Kittenmoi My Wife's PC

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I won a Athlon XP Shuttle system at QuakeCon '03, I decided to use this as a case for a computer for my wife.

The goals:

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Hello Kitty Themed (Wife request)

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Easy to use computer

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Internet and e-mail mostly

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Wireless connectivity

First the specs:

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AMD Athlon XP 2800+

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Shuttle Barebone system

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512MB PC3200 DDR

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64MB Graphics Card

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Apple Airport express used as a wireless bridge and USB print server

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60 GB harddrive

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24X  Slot Load 16X CD-ROM Drive

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17" Monitor

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USB keyboard

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Microsoft wireless mouse

Since my wife's PC is setup in the living room I lined the case bottom, and shell with akasa sound deadening material.

For the front of the case I wanted a simple lit button.

With normal vandal resistant switches costing upwards of $20 I choose a simpler route.

I took a normal door-bell switch which uses an light bulb inside...

I then replaced the light bulb with a super bright white LED...

The new LED provides a soft blue/white glow.

The button remains lit all the time, and works to turn the PC on.

Diodes and resistors were used to isolate the LED from Switch function.

After a lot of  krylon fusion paint, and clear coat the result is a whole lot of pink.

More then my taste, but my wife likes it.

The faceplate is super simple, with only two switches: CD Eject (top) and Power (Bottom)

The faceplate is clear lexan, painted pink on one side, etched, and aluminum tape behind the etch.

Using the freeware Speedfan program I have lowered the fan speed, and made a near totally silent computer that is perfect for internet and e-mail.

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