The Mandelbear's Musings

02:14 pm - Steampunk in the NY Times

Steampunk Moves Between Two Worlds - New York Times

It is also the vision of steampunk, a subculture that is the aesthetic expression of a time-traveling fantasy world, one that embraces music, film, design and now fashion, all inspired by the extravagantly inventive age of dirigibles and steam locomotives, brass diving bells and jar-shaped protosubmarines. First appearing in the late 1980s and early ’90s, steampunk has picked up momentum in recent months, making a transition from what used to be mainly a literary taste to a Web-propagated way of life.

12:16 pm - Steampunk Mac Mini

Steampunk Remake: Dave Veloz's Keyboard and Monitor

A Steampunk Monitor and Keyboard for a Mac mini

There is nothing in the world that I like better then receiving pictures of things that people have been inspired to build by my projects. When I opened my mail and discovered these photos I squeed like teen on LJ! In interviews I've often described Steampunk as the intersection of technology and romance - well here is the story to prove it!

vonslatt

02:43 pm - Steampunk gallery

Steam-Driven Dreams: The Wondrously Whimsical World of Steampunk

For those who can't reach datamancer.net and want some dark wood and polished brass to drool over.

02:35 pm - The Victorian laptop

Datamancer.net -- Datamancer's Steampunk Victorian Laptop

This may look like a Victorian music box, but inside this intricately hand-crafted wooden case lives a Hewlett-Packard ZT1000 laptop that runs both Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux. It features an elaborate display of clockworks under glass, engraved brass accents, claw feet, an antiqued copper keyboard and mouse, leather wrist pads, and customized wireless network card. The machine turns on with an antique clock-winding key by way of a custom-built ratcheting switch made from old clock parts.

Current Mood: artistic

08:20 am - Too shiny

MAKE: Blog: Crazed steampunk cooling solution

While checking inbound links to his Steampunk Workshop, MAKE pal Jake von Slatt stumbled on this amazing steampunk casemod on a Polish modding forum. Really amazing, with needle guages, lots of lighting F/X, a porthole with clockworks inside, and lots of old school plumbing hardware

Current Mood: impressed

08:37 pm - Gadget lust

MAKE: Blog: Steampunk keyboard mod
( I want one. )
Down in its guts it's an IBM model M -- my favorite. [link]

06:17 pm - The Steampunk Stratocaster

A Clockwork Guitar - The Steampunk Stratocaster -- basically a strat with the pickguard replaced with a sheet of brass etched with an image of clockwork. Extremely cool-looking, though of course not nearly as cool as it would have been with actual gears. Hmm.

(from Make: Blog)

10:40 am - Steampunk meets cyberpunk

The steam powered internet machine - Engadget

Ok, so we're not exactly certain how Apple will incorporate this feat into their next batch of "I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" ads, but running an internet connected iMac off a steam engine is impressive, for lack of better words. Two Brits struggling for an artistic concept to connect the "industrial revolution to the digital revolution" somehow settled on this contraption, and have garnered a good bit of attention. The demand for the spectacle has become so large that the creators, Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, are touring through Kent and Margate over the next month to show off their machine; it can also be seen at the Turner Contemporary.

Current Mood: amused