Mod of the Month - January 2008

Paris Hilton

by Samaya
Worklog

Oh, dear eating-challenged Paris, how the tabloids malign thee! Or, maybe you're just picked on for being dumb as a box of rocks and wire thin. We know, life is so challenging when you're the (rumoured now former) heiress to billions.

However, it's really that "thinner than thou (or a piece of string)" concept that is on display here in Samaya's first project on our forums. He settled on the Paris name after it was dubbed by one of our moderators – though discussions of other possible names are included in the forum. Samaya decided to let this one stick though, because it's "painfully thin" and "can't do much more than basic tasks." The fact that a plexi case bares its goods for the world to see didn't really hurt the decision, though.

Anyhow, the case is built for his wife, who wanted something as thin as possible, as opposed to those stubby, fat minitowers that are so prevalent today. The specs aren't exactly going to blow anyone away – it's a 2.8GHz Pentium 4 Northwood chip under the very thin plastic facade (oooh, the Hilton digs just keep getting deeper).

Ahem, so on to the mod...


What do you get when you mix a bunch of plastic, silicon and some artistic license? Paris Hilton! Bah dum bum, pssh! Thank you, thank you, I'll be here all night. Anyhow, on the left you can see all the plastic going into this case – and on the right, the painfully thin layout.



Samaya made a custom PSU backing plate to attach the unit to, going at it with a Spirograph, followed by a dremel with router attachment. I think you'll agree, the end result is a whimsically thin yet pretty fan grille.



The "inside edge" has been made from thin red plexi, which is attached via button screws to the clear front and back panels. Careful attention has been paid to the edges, which bevel to a 45 degree angle and are polished so as not to lose their lustre.



The outside, which will share the angled edge approach, is made from black plexi. Once it's finished getting the royal treatment on the edges, the case will be ready for the interior work such as drive mounting, power and reset, and binge/purge functionality.

All in all, Paris Hilton (the project) is really off to a great start. It's colourful, well-designed, and can really have as many running jokes as its namesake... what more could you want? It's definitely going to be one to keep your eye on, so stop by Samaya's worklog and read it like a rag mag.

If you think thin is in and the Paris Hilton project has what it takes, make sure you vote for her as January's Mod of the Month.