to a recent 24hour quiet rule at the dorms, due to exams i am unable to continue my cutting till i get to my mom's next weekend. So no new progress till next saturday. If you guys have any suggestions as to how i should light the system, please give me a shout.