Submit-A-Hack

Submitted by Charles Babbage

While going through and doing some maintenance on my site I had an idea – what if people submitted their own cool hacks to Benheck.com as a way of showing them to the world? This could allow modders and builders of cool things an entry point and exposure they might otherwise not get. Also – since I do not often get around to showing my projects as often as I like – this would help keep the site’s content fresh – perhaps one “featured” project per week.

So let’s give it a try. If you or a friend has a cool project you’d like me to show on this site, email me using this link. I’ll pick my favorite each week and post a short review of it, along with links back to your home page. (Having your own site detailing the project is plus)

Main criteria: Must be something you’ve built or modded, but it won’t be limited to gaming or computers. If you’ve got a hybrid static-electricity-powered car or automatic can crusher/french fry maker it’s all fair game.

Note: Do not use comments to submit ideas – please email them to me using the link above.

Xbox 360 Elite Laptop

Finish the Laptop/Fight!
Xbox 360 Elite-based laptop. Click here for a larger version.

Well after a long process my new Halo 3-inspired Xbox 360 laptop is complete. It has some new features compared to past units:

Green is the new black
In a departure from my usual design asthetic, this one has a lot of surface detail. Click here for a larger version.

Click here to view the Demonstration Video, large and small.
This unit, like all of them, was done by request and thus already spoken for. I do not plan to build any new Xbox 360 laptops in the near future, since they tend to be quite time consuming and I’d like a bit more variety in my life. That said, for the making-of story click below. Enjoy!

Note: Though I am tired of Xbox 360 laptops I am always up for other design consultation or custom jobs – email me.


Continue reading Xbox 360 Elite Laptop

Testing a new 65nm Xbox 360 in a laptop configuration

For the last year or so talk of the new, fabled 65nm Xbox 360’s have circulated the interwebs. Now – in this brave year 2008 – I have installed one of these newer  360’s in a laptop-type enviroment, to replace a Zephyr Elite I had been using.


What will Ben find? And at what temperature?

For a temperate-difference breakdown – done in an incredibly scientific manner as usual – see the rest of this article.

Continue reading Testing a new 65nm Xbox 360 in a laptop configuration

Benheck Podcast Episode 37

Yes that’s right, another podcast and no new portable projects. (You’ll have to wait a bit longer to see the Halo 3 edition Xbox 360 laptop, the PS3 portable and whatever else I might be working on)

Not to be confused with that Leonardo guy

In this podcast episode we discuss airline travel and why it sucks, videogames we’d like to see sequels to, and movies/movie sequels that were far better than they had any right to be. This is all prefaced of course by our latest intro – “Oblivion: Writer’s Guild Expansion Pack”.

Discuss below!

Listen to Benheck.com Podcast Episode 37

www.benheckpodcast.com

Benheck Podcast Episode 36

It’s time once again for the HD Wars! In this amazing new podcast we discuss the recent happening with Blu-Ray and Warner Brothers, plus compare both formats as-is at this point in time. Sure not all of my predictions have been correct, but I do recall saying “Blu-Ray FTW” nearly 2 years ago… I guess we know what people have been buying PS3’s for now.

But that’s not all! Call now and we’ll also discuss the Xbox Live service outage, how much online website-based consumer support sucks (for most companies), why Googling about tech problems is far better, and finally “Movie Story Cliches” in which we discuss how the slavish devotion to the “Hero’s Journey” template causes every movie to have the same plot and predictable twists.

Enjoy…

Listen to Benheck.com Podcast Episode 36

www.benheckpodcast.com

The Future of Videogames Part 4, 2007 Edition

According to the Mayan calendar and Mel Gibson, every 2 years when the sun reaches its winter solstice I must write an article in which I predict the “Future of Gaming”. (It’s true, you can find cave paintings about it)

Note: This article not endorsed by Nostradamus
Much like this dude, I am going to dish out the future

So here it is – “The Future of Videogaming 2007 Edition”. A lot of it is probably redundant if you’re familiar with our opinions in the podcast, but now you can see them as words. Includes obvious predictions for new 2008 models of the Xbox and Wii. Enjoy and have a safe and fun New Year’s…

Update on the lack of updates

Lately you may have noticed I haven’t had a lot of new projects on this site, just podcasts. This doesn’t mean I haven’t been working on anything, it just means I haven’t had a lot to show the world as most of my stuff these days is covered under various NDA’s.

So I just wanted to give you all a head’s up that I should have some new stuff up soon, hopefully after the New Year, and some long-suffering projects such as the Xbox laptop 3 or Commodore 64 Original Hardware laptop will be done sooner than later as well. In the meantime, continue to enjoy our podcasts and look for the usual bi-yearly “Future of Videogaming” article before 2007 is over.

For a good laugh you can also check out the Myspace page for our awesome Rock band group “Power Supply”!Â