In the early days of my career I got to work with artsy types, pr folks and writers. Once I started making money the crowd changed to mostly geeks, often in their 40s. I have nothing against geeks, and at my core I probably am one, but I've always rejected participation in truely geeky activities. I've never worn a pocket protector, I've never programmed my own calculator, and never written my own operating system. I've also failed to participate in the most essential "geek" undertaking of all, building my own PC. I enjoy computers, really. I've used them for work and play since I was 7. But I've never felt like I've done anything that comes remotely close to needing a custom built pc. Sure, maybe you can save a few bucks if you really source your parts, but buying the OS liscense trades off with that savings, and you never really have the benefit of a warrenty and those shiny labels that actually tell you what your computer has inside. Partly because of this I've never viewed a PC as art or a conversation piece. This week that changed.
In his web stumblings a friend came upon a page called "Case Mod" at
Neetorama. The first image on this site is the beautiful Moo Cow Moo pc pictured here. That's right, that pretty Holstein is a PC. The creator of this magnificent conversation piece has complete instructions on his website and action shots detailing various parts of the construction process. Yes, this appeals to my inner farmgirl, but more than anything it reminds me of a favorite childhood toy. Other kids had Sit -N- Spin and Legos, I had diecast tractors and one very cool plastic cow. This cow came equiped with a bendable neck that you could push down into a water trough. At that point you would pump the tail up and down just like an old well pump. When Bessie was full her head popped up and she would moo. Then came the real fun of milking Bessie the plastic cow. Their were even little white tablets you could use to make sure the water that went in came out looking like milk. Bessie was a childhood favorite and I really see no reason why bringing her back as a PC would be a horrible idea.