Saga 1: The Cascading Power of New Things

A while back, I got a new “TV”: An LG LH90. This TV, unlike my old TV (a Sony Wega that weighed 275lbs), could actually be placed atop furniture (as opposed to a steel-reinforced, purpose-built “Wega Stand”). Through the miracle of 4 HDMI ports on the TV, the cable box, Playstation 3 and my primary home PC can all be slaved  to a single gigantic screen: The TV also has a fiberoptic audio output which went smoothly into my old-yet-still-amazing surround-sound receiver, allowing me to use just the HDMI between devices for all video and audio. Consolidation nirvana!! But there was a problem:

My TV could be remote controlled from The Comfiest Couch In The World.

My PS3 could be remote controlled from The Comfiest Couch In The World.

My cable box could be remote controlled from The Comfiest Couch In The World.

My PC … couldn’t.

*twitch* *twitch* *sob* I had to get up and … *twitch* push a button.

So, I set upon the Intertubes with the goal of fixing that. Unfortunately, as forays into the morass of technology acquisition seem to go for me, I was sidetracked by a dangerous thing: potential.

Saga 2: Patiently Purveying Potential Possibilities… Primarily

While I should have been sufficiently pleased with acquiring a Thermaltake HTPC remote system, I kept listing restlessly at night, thinking of the other magical things I saw on the Interweb… Thinking of what I could do. After all, wouldn’t it be so cool if I built my PC into the furniture? That little cubby on the right was just begging to be modded- Begging to serve a higher purpose than banal storage.

But a mod of wood? Wood is a poor conductor of heat, and an amazing insulator: That would be a thermodynamic nightmare! And that point was precisely why I had to do it: I found a worthy challenge.

Specification

• Must not destroy, scratch or poke holes in the pricey (and pretty) furniture
• Must properly cool my 6-core system, and oversized graphics cards
• Must not be externally louder than current design (10-20dB)
• Must be completely controllable from The Comfiest Couch In The World
• Must be worthy

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1. M@Blog » Expansive Consolidation: Saga 3 — October 23, 2009 @ 6:02 pm

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