The mad inventor in his shed has been a staple of SF. I thought he'd all but died out in this plug-and-play age until Trevor Bayliss turned up with his clockwork radio. But it seems they're still out there. Now I find this...
It's inspiration is partly from the Space Oddysey 2001, and the technology from a series of books by Neal Asher. The technology is called Jain, and its a biotech hardware plaque that kind of looks a cross between silver vines and roots, and coral. Its tendrils take over any form of technology and subsume it.
You will see this influence later on in the build hopefully.
Uh? wtf?
12 comments:
jaw is on the floor. someone help me find it.
I don't really have much of an idea of what's going on here, beside the fact that he seems to be building a steampunk water-cooled computer.
It's a bit of a stretch calling what he's doing Jain-like and water-cooled PCs are nothing new anyway. It's an interesting project and you have to salute his dedication, but Jain?
Today my wife amalgamated glutinous strands of high energy-giving complex carbohydrates with small particles of organic tissue (which were high in proteins). This was infused in solanum lycopersicum and covered with some hard, granulated substance derived from a liquid produced by mammals - which was allowed to sour and coagulate (usually by adding a bacterial culture).
All very Jain-like I thought, but I ate it anyway.
Mmm... spaghetti bolognese with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on top...
lovely! :)
He is building a PC case and cooling from scratch. A very impressive piece of work. I would imagine that he going to have a personalised paint job on the outside of the case as well.
Not quite how I imagined Jain tech, but, you know, 'nuff respect to the guy; it looks bloody complicated.
So, noticed any sideeffects yet, Bob?
In this italian jain version one might expect 24/7 singing of Volare, for instance. ;-)
Bob, it's when the spaghetti oozes out of your ear and starts feasting on your eye-ball that you have to worry.
Skar, it certainly looks impressive to me. I just wish I knew what his overall aim was.
Hutch, I agree, and if I had such know how I'd be working on a Golem by now.
Martin, avoid Bob's blog -- Jain tech can also transfer itself by non-physical media. One glance and you'll find yourself with sunglasses and an admirable fashion sense.
Weird you should mention side-effects, Martin, I seem to be humming 'Nessun Dorma' quite a lot (especially at night) which is keeping everyone awake...
Oi, Neal!
Stop putting people off visiting my blog! As long as you have a decent fire-wall, look at it by using a mirror and wear flares nothing should happen, well nothing that a good dose of cod-liver oil shouldn't cure anyway.
And... I might add, I have now got an actual follower on there!
(He obviously didn't wear the flares)
BTW
Have you checked out my free novella I've posted? Found a neat flipping-book site which converts your PDfs and also hosts the story for you. A nice way to read on-line as usually I find it tiring reading off a screen. The site is called Issuu
PS: Coming to the end of 'Shadow Of The Scorpion' and enjoyed every minute.
Sheesh, didn't realise how bloody an upbringing a certain character had. He seems to have mellowed somewhat as he has grown older.
Best,
Bob
Hi, this is Rainwulf, the guy building this, thanks for the mention Neal, I am a MASSIVE fan of your books!
At the moment, the machine does not have much of a jain element to it, let's just say i am building the Polity side to it first. But please check back soon! I am slowly putting together the finishing touches to the Polity Tech, and then i will subsume it with Jain.
Rainwulf
He is modifying his computer (modding) to personalise it.
Some of the people who do this go to incredible lengths and the results can be surprisingly artistic.
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2008/12/16/chiaroscuro-by-nick-falzone/1
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2008/06/02/the-reflection-htpc/6
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/
Sorry, Bob - all of you, visit his site at once!
Colin, glad to hear from you and glad to know you're a fan. Can you make your next project a Golem android, or maybe a war drone?
I'll check those out, Paul.
War Drone, now that could be a cool project! Sniper in his first body or the second one?
One of the big AIs would prpobably be more suitable (as a computer that doesn't physically move) but since they "get lost in an ashtray" (or something to that effect :) The scale would be a bit off.
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