project: Resistance Is Futile

[XcOM]

Hi all, Most of you may know me as the little man that sits there admiring work and giving out prase leaft right and center.

Also i offer good advice (On a good day)

Anyway, this idea has been in my head for a few years now, and with recent devolpments on the forums, theres a member thats been making a star trek themed mod, this has inspired me to start Project: Resistance Is Futile.

My idea is to have a themed PC (Oviously) based on The Borg. my idea is to use a Mini-ITX system, to keep size down as small as possable, as this is only going to be used for basic web browsing, but its going to sit on the desk.

The other idea i had was to have a monitor inside of someform, this would be the only monitor. the base would hold the CD drive and electrics ie, PSU, Circet boards if any and the like.

Sofar im liking the spehere idea:
http://classzoom.com/web_pages/falls/Brian_Jaeger/borg-sphere.jpg

the only problem is how am i going to build it, it would be too difficult to mod a case, so it would basicly have to be made from scratch, this then brings me to my new problem, How to form a perfect sphere, i was thinging of fibre glass then using stirine(Plastic sheets stuff) to build it up, and maybe some kit bashing. Maybe even find a bord kit in the UK i can use, Even if its only for refrence.

So, Any idea would help, i am starting a fund for this. I don't really want to spend more than £200 on the hardware, £50 electrics, £100 Materials and £50 paints. I will be using mainly cans of spray paint, then moderlers paints to finish it up.

Thanks for your time in reading this.

XcOM - Your frendly SSA

[dgrmkrp]

well, how big is the sphere? someone (on this forum too :), doing a sphere computer) used an exterior lamp and used the round part as a visor.. also, there could be lots of similar plastic stuff at one of those big stores..

I would mold styrene parts after that.. I'm currently modeling something to a transistor level and it is painstakingly boring and repetitive.. but I'll be happy at the end :) so, mod on!

[XcOM]

its got to house a motherboard @ 17CM Sq

It might have to house the monitor also, but as it will be in everyday use, im thinking against that, and just using a good old swap box.

But the keyboard and mouse will have to have a paint job to match.

So im thinking 17cm mobo, that would mean a safe size of about 22cm Sq


But, price check on mini-itx.com:
Universal 80W Silent Mini-PSU Kit - UK Plug £55.00

VIA EPIA CN 10000EG 1GHz Fanless C7 Motherboard £99.00

Panasonic UJ85J Slotload DVD-RW Drive £69.00

512MB DDR2 533 DIMM £35.00

Standard 48cm IDE Cable £6.00

Seagate Momentus 80GB SATA 2.5in HDD 8MB Cache £55.00

Serial ATA Power Connector £3.50


SHIPPING £8.00
SUBTOTAL £330.50
VAT £57.84
TOTAL £388.34

BLOOOOODY HELL mini-itx stuff is expencive, this is the cheapist i've been quoted, and i would rather get everything from the one location (Hardware wise anyway)

------------------

Thanks for the idea, i will do some ebaying to try and find an old lamp shade, maybe 70's style ball thing, Ahh, what about a disco ball, if i smooth it out with putty?

[dgrmkrp]

Hmm.. this stuff is expensive :( well, if it is gonna be small, some sacrifices have to be made.. by 17 cm square.. u mean like 17cm x 17 cm? There is a big difference to the next level: 25cm for micro atx would make a big table accessory.. and then there is the psu and cpu cooler.. itx is the best choice as far as space goes..

errm.. you have a disco ball you are willing to sacrifice for the borg? :)

[Bucko]

What about a globe for the sphere?

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/6960/cramtaylorblueoceangoldgi5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[Crazy Buddhist]

How about buying one of these £1 and making a fibreglass or papier mache housing around it as a mold. Then you could cut the sphere in half, discarding the ball and you have your shell :)

http://www.itisz.com/inflatable/beachballs.JPG

Papier Mache used to be used for furniture - it would be plenty strong

[Crazy Buddhist]

This is a "hangover " - mock up of one idea - i.e. I have a bad one so no complaints about the bad artwork please :D.

Have the screen fold up out of the front of the sphere - ideally motorised on startup, leaving behind a nice blue window with the Mobo and guts revealed lit up inside. When you shutdown the screen folds back over closing the sphere.

http://www.****um8.com/Borg.jpg

[Crazy Buddhist]

... i will do some ebaying to try and find an old lamp shade, maybe 70's style ball thing ...

Also worth trawling ebay for your itx bits - there are several Via Epia Mobo's ending today on ebay uk at between £30 - £50 current bidding - some with memory included.

[XcOM]

thanks for the recommendation guys, the globe seems a good idea, the beach ball, Too big for my idea, and yes, 17cm x 17cm.

