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The Tech Report, Colton Westrate, and Fractal are teaming up to offer a selection of three Fractal cases: a one-off, unique Fur-E model, a Define R5, and a Define Nano S. This is the entry thread for the contest. If you'd like to learn more about the contest, please head over to this front-page news post.



All you need to do is literally sketch your invention on a napkin, tag it with the date and your TR forum handle, and post a photo of your sketch in this thread along with a couple of sentences describing what we're looking at. For the contest, Fractal is pitching in a Define R5 and a Define Nano S so that we can offer the TR staff's top three picks their choice of prize. First place gets first choice and so on.

So, put some thought into it (but not too much) and post your napkin sketch photos by 11:59 PM CT Friday, May 12, 2017. The TR staff will announce the winners on Tuesday, May 16, 2017.

Rules and regulations
Sorry, but this contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada (except Quebec).

Our winners must claim their prize within 72 hours, or they will forfeit it and we will pick a new winner. Only one entry is permitted per person, household, or email address. Please don't try to game the system by creating multiple forum accounts. We'll probably disqualify you if you do.

TR reserves the right to disqualify entries that appear to be attempts to game the system or circumvent the rules in any way. The staff of The Tech Report and their immediate families may not enter the giveaway and are not eligible to win.

No purchase is necessary. This giveaway is void where prohibited by law. TR and our sponsors are not responsible for any taxes on the prize, damage in shipping, damage caused by using the prize with other products, or health issues such as repetitive strain injury, eye strain, chemical addictions, or allergies that may result from prolonged use of the prize.

Spray onto any surface, apply voltage, the surface will now cycle through over 16million colors like the rest of your favorite computer components! Add in line with your favorite controller to adjust patterns!

The Coolin'art® PC food processor: bringing the convenience of the kitchen to the PC accessories market. Still pending: Fatal1ty co-branding.



EDIT: Per TR request, proof that I am firmly in control of this napkin:

ludi wrote:

The Coolin'art® PC food processor: bringing the convenience of the kitchen to the PC accessories market. Still pending: Fatal1ty co-branding.

Does it count if you photoshop the napkin like this? Or is ludi that good at writing on a napkin??? My artistic skills are so lacking in comparison.

Waco wrote:

Does it count if you photoshop the napkin like this? Or is ludi that good at writing on a napkin???

At the office, the drafting department has threatened to scan and publish a couple of my concept sketches in lieu of doing the actual linework. But for anyone who wants to get a similar effect in their submittal, use a good quality napkin to avoid shredding, and use a PaperMate "Flair" pen (fourth in the list) with a light hand.

I think the nickname also has to be written IRL?

ludi wrote:

Waco wrote:

Does it count if you photoshop the napkin like this? Or is ludi that good at writing on a napkin???

At the office, the drafting department has threatened to scan and publish a couple of my concept sketches in lieu of doing the actual linework. But for anyone who wants to get a similar effect in their submittal, use a good quality napkin to avoid shredding, and use a PaperMate "Flair" pen (fourth in the list) with a light hand.

Holy crap dude. No kidding, that's excellent linework!

I am pretty sure since work owns this napkin it is now their intellectual property and it is illegal for me to accept any prizes for this. Never the less, I offer this as a freebe for the betterment of society.

meerkt wrote:

I think the nickname also has to be written IRL?

Noted, and now updated. Thanks!

This contest is disappointingly thin. Come on gerbils, who cares whether or not you like that catcase, I want to see some napkin art!

There are limiting factors.
It requires not only coming up with a physical something, but also some drawing skills (well...), or at least transposing from digital.
And the geographic limitation removes some portion of the audience.

BTW: Not only the fur case is up for grabs.

Here's one I've had in the back of my head since college days. There were a lot of students who weren't fans of coffee or tea, but I never saw a college dorm room that didn't have a box of pop tarts. My brilliant idea: $$ Caffeinated Pop Tarts $$

Once it takes off, I want to add caffeinated bacon and caffeinated orange juice to the product line.

Chuckaluphagus wrote:

Here's one I've had in the back of my head since college days. There were a lot of students who weren't fans of coffee or tea, but I never saw a college dorm room that didn't have a box of pop tarts. My brilliant idea: $$ Caffeinated Pop Tarts $$

Once it takes off, I want to add caffeinated bacon and caffeinated orange juice to the product line.

"PC harware related invention"

Though poptarts are an interesting angle. Maybe a cpu cooler tower with modular toaster slots. You pull out the fans, give the heat pipes 5 minutes to get toasty, then slide the poptarts in. When your pc failsafe shutdowns you know they are done!

Anovoca wrote:

Chuckaluphagus wrote:

Here's one I've had in the back of my head since college days. There were a lot of students who weren't fans of coffee or tea, but I never saw a college dorm room that didn't have a box of pop tarts. My brilliant idea: $$ Caffeinated Pop Tarts $$

Once it takes off, I want to add caffeinated bacon and caffeinated orange juice to the product line.

