BenHeck: Mod Scientist
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January 12th, 2009

BenHeck: Mod Scientist

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“It’s really more of a sexual fantasy, Doc.”

Benjamin Heckendorn is a nerd after my own heart. He sees things that are well, and he can’t leave well enough alone. He sees the hidden potential in devices to be smaller, better, faster, stronger (work it). You might say his latest project, Modding an Xbox 360 controller into an Atari joystick, is pointless or that he had no reason for doing it. But why do we do anything? Why do we climb a mountain? Because it’s there. Why do we go to the moon? Because it’s there. Why do we put a 24″ LCD screen into a coffee table? Because they were Josh’s and not mine, so I didn’t care if they got broken.The journey of discovery is it’s own reward.

If you arent familiar with BenHeck’s work, I urge you to browse his greatest hits, his forum (where users post their own hacks and mods) and check out his podcast. He’s like Michelangelo with a soldering iron. He’s also completed several projects to help enable disabled gamers including a one handed controller and a one arm Guitar Hero solution using a foot pedal to strum.

Before I had a child, my living room, office or garage were typically full of such BenHeck-type projects. With most of them, I just enjoyed the breaking and rebuilding (and rebreaking) parts. Once they were operational I generally lost interest. I’d like to post pictures of them for you guys to check out. Josh has a few on his Flickr. I’ll go ahead and list the rest and update this post if pics get posted.

  • NES PC (building a working Via Motherboard into an NES case)
  • The MULEbox/JuiceBox arcade cabinet
  • Josh’s original Xbox case mod with clear dome and LED lights
  • The LCD Coffee Table That Should Not Be (1,2)

Post your own case mods and hardware hacking projects (or the best ones you’ve seen online) in the comments. Then get a Dremmel tool and ruin/improve those old computers and consoles just lying in your closet. Can we coin the term “ruinprove?”

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This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 2:32 pm and is filed under Comics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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^ 30 Comments...

  1. Adam
    January 12th, 2009 at 8:41 am

    next is to mod Eli into an eliMac. Awesome comic.

  2. Jonny Ace
    January 12th, 2009 at 8:52 am

    i gotta say i'm not a big modding person myself, but i do like to see other people's mods. great comic!

  3. hijinksensue
    January 12th, 2009 at 8:59 am

    Actually its a MeXBox.

    Or maybe an EEEli PC.

  4. FrakTruck
    January 12th, 2009 at 9:31 am

    Awesome Alliteration!

  5. the_stig
    January 12th, 2009 at 9:48 am

    Nice work on the comic, I wonder what other bizarre dreams Josh have. Particularly the ones concerning bacon.

  6. hijinksensue
    January 12th, 2009 at 10:03 am

    according to his recent Twitters (sorry, friends only) they involve mundane daily activities that end in nuclear blasts. I blame Indy 4.

  7. Duder
    January 12th, 2009 at 10:29 am

    Man, that second panel is just pure awesome. I wish I had that coffee table, it is sweet.

    Also I submit that you should tag the comic with "josh wishes for death".

  8. Dram
    January 13th, 2009 at 1:20 am

    Really excellent art on this one. I've never done any modding notable enough to list, but am I ever inspired right now.

  9. Mutant enemy
    January 13th, 2009 at 1:27 am

    Heh that cat is really liking the tv coffee table.

  10. doug
    January 13th, 2009 at 1:33 am

    Heheheh. You said "nutballs."

    Modded Josh needs his little elfin hat.

  11. greg2point0
    January 13th, 2009 at 2:16 am

    I have yet to "improve" anything by modding it. I love tinkering with devices, but it usually only leads to destruction.

  12. greg2point0
    January 13th, 2009 at 2:31 am

    Also wanted to add that you keep impressing me with the quality of the background artwork. I didn't notice the backgrounds of the first two panels until the 3rd time I looked at the comic, but good job, they look terrific.

  13. Eggwards
    January 13th, 2009 at 2:47 am

    I like that if you turned the Josh Box 360 around, the head would look just like those nauseating XBox commercials with the back of the heads blown off and tiny little beings living inside – oh, and helicopters buzzing around.

    I really hate those ads. Still, nice touch for the comic.

  14. Brandon
    January 13th, 2009 at 6:29 am

    Sigh… I never knew of Ben… so of course… being the geek I am, I'm reading through all of his mods.

    You know, today is my day off from work, and I think you just ruined it, thanks <.<

  15. hijinksensue
    January 13th, 2009 at 7:15 am

    "josh wishes for death" is really the underlying theme of HE. No reason to tag ALL the comics with the same thing.

  16. hijinksensue
    January 13th, 2009 at 7:17 am

    thanks. Its about 5 layers of pre rendered textures, hand drawn shadow, hand drawn textures and an actual photo of BenHecks workshop.

  17. hijinksensue
    January 13th, 2009 at 7:17 am

    I had the same thought when i was drawing it.

  18. Kyochan
    January 13th, 2009 at 9:25 am

    "He’s also completed several projects to help enable disabled gamers including a one handed controller and a one arm Guitar Hero solution using a foot pedal to strum."

    This is something I am glad you pointed out; were it not for you mentioning those specific projects, I wouldn't have bothered. Thanks, Joel!

  19. Chris J
    January 13th, 2009 at 11:53 am

    I'm surprised nobody's made any "Achievement" jokes for the Josh-Box 360.

  20. the_stig
    January 13th, 2009 at 12:38 pm

    c'mon people digg this shit, its up under the same title

  21. hijinksensue
    January 13th, 2009 at 12:49 pm

    Oh god, please dont. Digg is the server killer and bringer of hateful comments.

  22. A.J.
    January 14th, 2009 at 1:47 am

    Yes! Josh dies! *Takes a drink*

    Somehow, Josh's hollowed out body in panel 2 eerily reminds me of the end of "Jeepers Creepers."

  23. Patrick
    January 14th, 2009 at 12:34 am

    A) Joel, it looks like you are about to do something very not work safe to the cat in this shot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cubinplano/2102601838/in/set-72157603425182724/

    B) My hardware mod collection: http://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickcentral/collections/72157600034067041/

    Missing a crappy mouse mod and some other early ones, but the cool ones are there.

  24. AmazingAdrian
    January 15th, 2009 at 5:17 am

    Have you seen the steampunk modern electronics some people have made? Holy cow. Some folks out there have made things such as a desktop computer with almost completely victorian era technology (actual working hardware notwithstanding). Would you replace the mirrorshade stainless steel of your Mac for luxurious stained cherrywood and warm brass?

  25. groonk
    January 15th, 2009 at 4:25 pm

    The LCD Coffee Table, i must has it. i wants it for me own.

    my precious.

  26. hijinksensue
    January 15th, 2009 at 6:11 pm

    It may sadden you to know that he dismantled it like 2 years ago.

  27. hijinksensue
    January 15th, 2009 at 6:11 pm

    Yeah I dig that LCD monitors and typewriter keyboards and such that ive seen posted.

  28. hijinksensue
    January 15th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    The "problem" button is amazing. I want one.

  29. hijinksensue
    January 15th, 2009 at 6:12 pm

    you're welcomed?

  30. groonk
    January 15th, 2009 at 6:15 pm

    whaa? why?

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