Modfest 2004 aftermath. [Archive]

mrplow

11th July 2004, 01:51

http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/awards.jpg

Well that was pretty fun. It was nice meeting all the modders, Pug and Knipex stand out as wizd members as well as Mister_Tad (noobie!). If others are members I apologise!
I don't think I introduced myself to Knipex but I was with the cube case, we stole Pug's lad to do our Eye Toy demonstrations :D

Sorry I didn't say goodbye to anyone, the end was kinda weird everyone just seemed to drift off and I was swept away helping Carl load up his cube and then driving off with Fly.

I took 106 pictures :o
I'll post some notable ones presently :)

mrplow

11th July 2004, 02:19

A few "people shots":

Pug:
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/pug_interview3.jpg
and the fantastic "Pug jnr", what a great kid!
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/pug_jnr.jpg

Mister_Tad:
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/tad_interview.jpg
and his moral support, the lovely "Mrs_Tad"
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/mrstad_tad.jpg

Knipex:
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/knipex1.jpg
and here pictured with Pug
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/knipex_pug.jpg

Bigz and Fly (bit-tech)
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/bigz_fly1.jpg

Carl... my housemate, and newly dubbed "Queen of Kings". I will try and get him to sign up.
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/carl_carnage.jpg

Karl Brisco. Winner of "King of Kings". We certainly should get him to sign up! I didn't get any details..
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/karl1.jpg

This was just a quick flick through for some pics to post up before sorting them all. Really gonna need some sleep quite soon since I travelled down to Croydon for the event after working a bar shift until 5am (6am train) and so haven't actually slept yet since thursday night. Devotion!

I would like to say though that everyone at the event showed great community spirit and were all very friendly. It was great to meet you all - to put some faces to names, and to meet others for the first time. As a special mention, Toby was very well represented by his father who did a great job of the PR... I chatted to him a fair amount during the night since Carl's table was just next door and enjoyed the conversation. Congratulations on the creativity award and prizes!

Oh and Pug somehow managed to trip the power (they think) :D At least four times! :D

Well played that man! :D

Oh yeah, spot the pimpage!
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/wizdpimp.jpg

mnpctech

11th July 2004, 03:57

Great candid shots mr plow! :cool: I look forward to seeing more

Do you know if the interview segments will be avail online?

Would you guys do it again next year?

Pug shook things up a bit eh....^_^

toby

11th July 2004, 11:02

mrplow

11th July 2004, 15:13

Great candid shots mr plow! :cool: I look forward to seeing more. Do you know if the interview segments will be avail online? Would you guys do it again next year? Pug shook things up a bit eh....^_^

Thanks mate. I don't know about the interviews... Carl asked about the video at the start of the day and they said it was just for the PA on the day and wouldn't be available... seems a bit silly. If they had given me a copy I would have put everything online. I'm sure other people would have been willing also.

I'd love to go next year, with a case! I'd prefer the next compo to be sooner really... God alone knows what these people can manage given a whole year, I won't stand a chance!

Silverstrand

11th July 2004, 16:45

I never heard of Modfest... Probably since it's in the UK... The US needs to get an event like this going.

mrplow

11th July 2004, 18:59

I never heard of Modfest... Probably since it's in the UK... The US needs to get an event like this going.

It's the first thing like it we've had...

The US however has been doing modding contests for ages has it not? I can't think of any though... where does ZapWizard tout his wares, places like Quakecon perhaps.

Here's my best attempt at rounding up the event:
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/
There's also a gallery of all my pictures linked to at the end of the article.

Here's a direct link to the gallery if you want to bypass my attempts at journalism (and make me cry)
http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/gallery

Fibbles

11th July 2004, 22:16

We don't have contests per se, it's more of a tradition to have them at events like QuakeCon and various sponsored LAN's. They've not been the "feature" for events, at least not that I'm aware of.

mrplow

11th July 2004, 22:52

Tech TV definitely ran one cos I remember Zap winning a laser cutter

Silverstrand

11th July 2004, 23:03

True, yet that was a contest where you sent in your information and one winner chosen to be aired, not an event that everyone could go to.

Knipex

11th July 2004, 23:53

mrplow

12th July 2004, 02:31

Im still in London (untill Thursday) so no pics but I think Mr. Plow must have raided my camera as they are copies of mine:unsure: :D )
Good to meet Pug and Mr Tad but Mr Plow was sitting behind me all day and I never got an intro :rant: )
Pugs lad was absolutely the star of the show and should have won a prize of his own.

Sorry mate, I really should have come and had a proper chat... :unsure: I do remember asking you who you were though (lol) and you said hi I'm Knipex.

I must say your case was looking rather wonderful. Pug jnr certainly seemed to enjoy playing Far Cry on it :) As you say he certainly deserved a prize! Most Energetic? :D

I was the guy in the grey tshirt with the RAF style target thing on it in case you're not sure.