For the globe idea, could i just fibre glass the globe as is, from the inside, or just use the globe as the case, and cover it in strine sheets. I think the latter would be a good idea, but then i would need to strengthen the inside,

Im after a passive ITX thatway it can be near silent when running.

I like the screen idea folding out, but i would like a decent size for using, as its going to be an everyday PC, That and im not into seeing the guts of a pc, i will keep it in mind though, if i could fit a 15" monitor then i would be happy, but then that would make it HUGE.

All ideas taken onboard, and working them over.

XcOM

[modmansage]

personally i would go with one of the borg cubes.
if you don't want to do much kit bashing, you could build one of the cubes from Voyager, more specifically the one where Janeway, Tuvok, and someone else joined the collective for a while.
if i remember correctly, there was a large solid piece of metal on the sides leaving only the corners and edges exposed.

[rendermandan]

looks like it could be a cool project. good luck! Sorry I dont' have any advise for you though. :)

[Crazy Buddhist]

thanks for the recommendation guys, the globe seems a good idea, the beach ball, Too big for my idea, and yes, 17cm x 17cm
....
if i could fit a 15" monitor then i would be happy, but then that would make it HUGE.

All ideas taken onboard, and working them over.

XcOM

17cm x 17 cm gives a diagonal dimension of 24.04 cms for the mobo which plus at least a little bit, is the implicit minimium diameter (internal) of the sphere - if the mobo is located to run exactly through the centre of the sphere AND there are no high components near the edge of the board . If the mobo is/needs to be ofset into one half of the sphere the diameter needed for the sphere will increase.

Externaly looking at what, like 28cms maybe. Thats gonna be nice :D

saw this 26cm one at £44.95:

http://www.mapsworldwide.com/itm_img/N000142616.jpg
(http://www.mapsworldwide.com/sku_30483.htm)

If you decided a bit bigger for flexibility 30cm one at £36.00:

http://www.mapsworldwide.com/itm_img/cgeb2.jpg (http://www.mapsworldwide.com/sku_29300.htm)

specs:

- Illuminated double image (dual mapping), physical unlit and political when lit.
- Place names: 3500.
- Accurate satellite cartography, ocean depths and currents, land physical features.

looool :D :D :D

Oh .... and MOST IMPORTANTLY .. its round hahahahhaa

15" monitor = 38.1 cms corner to corner would be a much bigger bit of kit.

I'm thinking of spending £3.99 and getting the newspaper out (oh plus £250 for parts - cheers :D ) ... cos you have got me thinking of turning one of these:

http://i7.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/ac/39/b960_1.JPG (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Winnie-Friends-Inflatable-Beach-Ball-24-INTEX_W0QQitemZ300134650196QQihZ020QQcategoryZ1378 86QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

into one of these ...

http://z.about.com/d/toys/1/7/Q/7/Tiitanium-Star-Wars-Death-S.jpg (http://toys.about.com/od/hotnewtoyreleases/ig/Hasbro-New-Products/Tiitanium-Star-Wars-Death-Star.htm)

with a 15 inch screen in for my nephew:D:

CrazyB

[.Maleficus.]

Man, that hard drive is expensive! Do you really need a notebook drive? I have a Mini-ITX setup right now, and a regular hard drive is actually the perfect size to go directly under the mobo. That's how I'm going to have it setup in CSServer. 3.5" are way cheaper than 2.5" so you may look into that.

[XcOM]

i know its expencive, but the psu im using won't power a normal drive, i think it will, but the manufacturer don't recommend it, Mind you, i got a few 30GB laptop hard drives sitting under my desk, might use one of them.

@ CrazyB

Im happy that my idea has inspired you to start a project, don't forget we (Mainly me) want pictures and a worklog.

that borg cube from voyager is a "Tatical Cube" i was more thinking of a sphere, but i will keep in mind the cube, its just diffrenent to have a sphere.

XcOM

[Crazy Buddhist]

@ CrazyB Im happy that my idea has inspired you to start a project, don't forget we (Mainly me) want pictures and a worklog.

that borg cube from voyager is a "Tatical Cube" i was more thinking of a sphere, but i will keep in mind the cube, its just diffrenent to have a sphere.

XcOM

Logs: my other mod deskpooter has something of a log here (http://www.thebestcasescenario.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9349) which will be maintained as she is completed and was updated with photo's last night. Whichever of the three projects on my current list I realise next, there will be a much more detailed log.

By exploring others logs and posts here I am getting a) lots of ideas for techniques and technologies b) some inspiration c) an idea of how to ceate a good visually rich worklog and d) I am contributing here and there where I know something or find something useful. It sounds a bit like i've pissed you off with my contribution here? Sorry if thats the case - not my intention. I'm new to this (modding) and enthusiastic but mean no harm mate.

