Connect them all

One of these days I'm just going to buy a few cheap used computers and build myself a network. Actually I have no practical need for a network whatsoever but it would be nice to have one :) And I should work on my network installation knowledge.

I could use an old Pentium MMX machine as a linux router. With some work, any linux distro may be configured to route and prioritize any incoming and outgoing traffic in a network. If you don't like linux, you may

1. Get Windows and pay $$s for some 3rd party software or
2. Get a basic, simple and decent Cisco router for lots of $$s.

Setting a linux based router would also give me a chance to learn linux installation and configuration properly. It's unfortunate that no matter how much I dislike Windows, I have neither the time or the patience to switch to linux, but to set up the router I would gladly work on linux as long as necessary.

(Details on the rest of the network to follow...)

Dancing MIT

Firts of all, I don't really want this one. I'm not into dancing but it certainly is a cool project which uses current and readily available technology. It costs $2500 but it's one of its kind, so it's not that expensive.

Enough detail: Some students at MIT have designed and built the USB Disco Dance Floor! It's got computer controllable lights (1536 of them) and colors and may be controoled by any computer with a USB port.
Dance floor in checkers configuration

As I said, it's not my thing but it shows what else can be done with simple materials and a little imagination.
Dance floor in spiral form