Overall I'd say it was a fairly decent day :) Some long waits and boring patches, but you can't have everything I guess!

mnpctech

12th July 2004, 03:39

Nice article mr plow. You can't tell me you've never done this before. Top job! I'd submit it to bit-tech news.

Pug, next year I wanna see a proper table banner! ;)

mnpctech

12th July 2004, 04:04

Is this the proud Mother of this Modder? (http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/fullsize/award_allcomers.jpg) ^_^ Classic!

Pug

12th July 2004, 11:00

^_^ Waahey! Nice one Tim. :wub:
I hope "Pug junior" didn't kick too much ass on Soul Calibur 2 allcomers! :D

We got back late last night and after the hecticness of the show on Saturday and dragging the kids full pelt round London on Sunday, followed by a mad dash between trains to try and get home; I'm absolutely shattered.
Have only had one coffee so far, so I'm gonna go slap the kettle on again and see if I can recover any of the photos I took {battery was flat on my DSC when I got there & I'd left the charger in the hotel room :rant:but luckily, I took a backup cam (which had it's own batteries run out not long after)}.

Was worth going just to meet a bunch of you and I wish it could have been longer or that we could have all got together at the bar afterwards but as Tim said, it was such a long day that by the end of it, people just began to drift away on autopilot.

Will definitely try and get along next year (whether invited or not) and reckon a bunch of you who missed it will/should do the same (shame on you if you could have gone and didn't :p).

Putting names to faces was great to be able to do at last (and now I know how BigZ gets his name :lol: ).

Back (with more coffee and pics) soon.

See you all next year. :cool:

mnpctech

12th July 2004, 13:52

I've always felt the US should organize its own Mod Event. Lord knows, we got enuf interest here. If I wasn't so busy being a dad I'd help conceive and organize one. Lots of ideas floating round in my head.

Pug

12th July 2004, 13:56

Right, a few pics as promised before I get back to work proper...

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/1.jpg
Luke Pillans being interviewed (he was first up for the mic up the nostril treatment)

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/2.jpg
Same again from a different angle... Knipex's table (& ma boy hogging his PC) to the right

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/3.jpg
Knipex with his back to us waiting patiently to get use of his PC back from Harley! :lol:

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/4.jpg
Couple of the mfgr's stalls round the outside of the tent (looks empty as I took these pics pretty early on in the day (before I filled up the cam and realised I didn't have the driver disc to get the pics off it... :rant: )

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/5.jpg
another angle of the central RD winners' compound.
Karl Brisco's King of Kings winning behemoth bringing new meaning to the words "external radiator" (as it's normally mounted on the outside wall of his Nottingham abode! :eek: ).

more in a tick....

bigZ

12th July 2004, 13:59

it would have been great to all get together after the event for a drink or two, but due to the nature of things, as rich has said, everyone seemed to just drift away in auto pilot mode.

Hopefully next year will be better advertised, but the event ran pretty smoothly IMO, a credit to PCWorld.

I look forward to seeing you all there again next year :D

mrplow

12th July 2004, 14:11

Nice article mr plow.

Thank you kindly ^_^

I wonder if anyone got a photo of me to add to the mug shots :huh:

The only ass your lad kicked at Soul Caliber, Pug, was mine! I got owned! :lol:

I don't suppose you got contact details for ppl like Luke and Karl? They'd fit in real nice here I think, Luke has some mad electronic wizardry skills (that amp+panel was awesome!) and Karl has sheer madness on his side! Modded house for cooling!

It was deffo a good day overall. It'd be nice if the next one was a bit sooner than 2005 really.

Pug

12th July 2004, 14:14

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/6.jpg
another angle of the central bit...
Nathan Quick's public vote & Speed King winning entry in the Mountain Mods case on the left and Barry Du Crow's Barbie PC, freezer chilled Pentium 1 and his first mod case on show (made me really wish I'd taken my third rig to fill my table up too)

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/7.jpg
Carl's table to the right of the DFI guys (big thanks for entertaining my son for the majority of the day with the eye-toy and custom PS2 dancefloors :wub: )

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/8.jpg
a (slightly) better shot of his table with Luke in the background, still getting a grilling on camera...

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/9.jpg
My table :o
Mez & my little girl keeping an eye on things for me while I legged it round snapping the digi shutter at all & sundry.

http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/Pug/modfest04/10.jpg
Pug jr. testing the dancemats.
He'd been dying to see himself on the twin plasma screens up on the wall all day but I snagged this shot just after the TV camera had been on him for ages whilst he was engrossed in his boogie. :rolleyes:

And that was it for my pics. :(
Will make a point of trying to be better photographically prepared next year. Till then, I'll just have to hope others can contribute the contents of their memory cards too. :cool:

Pug

12th July 2004, 14:21

I don't suppose you got contact details for ppl like Luke and Karl? They'd fit in real nice here I think, Luke has some mad electronic wizardry skills (that amp+panel was awesome!) and Karl has sheer madness on his side! Modded house for cooling! I did have a good chat with Luke and Karl a couple of times. I pimped this place to them and said they'd be most welcome to turn up and join the fold for those very reasons. :)

It was deffo a good day overall. It'd be nice if the next one was a bit sooner than 2005 really. Agreed. Sentiment echoed entirely.
A lot more advance publicity and a more central UK venue like Brummigham's own NEC might attract more of the actual modder community themselves rather than the bulk of the PCWorld clientele that made up a lot of the public attendance (although that was no bad thing in itself from the awareness-raising angle). We can but hope (and ask Bit-tech... ;))

fillip

12th July 2004, 14:24

It was deffo a good day overall. It'd be nice if the next one was a bit sooner than 2005 really.
Now this is where we seriously start talking about a WizD meet up...