"PC harware related invention"

Though poptarts are an interesting angle. Maybe a cpu cooler tower with modular toaster slots. You pull out the fans, give the heat pipes 5 minutes to get toasty, then slide the poptarts in. When your pc failsafe shutdowns you know they are done!

Hardware geeks drink lots of caffeine and eat lots of poptarts? I'd also like to see the dual 5 1/4" bay slot load toaster* with which to heat said poptarts. Perhaps an ejectable hotplate (an update to the classic "cup holder") to keep your coffee warm as well?

*Extra 1000W power supply sold seperately.

Anovoca wrote:

"PC harware related invention"

And this tells me I need more caffeine today.

Make America Lose Weight Again. PCs powered by human and pet energy



https://goo.gl/photos/embrPFNC6pAGYj928

SecretSquirrel wrote:

I'd also like to see the dual 5 1/4" bay slot load toaster* with which to heat said poptarts. Perhaps an ejectable hotplate (an update to the classic "cup holder") to keep your coffee warm as well?

We could probably refine your design to tray-load the poptarts into the toaster horizontally through the existing drive bays rather than having to Dremel slots into the top. You're already getting close to a breakfast station.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

SecretSquirrel wrote:

I'd also like to see the dual 5 1/4" bay slot load toaster* with which to heat said poptarts. Perhaps an ejectable hotplate (an update to the classic "cup holder") to keep your coffee warm as well?

We could probably refine your design to tray-load the poptarts into the toaster horizontally through the existing drive bays rather than having to Dremel slots into the top. You're already getting close to a breakfast station.

The tray load was actually my original thought, but then you have the problem of uneven heating on the pop tart.

--SS

Are you tired of your graphics card(s) taking up all the room at the back of your case and blocking the adjacent PCIe and PCI slots? Now there is a better way with the U.2 graphics card that fit into standard drive bays. This ingenius device has plenty of bandwidth for a graphics card with a PCIe 3.0 x4 connection. If you have multiple free M.2/U.2/PCIe x4 slots, you can put multiple cards in your 2.5 inch, 3.5 inch, and 5.25 inch bays for multi-GPU Crossfire.

If you really like Batman games and want a dedicated Physx card, but don't have enough room for one between your SLI'd Titan Xp cards, this is the solution you've been waiting for.

SecretSquirrel wrote:

JustAnEngineer wrote:

SecretSquirrel wrote:

I'd also like to see the dual 5 1/4" bay slot load toaster* with which to heat said poptarts. Perhaps an ejectable hotplate (an update to the classic "cup holder") to keep your coffee warm as well?

We could probably refine your design to tray-load the poptarts into the toaster horizontally through the existing drive bays rather than having to Dremel slots into the top. You're already getting close to a breakfast station.

The tray load was actually my original thought, but then you have the problem of uneven heating on the pop tart.

--SS

Not bad you guys, not bad; but I was thinking about using the already existing cooling elements to cook the poptarts. See below, the cpu tower cooler fans are on rails. When the rails are in the closed position and the fans are in place, power from the cpu fan header is directed to the fans. When the rails are extended, a switch is activated, and cpu fan header send current through the cpu cooler fins, enabling poptart mode.

A combination cat tower and PC tower.
- rope wrapped case for scratching.
- retractable dish holder for food or water.
- toy holder basket.
- sling bed conveniently positioned at the top above the cooling fan, so the bed is warmed from the PC without all the pesky fur clogging up the works.

(Since I'm new and can't post links, we'll see how this works.)

Good that the rules were amended to allow paper towels; I'm an engineer so napkins are more of an abstract concept than a tangible thing.



It's a mouse lanyard. Never accidentally slay a neighbor during an intense FPS session again! The lanyard attaches the mouse to your wrist with a soft elastic wristband so when you have the urge to fling your mouse after getting lamed by a total n00b its flight will be limited to only a couple of feet, thus preventing damage to the mouse and any nearby structures it might otherwise hit. More expensive models feature a pro gaming grade wristband with either RGB LEDs or a handy cheat-sheet of profane insults to keep voice comms Internet-friendly.

I consider phones one of the most used PCs today, so I bring you the Foan Case. Sorry, I just couldn't resist making a rough prototype from a block of high density foam in my garage so I grabbed the electric knife and went to work.

Todays phones are too big for the front pockets in our skinny jeans so most people carry them around in their back pocket. Having your phone in your back pocket means you're going to sit on it. Why not have a phone case that protects your phone from drops AND gives your booty a little padding wherever you sit!? The Foan Case is just that. Its firm high density foam exterior means you feel like you're on cloud 9 anywhere you decide to sit and sip your venti iced skinny soy hazelnut macchiato. That same high density foam will protect your phone even when it falls off your extra long selfie stick. The Foan Case features a hard plastic interior that securely holds your device, further protects against drops, and adds rigidity against bending.

