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Christmas Cheer

Cool Cases: Armor or Arcade? 45

Posted by CmdrTaco from the fun-for-the-holidays dept.
It wouldn't be christmas without a couple of cool cases. An anonymous reader sent linkage to the 63rd issue of ZZZ online which has a ridiculously armored laptop. If thats not the right case for you, check out Arcade2000. I've been considering retrofitting an old game cabinet for a PC running an emulator, and stumbled upon it. At least its not as expensive as the armored case!
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Cool Cases: Armor or Arcade? More

Cool Cases: Armor or Arcade?

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  • Below the Armored Case is a helmet that is supposed to tell you when people are approaching you. If you look at it, I think the alarm is the laughter of people around you when they look at it. :)

  • Many pistols and rifles are 'automatic' meaning that the weapon prepares itself for the next shot after one is fired. IE: No cocking required.

    I thought that was "semi-automatic." I think the poster was referring to "fully automatic" when he said automatic. If you know the difference, you normally understand "automatic" to mean "fully automatic."

  • There was a link last year ( I believe? ) to another tough notebook, from a major supplier ( samsung? Toshiba? Bah, I'm getting senile ).


    In comparison this is a home workshop project. Sure it's waterproof / resistant, impact resistant, etc, but is it USABLE?


    A laptop / notebook has to be , above all, portable and usable. This thing is WAY too big and heavy. Besides, it looks as though it loses most of it's benefit if it's open / being used.


    Now if they were releasing plans for doing this to your OWN notebook I'd be all for it. But $4500USD? That's a bit much for a product with no big-name backing. You have to just trust that it works and that the company will be around in 3 months to complain to when it fails.


    I'll stop ranting now :)

  • I was just attempting (unsuccessfully it appears) to be funny.


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!
  • Here [sithspawn.net] is the link to Sithspawn's arcade.
  • for getting run over by tanks

    setting on fire

    the husky wins
    (the computer make not the dog ;-)

    may you have to losen your belt today

    john jones


    (a deltic so please dont moan about spelling but the content)
  • Yep, I submitted a story about this (the "real-life phaser") a few days ago, but it got rejected, without explanation. I really wish the editors would give at least some explanation when they reject submissions!

    Anyway, for those who are interested in this story, you can find more information here [tbtf.com].

  • Who would want it? Uhhhh...people who play ROMs all day? Just a guess...

    There are a lot of people who pay more than this for a single old arcade game. I don't get that either, but this thingy is a great idea.
  • Portable and armored are opposites. If you want something to be heavy duty, it can't be lightweight. See?
  • Well, I suppose the optimistic way to look at this is that the gun would only go off once, at which point the trigger would be locked down and all further threats to safety would be eliminated. One dead civilian is better than six or seven or twelve (depending on the size of the magazine and the accuracy of the shot)

    Cheers,
    levine
  • Glucose is a solid. I think you're thinking of glycerol, which gives you the added benefit of a few seconds between mixing it with the KMnO4 and ignition.
  • Indeed I was referring to fully automatic, but it is an important distinction to make.

  • What if he/she were holding an automatic? Holding down the trigger would not be good. :-)

  • Saint Nickolas died in 340AD. I'll be telling my kids that they should call the cops of they see a jolly old fat man in the living room, Christmas Eve.


  • Not that Slashdot hasn't posted the same story multiple times (even in the same day), but this was covered a year or so ago on Slashdot.



    Seth
  • I just submitted it. Let's see what happens.

    --
  • I realize it's petty, but there's nothing like reading things like:
    There are many different ways to increase the performance of computer

    Sometimes I also have such feeling, but then I realize that destroying several hundred bucks isn't good deed

    Hahaha!
  • Oh man thats just way too funny, you deserve the "Klowner thinks you're funny award". BUT YOU AINT GETTING IT BABY, HAH!
  • for a couple of years: http://hanaho.com/products/ArcadePC/index.html

    --

  • So... If you shoot 'em while their jumiping (in mid air), would they stay there?
  • Similar to the laptop mentioned is the
    Itronix XC-6250 Pro [itronix.com]. I have an older version
    that I bought suplus for $40, and it is
    sweet. I can stand on it without any
    damage! Also, the XC6250 can withstand more
    drops (54) than the one the article talks about(20something).
    No, I am not associated with Itronix!
  • If you want to convert a jamma arcade cabinet to use with an emulator but don't have the cash to buy one of those Arcade2000 dealies, try this. [mameworld.net]
  • Simple, you have TWO muscles for each part of your body in order to control movement. when one relaxes, the other contracts, and you are able to move your fingers, toes, arms, legs, what have you. This device causes BOTH muscles to contract, which will immobilize you.
  • Is it just me, or would a magnesium case be fairly easy to ignite in even a low-intensity flame, causing a beautiful lightshow ending in the destruction of your precious laptop?
  • I have an old IBM ps2 that has a case you cold drive a tank over. I believe it is a model 80, it has a nice big carying handle, and weighs about 50 pounds.
    ANyway, does anyone out there think it would be possible to put a ATX mobo inside of it?
    I know I would have to put in the ATX power supply, but what else would I have to do?
    Any ideas?
    Thanks
  • My understanding of the device (may not have been in ZZZ, can't remember) was that it was localized to the area where the target was hit, like a leg at a time going stiff. True, a shot to the hand might not be the best idea, but if the muscles on both sides of the trigger finger go at the same time it may not cause the hand to clench either.
  • but who would want it? Unless you play old ROMS all day, who wants to blow US$650 on 8-bit programs? There has to be a market for this somewhere, just not with me...
  • "concussions, fractures and other injuries", sure, but by golly his new armored laptop won't be damaged when he falls on it.
  • I think you might need X to run it (never checked), but at http://www.mame.net/downports.html [mame.net] there is a linux binary, as well as a win32 binary, amiga, mac, beOS and several other platforms.