I know it's extra hassle but it doesn't need to be anything particularly high profile (if you could call the CustomPC thing that considering their scant marketing for the event) just a LAN meet or summit where peeps can bring their kit along for some 'ego massage' :p

I guess the big players in the scene like BigZ (i'm scared to ask why he lives up to his name :unsure: ) Pug, Knippex - anyone but me i guess, lol. would have more of an idea how, what, when and why

But a year is too long.

mrplow

12th July 2004, 14:29

big players in the scene like BigZ (i'm scared to ask why he lives up to his name :unsure: )

Calm down sonny... he's just tall :p

And don't say things like "big players" about him, you'll just inflate his already sufficiently oversized head :lol: :wub:

fillip

12th July 2004, 14:31

what can i say, i use the term too loosely! :D

scopEDog

12th July 2004, 14:47

Nice pics Mrplow :cool: Wish i could of gone, but that would of been one hell of a drive for me :)

I've always felt the US should organize its own Mod Event. Lord knows, we got enuf interest here. If I wasn't so busy being a dad I'd help conceive and organize one. Lots of ideas floating round in my head.

Definitely, it would be great if we had an event like this in the states. We gotta show those brits a thing or two about modding! *flame suit on* j/k guys :) I would love to volunteer my time to organize such an event, if anyone needs the help ;)

Starbuck3733T

12th July 2004, 14:57

Pug: you're one tough looking mamma jamma. Those sideburns of yours are crazy! The missus says "That PC is pretty" (she's pointing to hex as I viewed mrplow's write up.

TM: "Can mine be silver like that, but I don't want water in it"
ME: "Alright, I actually have the same sorta case as he used for the basis, his bodywork is pretty awesome"
ME: (Shows her alien-li, which I believe is Mez's box?)
TM: "If you do put water in it, can it be purple"
ME: "Yes"

If "She" gets a computer, she probably wont use it much. she likes her celeron4 1.6 lappie (it does ok).

And she also says "His son is such a cutie!" (now your boy is being hit on by the older ladies!)

Great stuff guys, I really wish I could have been there, both for the contest and just for a meet and greet. I'd go chain-smoke with pug for a bit...

bigZ

12th July 2004, 15:05

Calm down sonny... he's just tall :p

And don't say things like "big players" about him, you'll just inflate his already sufficiently oversized head :lol: :wub:
:blink: :p

mnpctech

12th July 2004, 15:42

mrplow's Modfest article making the mod community news :)

ModdersHQ (http://www.moddershq.net/)

Pimprig.com (http://forums.pimprig.com/showthread.php?t=19204)

mrplow

12th July 2004, 16:33

mrplow's Modfest article making the mod community news :)
ModdersHQ (http://www.moddershq.net/)
Pimprig.com (http://forums.pimprig.com/showthread.php?t=19204)

:D thanks dude

I was just checkin through the gallery and thought I'd mention the "celebrity" guest judge (I imagine I was one of very few who recognised him since Click Online isn't exactly primetime viewing), Spencer Kelly...

http://www.techangel.co.uk/articles/modfest2004/gallery/fullsize/spencer_kelly.jpg

Nice of him to make such an effort ey? :lol: Even if he didn't want to iron a shirt, a quick shave might have been an idea! :rolleyes:

fillip

12th July 2004, 16:34

Click Online :huh:

mrplow

12th July 2004, 16:56

Click Online :huh:

I've only seen it on BBC World Service in a hotel once and you can also stream the show online... I believe it might be on News 24 sometimes.

http://www.bbcworld.com/content/template_clickonline.asp?pageid=666

pageid=666 :eek:

Maybe we should bombard Spencer with emails asking him to give 5 minutes on the next show to Modfest?

Knipex

12th July 2004, 18:58

wooo i won something!^_^ im in sydney atm having just been to japan so i havent really been able to post but am looking forward to seeing more pics my dad hasnt told me that much(well hardly anything but a cursory email when he got home but im guessing he was very tired as it sounds like a long day) but im expecting him to email sometime soon with a detailed debrief, i hope he got everything set up right as i was very demanding and the lcd was v v hard to set up!
Sorry Toby but despite our best efforts we failed to get the LCD working... A number of leads had pulled free of the parallel plug and I just could not figure out your power circuit...... (admitadly I was trying to repair my own rig at the time.)

anyone know the specs of Natan Quicks system... I have heard two different specs and am starting to get curious....

mrplow

12th July 2004, 19:39

anyone know the specs of Natan Quicks system... I have heard two different specs and am starting to get curious....

