Medicine Cabinent Mac

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Joined: May 2 2004 - 18:50
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Medicine Cabinent Mac

I was sitting in my unfinished house tonight looking at the medicine cabinent thinking wouldnt it be cool to open it in ure bathroom and have a computer screen in it. any ideas to make this really cool.

performaman's picture
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Joined: Dec 20 2003 - 10:38
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Boot it as fast as you can.

Boot it as fast as you can.
Also, I don't know if you can do this, but: investigate automating it to load a webrrowser which would automatically go to Google News, Slashdot, a weather site, or whatever when you turned it on. Although you would want to be careful while shaving!

But what would be best is if you built it as a waterproof tablet. That way you could read it in the shower and then carry it with you to the breakfast table.

BDub's picture
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Over The Top?

It may just be me, but isn't that a little bit over the top? I'm as much of a fan of computers as anyone else on these forums, but they do have thier place. I really don't see much use for a computer in a medicine cabinet. Granted, this also opens up the possibilities for some really cool toys.

First off, here are some ideas of what I'd have one do -

1) Streaming radio - Do you have a favorite radio station or new source that you might want playing? You could even write some neat software to control how long it plays for, or if it has an alarm on it after x amount of minutes. I can't be the only person who gets lost in thought in a shower.

2) News Site - As previously mentioned, you could have it open up to Google News or something like that. Though I don't see reading as a really big point here, as if you're just standing there reading, you may as well do it somewhere else with a nicer computer. The only time I can think of that I'm just standing in a bathroom is while shaving, brushing teeth, combing hair, etc. Brushing teeth being the only one where I really don't need to be watching the mirror. Maybe put together a bit of software to read off the news headlines? Even search for keywords that you may be interested in? I'm tempted to put this together myself.

3) A Clock - Most people tend not to have one of these in a bathroom. There are a lot of bits of software to show you a larger clock. Perhaps have this be the display, with a small keypad/trackpad (I'd stay away from trackball for moisture reasons) to interrupt it and show either a listing of the news stories/radio controls/etc.

4) Calander - In relation to the clock, why not have it read you off any appointments you have for the day? Depending on how good your memory is, this could be really useful.

As for the actual computer, I'd go with a Powerbook modded somehow. Perhaps like a picture frame with a trackpad next to it? Most likely a PPC powerbook too, as you could stream audio through that properly and run decent applescripts on it.

Just some random ideas. Now that I think of it, if done properly, it could be a rather cool device. I hope you build it!

doug-doug the mighty's picture
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use an LCD with a touchscreen film

If you are just going to do a simple mirror-thing, you could always mount an LCD with a touch screen film to the back of the mirror (so when it is open, you can get the stuff in there and still see inside - depending on the depth of the cabinet). You can always use any computer and locate the box under the sink or in a nearby closet. Do a google for touch screen films - there are many available as after-market kits.

A portable tablet would be best by taking a slimmer ibook or PowerBook, cutting the lid to mount the LCD facing out and again using a touchscreen film of some kind. I would not try making this water proof (resistant yes, proof no).

--DDTM

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