    Now why are you running plex86 again?
  • Bulk metallic magnesium will burn, but not easily because of its small surface area-to-volume ratio. By the time you got the case ignited the contents would be toast from the heat.
  • "Duh, George... Slim shot me with a phaser and that's why I killed dat puppy, honest George honest..."
  • Hello! I need some support? I'm using Plex86 on Linux to run Windows so that I can run MAME. =)

    Actually there's really no reason you shouldn't be able to do this quite easily. At the LAN Party [chicagolanparty.com] I attend, the proprietor has several game cabinets. One of which he's outfitted with an old Atari2600 and a multiplexer.

    Actually, I'd like to get the one sit-down cabinet from him and convert it into a computer desk for myself. Now how cool would that be?


    Chas - The one, the only.
    THANK GOD!!!

  • Arcade 2000 (Jeff Kemper) has been running into a number of problems fulfilling orders, staying in touch with his customers, returning money, etc. If you take a look at the Build Your Own Arcade Controls FAQ at http://www.arcadecontrols.com [arcadecontrols.com] and ask around the forums you'll find a number of people who have been ripped off or screwed over by Arcade 2000. If you take a look around there are plenty of other reputable solutions such as Hanho Games, Inc. [hanho.com] known for their excellant HotRod Joystick [hanaho.com] and their ArcadePC [hanaho.com] arcade game cabinet.

    If you're more interested in building your own cabinet check out the BYOAC FAQ [arcadecontrols.com] or my friend Sithspawn [mailto]'s page about his cabinet. We both built MAME cabinets over the summer. Took a few months, but it's worth it. There's nothing quite like scrolling through a menu of 2000-some arcade, NES, SNES, SMS, etc games and playing with nice classic-feeling controls.
  • People confuse the terms all the time. Many pistols and rifles are 'automatic' meaning that the weapon prepares itself for the next shot after one is fired. IE: No cocking required.

    You're thinking of 'fully automatic' where as long as the trigger is held down it spews bullets. IE: machine gun. Very, very, very few of these are used in crimes compared to regular pistols and rifles.

    There is lots of public (voter) confusion on this and many laws are going thru that affect 'automatic' rifles and pistols instead of fully automatic versions. I've talked to two gun control activitists, one of which didn't even know the difference between automatic and fully automatic. Both of them were 'preaching' for banning 'automatic' weapons, where they were really talking about fully auto rifles and machine guns. Quite a shame, really.

    Yes, yes... I own some guns but I don't consider myself a gun-nut. I think this is an important distinction that needs to be made.

    -MoTec

  • Armour (Score:2)

    by ff ( 35380 )
    Now, what I'd really like is a leather s&m outfit for my mouse.
  • Magnesium is a terrible, amateurish way to light thermite, not to mention its high failure rate. Read chemists use glucose (avail at your local drug store [no, not _that_one]) and Potassium Permagnate (KMnO4). Works just abotu everytime and it looks cool to pour some "ooze" (the glucose) in a purplish-reddish-silver mizture and have it flame up.

    Mark Duell

  • That armored case looks ideal for land surveying. But how bright is the screen? I use a PC when surveying in the field and I have to duck into a shady spot to see the screen at all. If there are no buildings around I have to put a towel over my head to cut off the sunlight. We also use a laptop-based program to guide a boat for hydrographic surveying; obviously the pilot can't keep his head under cover. Our solution thus far has been to get monochrome screens, but those are just about unobtainable any more. Does anyone reading this know of someone who makes a color laptop screen which is both rugged and bright enough to read under direct sunlight?

    Yours WDK - WKiernan@concentric.net

  • I don't know about you folks, but I'd rather have a case constructed out of LEGO bricks. Some fine examples are here [hardocp.com], here [hardocp.com], here [applefritter.com], here [netscape.com], here [netscape.com], and finally here [www.woo.nu].

    Having a case made out of LEGO would be great... need a new piece of hardware? Out of drive bays? No problem! Just build another one!

    Also, a LEGO computer case would go great with the LEGO desk [ericharshbarger.org] I plan to get when I become obscenely wealthy.