Apparently he upgraded VERY close to the competition. The spec in custom PC is fairly average, but I think he had a top end p4 and perhaps an x800 on the day.

Tad will know, I think he was screwin' about it :rant: :lol:

bigZ

12th July 2004, 19:57

It was an Athlon 64 @ 2.5GHz (not sure on model) with an X800XT and 1Gb of Corsair on an MSI K8T Neo mobo... I thought it was a bit unfair on the rest of the competition that he'd upgraded so soon after being published in the mag. :rolleyes:

If I'd of had the parts, I woulda kitted either carl or josh out (as they live close to me) with a top top end system - 3800+/X800XT PE/etc :(

Shame all my high end stuff deserts me at the moment :(

Nexxo

12th July 2004, 20:23

I'm sorry I wasn't able to make it. But 3 hours + train journey just to get there (and then 3 hours + back), on two days' notice was too much hassle. Also, I was sick on Saturday --some weird throat/cold bug from which I am in fact still recovering (I am typing this in bed on my wife's laptop --good thing I installed WiFi some time ago!). Pity, I would have liked to meet y'all IRL, so to speak.

Nevertheless I agree with Pug. We should do something somewhere more central, like the NEC (I'm not saying this just because I live in Birmingham ^_^ ). We could stage our own LAN-party/mod party event. We could hook up with Excalibur computer fairs perhaps?

Hopefully I should have Heavy Angel finished when the next gig comes around...

iduktech

12th July 2004, 22:25

fairplay for posting some pic's mrplow, wish I could have been there guy's :( mabie next year ;)

nice side burns elvis (i mean pug! :rolleyes: :wub: )

mrplow

12th July 2004, 22:40

I'm never buying anything from PNY..

"Here, have some of these mate"
"What are they" I say...
"Mints mate.. I'm gonna chuck em, so take a load"
"Mints! Great! Thanks dude"

Are they bollocks like. They start with a lovely mint sensation, then turn into some LICORICE like crud!

I HATE LICORICE!

I'm off to burn down PNY HQ, who's with me?

iduktech

12th July 2004, 22:43

matches...fire....count me in :h34r:

Nexxo

12th July 2004, 23:17

A lot more advance publicity and a more central UK venue like Brummigham's own NEC might attract more of the actual modder community themselves rather than the bulk of the PCWorld clientele that made up a lot of the public attendance (although that was no bad thing in itself from the awareness-raising angle). We can but hope (and ask Bit-tech... )

OK, to get the ball rolling on the whole Modders' Meet in a more centrally located area (Birmingham?), I sent the following e-mail to Excalibur Computers which host fairs in the Midlands, including the Motorcycle Museum near the NEC in Birmingham:

Hi,

You may be familiar (possibly) with the "Modfest" Computer Modders Competition that was arranged between CustomPC Magazine and PC World, that was heald last Saturday on 10th July in Croydon.

If not, well... the affair did not attract too many visitors (even though BBC's Spencer Kelley did make an appearance), because it was not advertised too well... Besides Croydon is sort of hard to reach for most people outside of London.

Many of the visitors, competitors (and winners) are members of the forum of which I am one moderator, Wizard Designs: http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/ and of the forum on Bit-tech.net: http://www.bit-tech.net/ (the latter of which you will most definitely know).

The idea started on the Wizard Design forums that the event would have been more successful if it had been better advertised, but also was on a more accessible location in Britain, such as Birmingham --and perhaps hosted more frequently. Not as a competition, perhaps, but an occasion where people can meet, show off their rig, and see others'; a sort of Modders LAN party (MOD party?).

It occured to me that Excalibur Computer Fairs at the Motorcycle museum would be an excellent venue. I observe that you rent a very large tent there, and as I frequently visit, I notice that a large space in that tent is currently unused (although I am also not sure whether you pay for the entire tent or just the area that the fair occupies).

Would you be interested in working together on concurrently hosting a Modders Expo in that area, next to the fair? It would offer us a space to meet, but I also figure that it would entice more customers to your fair (although that, I gather, is hardly necessary!).

Please let me know your thoughts,

Regards,

Robin Paijmans (aka Nexxo)

Let's see what they say. If that doesn't work, we could also approach Micro Mart, as they have arranged annual fairs in the NEC.

Whaday'all think?

fillip

12th July 2004, 23:24

I say thank god for Nexxo!

Sounds like a good start, i'm all for the B'ham location too - surprise surprise.

bigZ

13th July 2004, 00:17

mrplow

13th July 2004, 00:47

OK, to get the ball rolling on the whole Modders' Meet in a more centrally located area (Birmingham?), I sent the following e-mail to Excalibur Computers which host fairs in the Midlands, including the Motorcycle Museum near the NEC in Birmingham:
Let's see what they say. If that doesn't work, we could also approach Micro Mart, as they have arranged annual fairs in the NEC.
Whaday'all think?

