Projecto Numero Dos...

Ok, so you might be saying "WTF-why is this guy starting on his 'second' project before completing (or, hell, let's be honest, really STARTING) his first project?"...well, the answer is two-fold:

I was inspired to do this project, because of its complexity and all the interesting things that might go...well, not wrong, but...sideways.

I got an opportunity to get my starting materials...inexpensively. Ok...cheap as hell.

What the basic gist of this is, is that I've purchased an HP Compaq TC-1000 Tablet PC and I'm planning to a) install Ubuntu on it (which has, shall we say, not the best Tablet PC support, though I've found helpful things for on-screen keyboards, screen rotation, and pen support, links to follow in later posts...probably) and b) mod the hell out of the case (I really don't like the whole grey-box-with-random-logos-and-stupid-stylings thing...I prefer a blacker/shinier/sleeker style, with as few buttons/protrusions as possible...maybe that's why I've been a Mac guy for years...well, one of the reasons). I plan on using lacquered carbon fiber for the body, with probably the same material for the face (if I can figure out the best way to install it, that is).

The bright side of all this is that I might (time/money permitting) have TWO projects to work on at the same time, and be able to take time off from one when it's bothering me and work on the other and that you, dear reader, will have two things to occupy your (otherwise obviously wasted) attention...

Just in case...

Ok, so I have a few ideas for cases-I think that I've narrowed it down to one, but we'll see.  I have two main concerns, which are:

1) Size-is it both large enough to hold all the innards that I'm looking for...I'm thinking at least two 500 G Hard Drives in a RAID 1 configuration, or (more likely) four 250 G HD in a 0/1 configuration (ahem...just in case you need the primer) AND is it small enough to fit in my cramped NYC apartment without infuriating my lovely missuz?

B) Price-I'm a cheap bastard, but I do realize that the whole "you get what you pay for" thing is often true.  I don't need to cheap out and get a $20 case that's hideous and annoying to put together, etc...  Also, I don't need to go and get a solid-aluminum-hand-milled-by-Belgian-monks mucho expensivo monstrosity either (well, if you could actually buy that case I might think about it), so I'm mostly looking for something around the $100 range, I guess.

All that being said, I spent a little time in the past few weeks (well, probably months) looking at cases, and I came up with this one...

Well, it's actually less expensive than I was shooting for (cheap bastard), it seems to have plenty of space (for 4 hard drives...we'll have to see if I worry much about expandability), and I like the look (I'm very tired of both the "big metal box" and "purple lucite thing with a dragon engraved on it" schools of design), so I'll probably be keeping this pretty high in my thoughts.

Projecto Numero Uno...

All right-here's the deal: I don't really know anything about computers (other than the whole "I use them 10-12 hours a day/can tell people where to find things in different programs by using my hands to illustrate drop down menus" sort of thing)-I really don't know how they're put together or how the OS interfaces with specific hardware, etc.  I figure, for my own personal edification, I should build one from the ground up and install a non-standard OS (i.e. I use Windows all day at work and OSX all night at home)-I'm thinking Linux, probably Ubuntu to start, until I get comfortable with command line interface, etc...any ideas?  I'll be working on my choices for hardware and posting them as I make them, and I'll be posting the whole process (so that all the 1337 kids out there can get a laugh and all the n00bs...as if there are any left...can color along).