digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

Laser-Engraved Laptop With Digg and Revision3 Logos!

leahculver.com — Leah Culver got a brand spanking new MacBook Pro by selling ad space on its lid. She got enough advertisers lined up and did the engraving last weekend at Squid Labs. It looks fantastic! Check out the pics and the whole story on her site. Digg, Revision3, Instructables, Make Magazine, Zooomr, Laughing Squid, and lots of others are on there.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • LiquidPenguin, on 10/12/2007, -5/+52Pretty cool, but....

    They still make Zip drives?
    • sockpuppets, on 10/12/2007, -26/+3Clearly this girl's seen my pets.com, etoys and valueamerica laser engraved tangerine macbook.
    • Sblader5, on 10/12/2007, -2/+31i don't know if thats the right question to be asking.... people still use zip drives?
    • jus1haz2, on 10/12/2007, -8/+173damn! she is hot

    • itsmrdumass, on 10/12/2007, -2/+100Free laptop because of sponsors or because she's hot??!!
    • DreKor, on 10/12/2007, -15/+6hell yeah people still use zip drives! if you want prfessional graphics, you use a zip disk. plus they have the added bonus of built-in copyright and intellectual property rights protection since nobody else uses them.
    • itsmrdumass, on 10/12/2007, -1/+34If you look close you can see a cool laptop on the site too!
    • JohnnySailor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+18Is that... is that Veronica Mars?
    • exobyte, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Title should be something like "Girl sells ad space on laptop screen to pay for laptop." Oh joy. the digg log. oh joy.
    • tavisjohn, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2The picture is not of any old 250MB ZIP Drive! That is the PhotoShow! You can connect it to your TV to view and edit pictures!
    • monkeybutler, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5Nice stunt but if she wasnt so damn cute then i doubt she'd be able to get enough donations to buy a 2nd goofy hat let alone a macbook pro. I usually hate these internet beggars, but somehow she makes it acceptable.
    • redwire, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Video of it being done:
      http://blip.tv/file/104237
  • Yashar, on 10/12/2007, -12/+91Yea shes pretty hot.
    • sgarrity, on 10/12/2007, -44/+12She's alright, but who's that guy in the Creative Commons shirt in the background? He looks like a smart and talented web developer.
    • fernando26, on 10/12/2007, -3/+143Wow, total hottie.

      I bet she wouldn't have gotten enough donated if she was an obese hairy geek.
    • JeffH, on 10/12/2007, -6/+115Computer Science major + girl = heaven.

      Computer Science major + good-looking girl = we need a new word for this.
    • modsuperstar, on 10/12/2007, -2/+8So how long until Digg is flooded with copycats trying to get a laptop for free via advertising? Good on her for getting it done, it definitely looks sharp.
    • spiritamx79, on 10/12/2007, -10/+47shes hot, and shes a mac user.

      =)
    • raabco, on 10/12/2007, -52/+5I'd hit her.
    • aspec, on 10/12/2007, -6/+63@raabco
      Note: We also would have accepted "I'd hit that" or "I'd tap that"

      Stop Domestic Abuse
    • Netmindstorm, on 10/12/2007, -0/+30Yeah, but in college we finally discovered the universal formula:

      beauty * brains = constant

      where beauty is a function of alcohol over a finite period of time. However, if one were to drink forever then you could approach that function which the assumption that time approaches infinity and beauty would increase for all time (or to the limit as the liver approaches cirrhosis)
    • hansondr, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12@jeffH

      the word I'd use is amazing...too bad it has lost all meaning on digg :P
    • Septimus, on 10/12/2007, -14/+3My wife's hot, 23, has a 1st w/ Honors in Comp Sci... mmm, free stuff?