Cool mate, cool.

If something could happen every 3 months or so that'd be pretty good ey

Pug

13th July 2004, 20:34

:rant:

I don't want to take away the good feeling of this thread, so I'm going to make a seperate one (http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/showthread.php?p=5228).

To depressed/fuming to post much more so will prolly try to tomorrow after I've calmed down a bit. :mad:

Knipex

13th July 2004, 21:10

It was an Athlon 64 @ 2.5GHz (not sure on model) with an X800XT and 1Gb of Corsair on an MSI K8T Neo mobo...
Thats what I thaught but as far as I remember it was a 3000+.

Now Josh was running a P4 based system of similar spec well overclocked and running a 15K SCSI harddrive.

All the tests were hardrive and CPU intensive with no 3D benchmark.

Hell I was runnign an Athlon 64 3400+ with a gig of ram and a raptor (9800 pro) but I had it all running at stock...

There was a comment made at how he wiped the floor with everything else with a score of 1.42 and the nearest being 1.32 (I assume it was Josh)

I can imagine him winning but by that margin ???? Pity they deleted the benchmarks and results off my machine :(

Pug

13th July 2004, 21:29

Kev - I asked James how mine did at the end of the show, he couldn't remember but has kept a record.
If you mail him at CPC, I'm sure he'll be forthcoming with details.

Nexxo - OMG! :wub:
Cracking idea - don't know if quarterly is a bit adventurous, but who knows till we look into it?

Why didn't I think of the NMM myself? It's got a bar & everything and must be oodles cheaper than the NEC.
I reckon it'd even be doable by the comp fair company you mentioned - they could probably get away with charging a similar fee as a computer fair if there was enough laid on to make it worthwhile. B)
Wonder how the big names would take to it this soon after modfest though. :unsure:
Good call, regardless. :cool:

Nexxo

15th July 2004, 20:06

Excalibur has not got back to me yet, but if they don't this week I'll start phoning them --or drop by the fair in person to talk to the organisers. Meanwhile, I've started pursueing the MicroMart route to see what they say:

Hi,

You may be familiar (possibly) with the "Modfest" Computer Modders Competition that was arranged between CustomPC Magazine and PC World, that was held last Saturday on 10th July in Croydon.

If not, well... the affair did not attract too many visitors (even though BBC's Spencer Kelley did make an appearance), because it was not advertised too well... Besides Croydon is sort of hard to reach for most people outside of London.

Many of the visitors, competitors (and winners) are members of the forum of which I am one moderator, Wizard Designs: http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/ and members of the forum on Bit-tech.net: http://www.bit-tech.net/ (the latter of which you will most definitely know).

The idea started on the Wizard Design forums that the event would have been more successful if it had been better advertised, but also was on a more accessible location in Britain, such as Birmingham --and perhaps hosted more frequently. Not as a competition, perhaps, but an occasion where people can meet, show off their rig, and see others'; a sort of Modders LAN party (MOD party?).

I recall that on 30th November 2003 Micro Mart hosted a computer fair at the NEC (a large, pretty good one --bought a lot of bargains. Cheers!). So I wondered whether you would be interested in working together on hosting a Modders Expo? Given that many people on both forums have done some excellent work, there would be plenty of material to show off; moreover it could be combined with a fair not unlike the one you arranged last year.

Please let me know your thoughts,

Regards,

Robin Paijmans (aka Nexxo)

fillip

15th July 2004, 21:21

Sounds cool mate, i'm sure one of them will get back to ya.

It's hard to see why they wouldn't agree to it if they can give up the space. As you said befoe, it's only gonna promote their own fairs more and bring in more people.

Fibbles

15th July 2004, 21:32

Ugh, this stuff is making me wish I was in the UK, instead of a desert.

mrplow

16th July 2004, 18:42

There's a fair interest in modfest for sure! Lots of views, even linked through from the [H]!

More ammunition to help us get backing for more events.

PS mine's better than bit-tech's tbh ^_^

mrplow

22nd July 2004, 21:22

Fibbles

22nd July 2004, 22:04

That may be his view, but modding doesn't need to be excessive. If you've got a case that's been modded nicely (like yours), that's still modding it. The fact that you didn't turn it into a rusted HL2 showcase doesn't mean it's not modded at all. Wasn't the original concept of modding more to cut costs by self improving the looks of your case, without needing to spend money to make it into something entrely and completely new? I happen to prefer sublte ideas to full out changes. Those bug and HL2 mods are nice as well, but they seem to be made more for attention grabbing than for actual computer use. A modded computer should be fully useable, and should be one of your used machines, instead of sitting on a table at a convention floor wooing onlookers for most of its' lifespan. I'm not saying they are bad, everythign is nice, but to call one better because it has been physically transformed into something completely different whereas other cases are sort of "stockish" but you can tell they are oh-so different when glancing at them works well.

