The rattan computer

First of all: What is rattan ?

Rattan, called “mimbre” in spanish, is a commonly used material to construct hampers and furniture.

Wasn’t this blog about tech ?

Yep, that’s it’s main theme and I’m not a furniture expert, so why not add a computer to the mix ? Here you are:

The rattan computer
The rattan computer PSU detail Rattan computer or night table ? :-P Rattan's computer mainboard detail

All the components are holding by transparent nylon fishing wire. That way the visual impact of the hack is minimum :) It was not easy to fit all the stuff in such a limited space. For instance, the PSU had to be unmounted outside the furniture, put the parts inside, and mounted again like a ship in a bottle :-P.

The hardware specs are quite minimum: PII 233 with 256 MB RAM, 10GB HDD, a couple of wireless network adapters (one PCI Atheros-based wifi card and the other one is a Senao 200mW PCMCIA card on a PLX PCI adapter). Finally there is also an ethernet card connected to an ATA which is in turn connected to a cheap DECT phone. Now I’m using this computer as a free hotspot+PBX, and it’s working quite good ATM :)