      Good idea, seems like a play on the million website... but meh, it works.
    • jaredvolkl, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8AND she went to the U of MN. Even better.
    • jhaitas, on 10/12/2007, -1/+18her looks definitely helped her cause... i would love to meet a tech-savvy girl that looked that good
    • outtatowner, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1JeffH:

      The word is: my wife.
    • Holocaust, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Hot + Likes Technology = Damn Fine Girl!
    • monkeybutler, on 10/12/2007, -7/+35% of the world are mac users and 5% of the world isn't hideously ugly. Any correlation there?
    • Celeron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3A girl like her is rare. ;)
    • excalpius, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I think I just found my future Ex-Wife! :)
  • jbowditch, on 10/12/2007, -11/+102the title should read: "Hot programmer uses hotness to get new computer!"

    damn hotness
    • chicagobiker, on 10/12/2007, -8/+5Or the title should read:

      "American tech worker not paid enough and so burdened with debt that they can't afford the technology they're making"
  • amandaw33, on 10/12/2007, -20/+6Good for her for being original.
    • ImTheDarkcyde, on 10/12/2007, -18/+7I wasn't aware that advertising was new and original
    • amandaw33, on 10/12/2007, -15/+6@ImTheDarkcyde

      You're just bitter you do the same for the free shwag
  • theinfonaut, on 10/12/2007, -13/+5jbowditch- "Hot *Smart* programmer..."
    She's inventive too. Awesome!

    Laser etchers are pretty damn hot too...
    Yummy, hot hardware...
  • dfltr, on 10/12/2007, -16/+6cool idea, but who's that prettyboy in the glasses?
  • KnightMareInc, on 10/12/2007, -14/+5heard about this on net@night, pretty cool idea.
    • KnightMareInc, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11lol i swear to god its the same 5-10 people who digg me down for no reason.
    • kasted, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1make that 5-11
  • joaob, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2Who wants to see pictures of the Macbook! I'm on one now.

    I wanna see more of her!!!!!
  • fatjoe, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Dam... Nice idea. Looks pretty cool too.

    it's like uh...... million dollar homepage reloaded too. congrats
  • 4degrees, on 10/12/2007, -10/+2what the hell is sooo fascinating about a laser etching? lame.
  • EmmEff, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Neat idea and she^H^H^Hthe MBP looks good too :)
  • gnarbuckets, on 10/12/2007, -9/+2she's not hot.

    she's a *****' babe!
  • sovereign3, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5A little backstory:
    http://leahculver.com/laptop-1.html

    Pretty clever way to get a new MacBook without having to pay for it. Maybe I'll start accepting ad space so I can get a new Thinkpad. Any takers?
  • Ottumwa, on 10/12/2007, -8/+0I will tell you what sucks. I finally get fed up with Windows and can't afford to buy a Mac. I need an original idea so I can get some peeps to help me make that switch... I am afraid to say I am not as cute as she is so I can't count on any assistance.
  • itisme, on 10/12/2007, -17/+4The guy in the creative commons t shirt is looking on as his friend sells out to wear the many marks of the beast on their bitten apple branded technology!
    Which is why its lucky I'm not some religious nutter, otherwise I'd think she was evil instead of just a bit sad. :-)

    Adverts and brands on people and their goods does depress me.

    P.S. I don't like Band T shirts or slogan clothing either, I don't need a tribe and I'm more complex than the music I listen to...
    • DreKor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11hooray.

      the counter to your argument is that she has so saturated her environment with brands and logos because see sees them for the empty symbols that they are and can, thereby, use them to her betterment (viz. new lap top) without succumbing to their now impotent messages of consumerism. she has actually surpassed you in alternative hippie-dom by transcending the brand instead of merely rejecting it out of fear.
    • kyrobeshay, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6*****, it's a ***** t-shirt.

      You people try too hard to be different.

      If you have a problem with the damn shirt, don't wear it, and show me your b00bz!!!
    • BransonLAN, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6Or maybe, it's just a shirt. Just because you're wearing a branded shirt doesn't mean you're a zealot.
  • mikeod, on 10/12/2007, -28/+7she should raise money for a boob job.
    • MikeOSX, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16sometimes it's rash, immature comments like these that make my day!
    • retral, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8Good way to get a girl, tell her she needs bigger boobs.

      Personally, I think she's gorgeous without big boobs (it's not all about boobs, you know).
  • scabbers, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0Hey I'm thinking of making a web page, and selling advertising on it at 1 dollar per pixel!!!
    This is a really great idea, right?