If I sound confusing, oh well, it sort of reminds me of the 1/2" vs 1/4" garbage everywhere.

mnpctech

22nd July 2004, 23:12

^ no excuses, he was rude.

Starbuck3733T

22nd July 2004, 23:30

Well said Dr. Fibbles, very well said.

mrplow

22nd July 2004, 23:55

I agree entirely fibbles... there was a similar discussion in the thread about Hobbes' case (http://www.wizdforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=470) although I don't want people to think I don't appreciate his extraordinary skills.

Basically it's easier to be nice or quiet than just badmouth someone'e hard work.
Hexus on the whole doesn't seem to be the most modder friendly board anyway.

One good thing came out of it though, I messaged Nathan Quick about wizd and he says he'll come have a look. :)
Now we just need Barry, Carl, Karl and Luke for the full set :D

fivecheebs

23rd July 2004, 15:21

Hi peeps :)

Sorry i took my time getting in here ... had some family over from the US preventing my usual online habits.

It was good to meet you chaps and put faces to psudonyms ;) Shame the event was so under advertised but it was fairly crowded in there at times thanks to the PC world passers-by.

I was going to take my camera but the missus already had dibs on it. :o

Nexxo

23rd July 2004, 20:50

What I thought was funnier was this post in the same Hexus thread:

IMHO it looks rubbish and does nothing to further the cause of case modding, Mods like those of Gordy and Mashie are far more impressive and deserve the recognition that are due to them.

"Further the cause of modding"?!? :blink: Jeez, I didn't know we had a cause! Are we an organised religion now? Should we start canvassing door-to-door like "Modder's Witnesses"? :rolleyes: :p

And here's me thinking it was all just good clean fun... :huh:

Darv

23rd July 2004, 21:05

"Further the cause of modding"?!? :blink: Jeez, I didn't know we had a cause! Are we an organised religion now? Should we start canvassing door-to-door like "Modder's Witnesses"? :rolleyes: :p

lol :lol:

So true, some people seem to take modding far too serious!

mnpctech

23rd July 2004, 22:38

Mods like those of Gordy and Mashie are far more impressive and deserve the recognition that are due to them
He can't be serious. I just looked @ his Mods (Gordy) and they're no more impressive than anyone elses. Lets drop this topic <_<

bigZ

25th July 2004, 00:25

Gordy's mods are stuff that most people could do... there's no originality in them in my opinion. I saw his first big mod (the CM200, which was nice) but things haven't really moved on since then - he's still modding the same thing, the same cases, and doesn't seem to do anything "spectacular" in my opinion :wacko:

His mods are well executed, but to place them in the same league as Y2K-bug, anemone, Orac, NeXT Cube, BlackMesa HL2 and all of those other mods out there that are simply mouth-watering would not be right because, personally, I don't think they are in that league.

Ok ok, I'll drop the topic now ;)

mrplow

5th August 2004, 18:32

omgs mrplow in custom pc. Now I just have to get into the Readers Drives section :lol:

http://www.techangel.co.uk/~mrplow/fullpage.jpg

http://www.techangel.co.uk/~mrplow/photo.jpg

Carl in black, Luke in red, me behind Luke. Pug's son Harley in the foreground (the little guy :D)

I guess you all have it by now and have seen the results, but since Knipex (and others) were wondering about the speedking test results...

http://www.techangel.co.uk/~mrplow/speedking.jpg

Rather odd... I wonder why Carl kicked arse in the cd ripping bit?

ps I don't have a scanner and bigz's is broken so I had to take photos, sorry!

mnpctech

5th August 2004, 19:22

nice!

Hopefully it will help next year's event become even bigger.

Nexxo

5th August 2004, 20:55

Hopefully it will be better advertised and more centrally located... :rolleyes:

Pug

6th August 2004, 10:47

I think this poor publicity was shown in the turnout , there were no really great mods , apologises to those that went but thats my view. Most of the stuff in the pictures I've seen were mods of a stock case and there were no from scratch mods such as mashies y2kbug for example. http://forums.hexus.net/showpost.php?p=244245&postcount=19

How rude! mod·i·fi·ca·tion n. (mhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/obreve.gifdhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/lprime.gifhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/schwa.gif-fhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/ibreve.gif-khttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/amacr.gifhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/prime.gifshhttp://cache.lexico.com/dictionary/graphics/AHD4/GIF/schwa.gifn)

The act of modifying or the condition of being modified.
A small alteration, adjustment, or limitation.
The act or result of modifying something
The act of making something different
A slightly modified copy; not an exact copy; "a modification of last year's model"
... I musta missed the bit in the dictionary about modifying things "from scratch". :confused:

[Edit] PS mine's better than bit-tech's tbh ^_^ /me agrees (sorry Fly :o )

As for the CustomPC pic, there's a few other WizD members doing a "Where's Waldo?" in there ...
Mez is dead centre, looking gorgeous as ever. Fivecheebs is squatting down near Alien Li and my daughter Layla (honourary member) is, I think, just out of shot (probably obscured by mrplow :p ). :D

bigZ

6th August 2004, 12:35

ps I don't have a scanner and bigz's is broken so I had to take photos, sorry!

