Hacked Mac mini delivers news the old-fashioned way (sort of)
Posted by Dr. Macenstein
We’ve seen a lot of Mac mini mods in our day, but this one ranks right up there with the best of them.
Scott Walker, assistant editor at the Birmingham News, has found a truly unique use for his Mac mini. Using an old newspaper vending rack found on eBay, a 17-inch LG LCD display, some rope lighting, a Mac mini and some AppleScript, Scott was able to create a digital newsstand that delivers a constant stream of current headlines to his living room, and look extremely cool while doing it.
An iCal alarm wakes the mini each morning and sets in motion an AppleScript which takes some screenshots of various online newspapers (including the Birmingham News, of course), crops them (using GraphicCoverter), then launches a PhotoPresenter slideshow of the pics complete with transitions. The result is geekery at its finest. Check out Scott’s YouTube video (below) to see the device in action.
Thanks to faithful Macenstein reader TheWarpedOne for the tip!
June 27th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
It even has a remote! How f-ing cool is that!?!?
June 27th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
niiiiice!
June 27th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
What does an assistant editor make that they can just throw away a Mac mini like that?
don’t get me wrong, it’s a cool mod and all, but the mini could be put to a more useful purpose.
At MY house.
June 27th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
that is freakin’ cool as all hell. He should sell those.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:19 pm
i wonder where he gets his feed for those up to date headlines. of course, his job. but is it a digital scan that youd find archived library style, or maybe he just brings home a cd and loads it in every day. or has it networked. all the same, pretty cool.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:22 pm
could be MORE useful at mine I love macs and need more power
June 28th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
So you have to sit in front of this thing to read your news? I agree he did a nice job and its cool…but not exactly practical…
June 28th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Sweet mod. This would look great in a news room office.
June 28th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
I would say this seems like the future of newsstands… with the ability to show all the headlines to attract paper buyers!
June 28th, 2007 at 2:22 pm
Anybody have a “how-to?” It should be easy to do with alot less computer power though.
June 28th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
It would be even cooler if when he opened it up it printed the displayed paper.
June 28th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
That’s cool, but I don’t understand the point of the rope light. What’s that all about? Didn’t the LCD come with a backlight already?
June 28th, 2007 at 5:19 pm
I normally regard MSM folk as somewhat below worms in intelligence, but this fellow is obviously the exception. Mega cool!
June 28th, 2007 at 5:42 pm
Very cool.
http://www.ebooksbay.org
http://www.ebooksdb.net
June 28th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
so what is the rope lighting for??
June 29th, 2007 at 12:57 am
This is sooo cool. Thanks for sharing this.
June 29th, 2007 at 10:06 am
i was just thinking to myself the other day that there hasn’t been any enhancements in newspaper vending technology in a while
June 29th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
That is awesome doc!
October 13th, 2007 at 5:11 am
Cool, but already been done a couple of years ago. As seen at Quakecon 2004…
http://www.bit-tech.net/modding/2004/11/24/newspaper_box/1
March 12th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
I think I have seen something similar at the Paris Subway - Gare De Norde. It is a great idea.