the pursuit of techyness » laser etch

My New Guardian Angel: Where & When?

ame — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:34:02 +0000

As I wrote in a previous post, my research on technology modifications inspired me to do the same- take my own advice and make my stuff really “mine.” So, I checked out Adafruit’s wiki and did a little searching… eventually I found Tech-Tattoos. I noticed in the Adafruit forum, someone from my hometown who was starting up a new laser etching business. Excited but a little nervous, I immediately fired off an e-mail to Jen Horvath, the co-founder of Tech-Tattoos, where they will “zap your crap.” Immediately, she emailed me back, a little surprised and impressed that I found her- as she didn’t have a website yet. The whole process was amazing, and painless (no needles- i don’t like people tattoos).

She even let me press the button- as you can see from this image, I watched the laser etching machine take my clean, untouched MacBook Pro and turn it into my guardian angel

The guardian angels of life fly so high as to be beyond our sight, but they are always looking down upon us. ~Jean Paul Richter

My New Guardian Angel.

ame — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 02:32:28 +0000

In August, I bought a MacBook pro.

I know what you’re thinking.

“Alana, you’re a PC-girl.” Well, hey now— don’t jump to conclusions or categorize/stereotype me just yet, I like to keep people guessing.

Actually, one of the biggest reasons I bought my new baby because of my earlier post on laser etching. I was fascinated and wanted something (or many things) laser etched.

I know that this post is sortof backwards- as in I shouldn’t be posting the finished product first. So my next post will explain how I found the company and how I was inspired to create wings on my new, 2k+ baby. Who needs a boyfriend when you have something this pretty? That’s what I’m thinking.

Angels have no philosophy but love. ~Adeline Cullen Ray

Extend your personality… onto your personal device.

ame — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 20:06:44 +0000

Add together one $20,000 laser etching machine and a $2,000 MacBook Pro and what do you get? A lot more than $22k: A license for creativity.

Options for laser etching today is far beyond the text-only option on your ipod at Apple.com. Don’t believe me? Make magazine has a great how-to article. But, if your credit line isn’t capable of financing this little project quite yet, check out a few of my favorites: the macbook “poe”, the “son of man” book, a tribute to silicon valley, the web 2.0 cloud, a crazy looking tarsier, a celtic knot, and even an iphone.

Interested? Luckily, there is a wiki page available that lists where you can transform your machine into workable art. Adafruit, the company that created the wiki page, offers an “open source” business plan filled with advice on how to startup your own company. The company has crafted some amazing pieces, but unless you’ll be in New York City, you’re a bit out of luck- they operate on an appointment basis only. Talk about sharing the wealth.

Another option is to sell the space on your computer like Leah Culver. A young college student, Leah couldn’t afford a new computer- until she realized that she could sell space on her mac to advertisers such as pbwiki, technorati, firefox, dig, ask.com, and even good ‘ol reliable mom & dad. It worked- check out the finished product.

If you’re looking for a more non-destructive way to modify your precious gadgets, check out icolours, which sells pieces of translucent film to change the color of the lit apple.
To be platform-friendly, there is ColorwarePc, where you can buy aftermarket “body kits” for your computer. Or, the least expensive option is Gelaskins, where you can buy covers for both ipods and laptops.