mine works fine :wacko:

I put it down to the user :wub:

fivecheebs

6th August 2004, 12:40

Fivecheebs is squatting

/singing "I shall not i shall not be moved ... I shall not ...... "

mnpctech

7th August 2004, 13:30

Quote:
I think this poor publicity was shown in the turnout , there were no really great mods , apologises to those that went but thats my view. Most of the stuff in the pictures I've seen were mods of a stock case and there were no from scratch mods such as mashies y2kbug for example.
http://prudhoe.codeword.com/mnpctech/aWIZB/CaseModders.jpg

Firelord

7th August 2004, 15:19

omgs mrplow in custom pc. Now I just have to get into the Readers Drives section :lol:

I guess you all have it by now and have seen the results, but since Knipex (and others) were wondering about the speedking test results...

http://www.techangel.co.uk/~mrplow/speedking.jpg

Rather odd... I wonder why Carl kicked arse in the cd ripping bit?

ps I don't have a scanner and bigz's is broken so I had to take photos, sorry!
Nice to see my name at the top :D Must try again with my Raptors :D

As to peoples negativity why can't they be happy for people that have done it :rolleyes: lets see them get in there and do better.

While I agree, yes there was no real get mods but they were all unique rigs. You can't take that away. People are just a**eholes when all they do is bitch and never see the plus points... Waste of space. After all it helps us all as a community that it gets published in such a way. People that weren't really into computers were amazed.

As some of you may have seen I posted back to the slagging off of the barbie case @ hexus. Some of them over there are so arrogant and real t****rs, amazing we've never seen any of their mods.....

Firelord

7th August 2004, 15:38

Apparently he upgraded VERY close to the competition. The spec in custom PC is fairly average, but I think he had a top end p4 and perhaps an x800 on the day.

Tad will know, I think he was screwin' about it :rant: :lol:Athlon 64 3000+ @ 9.5*270 2565MHz 1.8v
1GB XMS3500 Plat @ 214MHz 2-7-3-3 1T 2.8v
Seagate 120GB SATA HDD
X800 Pro VIVO flashed to full X800 XT PE specs :D

toby

7th August 2004, 18:08

im sorry but they are out of order slagging off our work. i dont know how they can slag off the barbie case because i bet the guys daughter loves it, its extremley different with neat touches like the rerouting of the cd drive button and it serves its purpose because it looks like something that would appeal to somebodys daughter.its quite appaling that they can just sit there and slag our work off especially when they havent done anything themselves. things like pugs case where he obviously spent ages meshing the front so it lookedbetter than factory finish shows real skill in the quality of the work. i dont think there was a bad case at the show and just because everyone didnt completly customise their cases its no need to start having a go. and besides i dont think ive seen any computers in marconi voltmeters before, especially not ones with an external psu containing a nixie tube clock!im proud of my work and im sure everyone else is to and i think its pathetic that someone dcan just sit there and talk bad about someone elses hard work, it would have been much easier to comment on all the things they did like instead of whining cause they cant produce anything decent. (:mad:rrrr angry lol )

mrplow

8th August 2004, 20:20

How the hell did you do that "nixie tube" thing anyway, I :wub: it

toby

8th August 2004, 21:14

i got a kit from this guy http://www.gerardgeurts.freeserve.co.uk/nixie_2.htm which was just the pcb cause it was a week before the comp and i fancied doing something new to the pc but i didnt have time to do my own circuit cause there are quite a few plans about that you can modify for your own tastes.so i got the kit then got some nixie tubes and some switches but the nixie tubes i got were different to the ones the guy made the board from cause the holes the nixie legs were sposed to go in had a different pin layout to the legs of the tubes. so instead of being able to just push the tubes in the holes and solder them on i had to have wires leading from the tube legs to the correct holes on the pcb which took ages to solder and heatshrink<_<so it was a bit of a headache using different tubes but saved me a hell of a lot of moneycause the red ones the pcb is designed for cost 25 euros each whereas the ones i got off ebay were only 15 quid although smaller and not coated they still look great.the testing and building took a long time tho and i managed to shock myself on it a few times lol

Starbuck3733T

8th August 2004, 22:57

They look really good, i'll have to look up how they work because they'd fit in nicely as temp readouts/usage readouts in a post apocolyptic or a retro mod.

toby

8th August 2004, 23:22

they give off a really nice warm glow like a valve amplifier and as i couldnt afford one of them i figured a nixie tube clock would be nice. there is some good stuff off ebay sometimes which is where i got my xn11 tubes from and on ebay uk currently there is a nixie tube calculator which i thought was quite cool!

