The "Humidor II"
By Jeffrey L. Stephenson
Posted on November 21, 2002
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Style and elegance has never been used to describe a computer until now. Desktop humidors have been gracing the desks of the worlds most ambitious and successful for generations. Regardless of your thoughts on smoking, the wooden decorative box is a hit on any desk. Thousand dollar French humidors, Chippendale, original pre-embargo Cuban-made and the such. I think it's possible to re-make one of these beautiful boxes into a stylish and elegant office tool. They were originally designed to occupy desk space and make a statement about the owners' life-style and aloof-ness. They still can.

This glasstop variety is an exercise in the excess that is case modding. Solid tops can come with a key so it won't accidentally expose it's raw tech. How many people out there see three suits with their hands behind their back peering down into the glowing abyss? Enjoy!

Posing in our "go to work attire". Opportunity to quote amazing details:

  • 12 Volt DC motors (3)
  • 2 ft of 1/4" cable mesh
  • 1 1/2 ft of 1/2" cable mesh
  • 40mm finger guard (chrome)
  • 60mm finger guard (chrome)
  • And lots of other gruesome details.

Posing with our skirt over our head. The small green circuit board attached to the lid are the guts of an Orinoco USB Silver Client. Yes, 802.11b shooting through the glass-top. I installed the Windows XP Pro software with the wireless hardware attached. After the install, the equipment was working perfectly with my home WLAN. The aromatic scent of Spanish cedar hits the senses as the lid is opened.


Close-up of Vantec ThermoFlow. Serious overkill, but I like it. The speed of the fan is automatically controlled by temperature sensor on the outlet side of the fan. It is working as an extraction fan. I mounted the fan inside out by attaching the fan to the outside of the mounting bracket on the PSU. The original fan was much thinner and mounted inside the PSU. Got a chance to play with cable mesh including the Velcro variety. I like the look as opposed to those brightly colored candy twists you see in most case mods.


Nice inside shot showing the Logitech wireless base station removed from on top of the PSU. Velcro of course. First step in the PSU removal sequence.

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