The sphere is awesome. The cube would be ten times easier. Thats one of the reasons the sphere is awesome - it's bloody difficult to get right.

[imagispire]

What about making the sphere the computer and modding the monitor into a cube? the sphere do come out of the cube mothership afterall

[XcOM]

@ CB
I am not annoyed with you in anyway, i was mearly stating that i am happy that i have inspired me, But i was always looking for a sphere, how meny people can say "I have a round computer" I thank you for your comments, of which have been useful.

I hope your project turns out to be a real nice mod that you will be proud to say "I MADE THAT"

If you do make a death star, it would be useful to me for when i do my mod, as I am assuming you will put alot of work and effort into it, meaning i will have to work just as hard to have something looking as nice.
Peace - XcOM

[Crazy Buddhist]

@ CB I am not annoyed with you in anyway .. Peace - XcOM

Coolio - just realised I hijacked yr thread a bit and felt bad. So I started mine in a separate one.

By the way I was in woolworths today and they had illuminated childrens globes made of metal 25cm diameter at £12 dont know if you have finalised yr dimensions yet but that struck me as a coincidence. Whatever way your ideas flow I hope they come to fruition in a way that pleases you.

The weirdest thing is .. I don't get out much (honestly - I am disabled) and I haven't been near the shops since I started coming on this site three weeks ago. Everything has the potential to be modded. I saw a sweet "Boston Style" Bread bin in Wilco's for a tenner that would make such a sweet kitchen computer mod. :D

CrazyB

[Cookies N' Milk]

Hi all, Most of you may know me as the little man that sits there admiring work and giving out prase leaft right and center.

Also i offer good advice (On a good day)

Anyway, this idea has been in my head for a few years now, and with recent devolpments on the forums, theres a member thats been making a star trek themed mod, this has inspired me to start Project: Resistance Is Futile.

My idea is to have a themed PC (Oviously) based on The Borg. my idea is to use a Mini-ITX system, to keep size down as small as possable, as this is only going to be used for basic web browsing, but its going to sit on the desk.

The other idea i had was to have a monitor inside of someform, this would be the only monitor. the base would hold the CD drive and electrics ie, PSU, Circet boards if any and the like.

Sofar im liking the spehere idea:
http://classzoom.com/web_pages/falls/Brian_Jaeger/borg-sphere.jpg

the only problem is how am i going to build it, it would be too difficult to mod a case, so it would basicly have to be made from scratch, this then brings me to my new problem, How to form a perfect sphere, i was thinging of fibre glass then using stirine(Plastic sheets stuff) to build it up, and maybe some kit bashing. Maybe even find a bord kit in the UK i can use, Even if its only for refrence.

So, Any idea would help, i am starting a fund for this. I don't really want to spend more than £200 on the hardware, £50 electrics, £100 Materials and £50 paints. I will be using mainly cans of spray paint, then moderlers paints to finish it up.

Thanks for your time in reading this.

XcOM - Your frendly SSA
The base of the sphere shouldn't be too hard to do. Just use a globe or one of the other suggestions. Shouldn't matter too much. I will say this though, you are going to have one heck of a time doing the exterior panels of the sphere. The best bet for the raised panels is to try and find a model kit for cheap. I tried using wood and plastic for the raised panels but they didn't turn out so well. I got a few solutions that might work. Just let me figure a few things out here first ;)

[lukeisthecoolest]

you should put pneumatics behind the mobo so when u press a button the mobo arises from the top ;)

just another one of my crazy ideas

[XcOM]

you should put pneumatics behind the mobo so when u press a button the mobo arises from the top ;)

just another one of my crazy ideas

Crazy and cool at the same time.

@CB i take it your in the UK then?and yes, 25CM would be fine for my idea, not a bad price either, and with it being metal, would have the strength also.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Crazy Buddhist]

@CB i take it your in the UK then?and yes, 25CM would be fine for my idea, not a bad price either, and with it being metal, would have the strength also. - Thanks for the heads up.

Indeed I am in the UK ... London, Earth ^ up there :D

and indeed - a good size and material for your project and a very good price. The two hemispheres are joined by a fold on the outside creating a rim round the middle but you could cut this off easily enough. It's an end of product line from what I can see.

If your local woollies has sold out you you can buy one online here (http://www.woolworths.co.uk/web/jsp/product/index.jsp?pid=50452570) +£5 for postage.

CrazyB

[XcOM]

thanks for the heads up.

[rekn]

im planning something similar but instead having the inside of the case looks like the inside of a borg cube...with regeneration alcoves and stuff