[Add] I knew I wanted to combine the words foam and phone, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't using any major trademarked products with the same spelling, so I googled around. Coincidentally, urbandictionary's definition of foan is very fitting to this product

So, what you're looking at here is the future of luggable computing. ~23" 4K LCD, full RGB backlit keyboard, mouse hole in the front, RGB case fan... and a gasoline filler and an exhaust pipe?

Inside, it becomes more clear what's going on. The gasoline filler goes to a half gallon gas tank, which is feeding a 50 cc engine. That engine is driving a 750 watt generator, powering an ATX power supply. It's also mechanically driving that RGB case fan! And, because of where the engine intake is placed, I decided that no CPU fan is necessary - the engine takes its intake air through a passive heatsink. The motherboard, by the way, is BTX... mainly because I drew it backwards and didn't want to re-draw.

Upshot is, incredibly long autonomy away from a plug, full desktop components (you can't get 1080 Tis or Titan Xps in SLI in a laptop), far better cooling than those silly Clevo laptops, a real screen, a real mechanical keyboard, and incredibly high tailpipe emissions.

Keyboards are disgusting, right? Not this one. This is the worlds first gunkless RGB mechanical keyboard. It features it's own gunk rejection system(GRS) using high static pressure, high airflow, RGB enabled fans built right into the keyboard enclosure. The fans are powerful enough to blow the gunk away before it ever gets a chance to find a home in the keyboard in the first place. Also built in is a fan controller to control the speed of the fans. This way you can find the sweet spot between the required downward pressure of your hands while using the keyboard and the gunk rejection capabilities of the keyboard. The fan controller comes with both an LCD readout of fan RPMs and an estimated amount of gunk that's been rejected so far and indicator LEDs which flash red if too slow a fan speed is detected to successfully reject gunk. Never clean your keyboard again!

Fine print: Keep fingers, pets and small children away from the vent. Proper eye protection required when in use.

Here it is, superior liquid cooling for the PC and people. This is a water cooling system featuring a liquid to liquid intercooler in an insulated box with impellers to circulate water through it. Sitting atop it is a chiller to pull the water temps below ambient. It has 2 windows with stupid RGB lighting and an LCD touch screen to monitor and adjust impeller speed and chiller temperature. The second chamber on the right is where the party is at. Inside you will find ample room for cold beverages and/or ice. This increases the cooling capacity using a heat transfer plate with a large heatsinks on both sides. Great for overclocking and use during intense and prolonged gaming sessions or whatever prolonged and intense activity its owner is engaged in. Optional to this is a powered retractable can/bottle holder with an insulated cozey with a reversible peltier block for cold AND hot beverages. And a bottle opener on the side with cap catcher bag (because we are not savages). It is powered by a laptop style external psu for safety. "Temps stay low while you get low." Coming soon: Vaporizer Attachment, you get high, temps stay low.

Have you ever accidentally left your phone in a jacket or pants pocket and then washed it? This device is powered by a raspberry pi and detects any phone within a radius of a few meters and sounds an alarm. Never wash your phone again. BTW I might know someone who did this twice.

I made dis.
http://i.imgur.com/EwBy97o.jpg

Per rules, a few sentences:

Any idjit admin nub can clearly see it's a LART, but (l)users will only realize it's NEW and it's from MICR0SHART. If your (l)users swing the other way, a shiny aluminum facade and little white fruit stickers can be applied at the factory for a markup. Also, it's completely and tonally up to you how you get the danged (l)users INTO the ComfortShackle Productivity Enhancement Enclosures, but we can give some suggestions for a consultation fee. We didn't put it on the flippin napkin, but it's also trivial to charge the (l)users' cheap metal chairs with positive angry pixies, and shunt the optional shiny aluminum overlay to ground, so that writing becomes a positively electrifying experience. Also possibly singular, but who wants employee (l)users with weak hearts? Also, if your (l)user is of a highly paid variant breed, like a confuser protator, a ME-dia multilator, or a sea-level executioner, you may want to pad the Genu-weenie Murican Hardwood adjuster a little, so as to retain value.

Simply Cat Tree + Computer Case. Uses water cooling to provide heated platforms. Strings with little bobs on the end attached to all fans to turn them into cat toys! The purrfect replacement to your current computer chassis!

I have a treat for all you gerbils this morning. This is an inside look at the future of water cooling. I call this invention the AIO².
Tired of using air to cool your liquid? Now you can water cool your water cooler with the AIO². Simply mount 2-4 AIO² 120 or 140 cooling plates to the fan mount of your radiator and let AIO² patented water cooling system cool your radiator far more effectively than any air could. AIO² radiator fans or AIO³ radiators AIOs sold separately.



(for the record realize it is one entry per person, but napkin are inventions is sort of my thing so I'm having too much fun with this to stop)