AppleCrate II parallel computer made from Apple IIe motherboards

In what's probably the coolest custom-built machine I've seen in ages, computer enthusiast Michael J. Mahon has built a parallel computer made out of 17 Apple IIe motherboards.

As you can see the "AppleCrate II" looks like a big crate of motherboards stacked on top of each other -- and that's pretty much what it is, along with some very clever networking and custom boot code.

This is actually his second computer built using old Apple motherboards. The first we covered five years ago; it also used spare Apple IIe boards, although those were a slightly different version.

I'll let the image of Mahon's latest creation speak for itself, but if you've got some extra motherboards and some free time, Mahon details how he built his latest wonder over on his website.

What's it good for? Well, in addition to blinking its status lights like a Cylon, it can play Beatles songs in 16-part polyphony -- so that's something.

[via BoingBoing]