    These stupid things only work as long as the stupid media has slow news days and gives them the airtime / column inches / blog space
  • EBFoxbat, on 10/12/2007, -12/+5Forget being hot, she's clearly very smart, and a Mac user (further supporting the idea that she is smart)
  • DannySpace, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1where can I find a gal like this???
    • korea, on 10/12/2007, -3/+3well... you probably can. figuring out what do at that point may be the bigger dilemma for you

      omghi2u mbplzrgurl!! ellenfeiss2.0roflcopter :|
    • kyrobeshay, on 10/12/2007, -0/+14Finding is the hardest part.

      A rag and some choloform will take you all the way.
  • foxmajik, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1Wow, it's amazing how this article is the most popular article on Digg right now!

    Just... Amazing...

    Right there. On the front page. Top article.

    Absolutely amazing.
  • foxmajik, on 10/12/2007, -1/+33Did any of you guys notice there was a laptop featured in this article?
  • zongamin, on 10/12/2007, -8/+2I'm slightly worried by the cap. This girl could be a football hooligan or chav.
    • ZoomBoy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I don't see any cider, I don't think she's a chav.
  • DBiz, on 10/12/2007, -14/+43 GB of RAM?

    LOL. Hopefully someone else catches this.
    • dburka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+13Catches this? The new MacBook Pro Core 2 Duos can handle 3gb of ram and this one is indeed fully loaded.
  • joaob, on 10/12/2007, -10/+42digg me down!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • shaunhey, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Ok, to get back on topic and stop everyone from drooling... Did anyone else happen to notice how crappy some of the engravings along the edges look? I guess it could just be the camera not catching the light right, but it sure looks half-ass to me...
    • JPW420, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4It could be the images they used. If they were color, it will try to adjust the strength of the laser to make it kinda like a grayscale photo. Which is neat if you use wood because you can get some interesting 3D effects. It could be the material or just the engraver itself.

      I have done wood, anodized aluminum, and leather with one of these things. And especially on the anodized aluminum stuff you get varying results. I would run 24 anodized aluminum lids for spice grinders with the same image on all of them and they would all look great on one run and the next 24 I would have a couple poorly done ones. Like the logos on the laptop you are talking about.
  • JPW420, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3I have access to the same model engraver, it's used to engrave Wooden Hitter boxes (for tobacco use only.) Buy me a new mac laptop and I'll engrave any logo on it and instead of a zip drive, I'll send you a glass water pipe a couple hitter boxes with your logo on them.
  • jus1haz2, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Its apparently its going to be shown on diggnation!
  • indraneel24, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1wonder if everyone could do this... i need a laptop.
  • gbacich, on 10/12/2007, -10/+4so f'n hot!!!!!!!!

    I have a laser engraver she should have used, its so accurate and big.
  • kirk1978, on 10/12/2007, -5/+2pretty mac book, hot Computer science girl. nice match!
    and some ads are cool! like this one.. .i mean... if digg make bumper sticker... i am sure lot of ppl will buy it!.. let alone etched it with a "frekin-lazzzzer"!

    good job!
  • jeffyjones, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11I know that women, let alone attractive women, are rare in tech circles, but do you all have to start thinking with your dicks the moment one appears online? Wipe the drool off your chin, and digg on.
  • mmmgood, on 10/12/2007, -5/+1This comes off like a total PR stunt to me. Internship at the laser etching company?
  • g0rdy, on 10/12/2007, -3/+0neato
  • Somniis, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3She got the money just because she's a hottie.
  • jeylux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4She works at Squid Labs anyway...

    can't that be part of the reason she got the hook up?
  • Burmask, on 10/12/2007, -8/+1My son has ads on his lunchbox, too. Big whoppie!
  • StealthPersona, on 10/12/2007, -0/+11From her web page: "After completing my B.S. in Computer Science at the University of Minnesota, I moved to Silicon Valley to seek my fortune as a computer programmer. [...] Unfortunately I'm completely broke ..."

    Now that's funny!
    • akinder, on 10/12/2007, -13/+8I know of a few things she could do for money
    • chicagobiker, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Actually, that's not funny at all. It's completely freaking sad!