Starbuck3733T

8th August 2004, 23:53

my brain is already chruning on a way to use them :)

mrplow

9th August 2004, 14:39

£60 for the pcb and €15 a pop for tubes... :( :(

:rant: :rant: :rant: I want one!

toby

9th August 2004, 22:22

you can make your own version quite cheaply especially if you use cheaper tubes like the ones off ebay. http://www.electricstuff.co.uk/nixclock.html has a lot of information. although you have to be very very carefull cause its using high voltage, i managed to shock myself on mine by accidentally touching things i shouldnt have when i was testing it lol

Firelord

10th August 2004, 08:51

http://www.over-clock.com/ivb/index.php?showtopic=5809&view=getnewpost

Pug

13th August 2004, 13:17

mrplow

22nd October 2004, 12:40

Sorry to dredge up a really really old thread but I got this email and replied saying I'd "forward" it. Posting here seemed more efficient.

From: John Brandon <jmbrandon@charter.net>
Subject: contact info

Do you have contact info for the winners of Modfest 2004? I'm working on an
article about people who have built the coolest looking PCs.

- John Brandon, Technology Writer
103 Inger Place, Buffalo, MN 55313
Landline: 763-682-5961
Fax: 763-201-5938
Coffee Preference: Thick, Black

I also asked if it's for a webby or a mag, so maybe you want to hold off until then just in case it's for www.geocities.com/johnbrandonsawesomecasemodding/

fillip

22nd October 2004, 12:59

"Sorry, the page you requested was not found."

Page not available i guess? :confused:

toby

22nd October 2004, 18:33

might drop him an email if you hear anything interesting about it but that webby is down for me

mrplow

23rd October 2004, 02:53

"Sorry, the page you requested was not found."

Page not available i guess? :confused:

"http://www.geocities.com/johnbrandonsawesomecasemodding/" was a joke... *head slapping smiley*

fillip

23rd October 2004, 03:28

:huh: :unsure:

mrplow

23rd October 2004, 13:31

Subject: RE: contact info
PC Upgrade magazine

He sure writes lengthy emails.
So anyway up to you.

Gordy

23rd October 2004, 13:37

Only just seen this post ,and I'm dissapointed at the response quite frankly.

Gordy's mods are stuff that most people could do... there's no originality in them in my opinion. I saw his first big mod (the CM200, which was nice) but things haven't really moved on since then - he's still modding the same thing, the same cases, and doesn't seem to do anything "spectacular" in my opinion :wacko:

His mods are well executed, but to place them in the same league as Y2K-bug, anemone, Orac, NeXT Cube, BlackMesa HL2 and all of those other mods out there that are simply mouth-watering would not be right because, personally, I don't think they are in that league.

Ok ok, I'll drop the topic now ;)

Find where I've said any different? I will say however I did most of the coolermaster modding stuff years ago when it wasnt the norm, now everyone man and his dog can afford them, and find the modding kit its now cliche.

He can't be serious. I just looked @ his Mods (Gordy) and they're no more impressive than anyone elses. Lets drop this topic <_<

As I said there were no great mods there, I didnt not say that mine were did i so why the personal attack?

I note you showed a very different tack on hexus :
Gordy, bit harsh but I agree to an extent

I'm not the only one who thought it was poor turn out. Take a look at some of the cpl entries over the last three years and thats just the cream of a large collection of mods that are in a different league to the ones at the show. When there are people in the UK with some great stuff , mashies y2kbug is just one example, it was dissapointing to see that there was none of that kind of mod on display.

In short I'm dissapointed, if this is the kind of attitude displayed here I don't know whether to bother coming again. :(

Darv

23rd October 2004, 14:19

Gordy

23rd October 2004, 14:42

Well how would you feel if you brought a case to an event like that. One that you had spent ages making and were very impressed with. Only to have a bunch of people say it's a load of crap and that's there's far better mods out there.

I never said they were crap tho did I......

And there are better mods out there.....

Better than mine as well as the ones at the comp....

mnpctech

23rd October 2004, 14:44

As I said there were no great mods there, I didnt not say that mine were did i so why the personal attack?

Since I didn't really know of you, looking @ your mods was the only insight into who you are. Looking back, I was being judgemental of somebody I've never met and I apologize to you Gordy.

Your comments simply buggered WizD members. Its a pisser that you had to read them later on w/o any defense :rant: Discussion forums can be a double edge blade that way.

Can we agree that we all have our own opinions of what "great mods" are and move on?

< Offers to share his variable speed Dremel as peace offering :) :D

Gordy

23rd October 2004, 14:51

Since I didn't really know of you, looking @ your mods was the only insight into who you are. Looking back, I was being judgemental of somebody I've never met and I apologize to you Gordy.

Your comments simply buggered WizD members. Its a pisser that you had to read them later on w/o any defense :rant: Discussion forums can be a double edge blade that way.

Can we agree that we all have our own opinions of what "great mods" are and move on?

< Offers to share his variable speed Dremel as peace offering :) :D

Fairy muff, As long as its one of the new xpr dremmels :D

PS: Dont get me wrong I like some of the mods there special pugs one with the hex grill and stuff , just was expecting the something different :)