    (I should probably mention that LEGO and related marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of the LEGO Company , which does not sponsor, authorize, or endorse this post. You have been duly warned.)

    --Psi

    Max, in America, it's customary to drive on the right.

  • The actual shot may be "painless," but watch out for claims of concussions, fractures and other injuries when the "frozen" suspect hits the ground or any other nearby object. Heaven help them if they were running at the time they got hit, too. The keyword here is 'suspect'. As in, not officially proven guilty, which in the USA is up to a judge to determine.

  • Actually it looks like the effect is localized to the muscle or muscle groups hit. This is bad since being shot in the chest by this thing will probably only immobilize the muscles being directly effected. This means the gunman can quite possibly still shoot you because you didn't hit the right muscle groups with the immobilizer. So its probably not as useful as it sounds.

  • The armored case is made out of highly flammable magnesium, which would make for an even more secure machine. Attach an igniter to the sucker and when powered on, give the user 20 seconds to enter a password before melting the machine to slag. If Irwin Jacobs had one of these when his laptop got snatched, well ... just think of the satisfaction he would have that not only were Qualcomm's secrets safe, but the thief now has a hole thru both floors of his condo :-).
  • Why buy yourself an already made machine? Isn't it more enjoyable to get an old Jamma cabinent, strip out the old boads, mount a computer chassis inside of it, and then tear apart a keyboard and start soldering connectors directly to it? Plus, there is the fun of hunting down custom drivers so you can use the original monitor, rigging up the monitor so it rotates, making your own trackball out of mouse parts, and building a splitter so you can use a regular keyboard too (then modifying the case so the keyboard can stay hidden 99% of the time). Plus if you can find an old coin door and mechanism, you could wire it up to take real coins. Then there is hunting down software and an OS (Sorry guys, DOS or Windows works best, the emulator scene seems to love DOS.) It seems like an enjoyable project to me, I don't think I'd ever be able to let someone build one for me. :)

    There would be something about taking an old arcade machine with a burned out board, sticking a couple hundred dollars of computer equipment into it plus a few weeks of my time, and making a machine that can play almost any arcade game plus most of the old consoles that would give me a warm fuzzy feeling (plus be illegal in most parts of the world *grin*). I suppose that some might want to buy a pre-made cabinet, but that's like buying an already built computer or having someone else install my OS.

    The only problem with doing the above is having to be involved in the emulation scene. There is a small part of the emulation scene that is dedicated to faithfully emulating old hardware (*waves to MAME*), and there is another part that just wants to emulate old games to be able to preserve a part of the past. For every 2 of these people, there are 98 people who seem to have less functioning neurons then fingers. Bulletin boards are filled with messages from clueless newbies who have neglected to RTFM, and it seems that all the emulation homepages threaten pain or death in order to prevent yet another fool for emailing a rom request. I was checking out websites the other night, hoping that someone hacked TCP/IP multi-player functionality into DOS/Win32 Mame, almost all of the message boards I found were filled with "Help, I can't get it to work" threads and people requesting for new games to be emulated so they can avoid paying quarters at the local arcade, as well as the occasionally "MAME runs too slow" post (which MAME does because its dedicated to the faithful emulation of hardware, not fast emulation). Half these people are just waiting for a nice PS/2 emulator to arrive so they can trade cd images and avoid buying games and the console, they have fallen to the dark side of the emulation scene and gives the rest of us the image of being cheap pirates. If you only want to be able to play new games for free, go away, we don't need your kind, stick to your Warez channels and websites. If you don't have enough brain power to read a faq/readme that has already answered the question, go away, you probably should rethink your decision to use a computer in the first place. I may be bitter about it, but in the last few years I've seen the emulation scene become filled with whiny teenage brats, fewer and fewer people care about the ideas of emulation, most just want to play games for free.

    Just my $.02

  • purpose of armored notebooks (Score:3)

    by Barbarian ( 9467 ) on Monday December 25, 2000 @04:32PM (#540602)
    It might not occur to most /. readers, but the armored notebooks aren't for reading /., or playing Quake XIXIV, or loading up X11, or fanatics that are worried about damage. They're for running on the well test rig. Or entering data on the seismic line. In other words, for real world applications where you don't need a PIII-999 to get it to work.

    The site that is linked here (review site) misses this point completely. If you have one of these, you're probably not exactly running an app. that stresses the CPU out.
  • The same link has a story about a company selling ray guns that would let police painlessly immobilize criminals in their tracks; much more interesting than an armoured laptop, I think you'll agree :-)

  • Reading the ZZZ magazine thing.... (Score:3)

    by Calle Ballz ( 238584 ) on Monday December 25, 2000 @09:44AM (#540604) Homepage
    I was reading about the new laser device that transmits electric impulses to immobilize people. The new "phaser" so to speak.

    One thing didn't set right with me, if it makes all of the target's muscles contract at once, and that target is holding a gun.... what is going to stop the trigger finger from contracting? It would probably set off the gun... Immobilizing the villain would mean risking the lives of others. has anyone else thought of that?

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