      There's other places where people make stuff they'll never be able to afford. We used to call them 3rd world countries.
  • PhillyMJS, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Move over Morgan Webb and Kari Byron, male geeks everywhere have yet another heartthrob!

    ~Philly
  • StealthPersona, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Oh, also noticed this: "Can't afford to buy laptop ad space? Contribute $30 or more and I'll buy you a drink at any bar I can get to by BART."

    Man, this had to be a golden offer for desperate nerds with cash.
  • _Ty_, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Yet another entry in the "why didn't I think of that?" file...
  • Kanaka, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Saw this earlier on flickr. Awesome story and the MacBook Pro is totally MAXED out. 3GB RAM/2.33 GHz/200GB HDD. All for free. Man she's smart....and hot. The engraving also came out right. One Happy Ending.
  • MoneyShot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Anyone else notice the Pirate Bay logo on it? It's the only one not hyperlinked (gee, why not) other than the one from her parents.
    • Woofcat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1were? i don't see it?
    • MoneyShot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Right above the Ask.com logo. The skull n' bones with a casette tape being the skull.
    • itsmrchris, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3yah I saw TPB logo and was like NO WAY did they sponsor that... They stole that ad! sweet!
    • leahculver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7The tape and crossbones logo was sent to me by my friend Chase. He just liked the artwork and says it's from a foreign band (can't remember who offhand). Chase also sponsored the Weakerthans quote.
  • fastfood15, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1WHERE CAN I DO THAT??

    lol, i want to laser engrave my laptop so bad, but where can i go to do that?!?!

    btw i have a blackbook like kevin
  • itisme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@DreKor
    "the counter to your argument is that she has so saturated her environment with brands and logos because see sees them for the empty symbols that they are and can, thereby, use them to her betterment (viz. new lap top) without succumbing to their now impotent messages of consumerism. she has actually surpassed you in alternative hippie-dom by transcending the brand instead of merely rejecting it out of fear."

    I liked that.

    Not that I'd call it hippie to find advertising on people, clothes and goods annoying.
  • mendicant, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The one that I found kind of odd is that the weakerthans sponsored it too... ("Tune the FM in to static and pretend that it's the sea.")

    I wonder if they chose the lyric or she did....
  • extratired, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I hate this kind of begging for cash...
  • AtomicTheory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8The laser engraving is not done very well. You may have noticed the Ask.com and sf-vibe.com logos, along with many of the other logos, seem to fade out or be splotchy. I only know because my father and I have a small business doing laser engraving (http://www.lwoa.com) on all sorts of stuff --- monuments, doors, murals, signs, and lots of different small applications. I, myself, have put my name, 2 logos, and many websites on 3 laptops with better results than this.

    ..... and I only mention it because these companies actually paid money for their logos to be there (in bad quality).
    • leahculver, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9Very fair comment. The laser-etching machine at Squid Labs is on the fritz. They're looking at fixing it now. I've offered full refunds to the companies whose logos were affected.
    • Qtip42, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You can re-etch within a few thousandths of a inch of the original....or at least that what I've done with logos that don't turn out right.

      That or just call up mac and have them send you a new lid. I do that all the time for people who want to customize their lids but still want to re-sell their laptop in the future as a stock unit.
  • Derfus, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5if she was fat and ugly, or a dude, she wouldn't have gotten any sponsorship at all.

    guys are suckers for funding this crap
  • itisme, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@DreKor
    "the counter to your argument is that she has so saturated her environment with brands and logos because see sees them for the empty symbols that they are and can, thereby, use them to her betterment (viz. new lap top) without succumbing to their now impotent messages of consumerism. she has actually surpassed you in alternative hippie-dom by transcending the brand instead of merely rejecting it out of fear."

    I like that a lot...

    Having a better look at the logos, there's a better mix in there than expected.

    Much like her myspace profile this ones an enigma wrapped up in mystery hidden inside a really puzzley type thing, you know the type, the type you thinks easy but it turns out a lot more complex than expected so you try and work it out but it starts to do your head right in. I mean big lebowski and princess bride damn weirdo. :-)

    O.K. moaning retracted!
  • theinfonaut, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'd like to add that not all of the logos were paid for. Most, for sure, but she also added small logos from friends.
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 87 of 87 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.