eMac converted to self-tweeting cat bed

What do you do with an obsolete computer the size of a huge, plastic canned ham? Let your cat use it to tweet her naps, of course.

The eMac was a behemoth of a computer, released by Apple in 2002. Originally meant for the education market, Apple eventually made them available to all consumers. It looked like the runner up in a "Re-design the iMac" contest and was very heavy.

Now discontinued, it makes a sweet cat bed.

The "eSleeper" by Samuel Cox is an eMac shell that's been tricked out with lights and cozy blankies. But that's not all. An infrared beam is monitored by an ethernet-connected Arduino. When the cat breaks the beam to enter the eSleeper, its lights come on, the startup chime sounds and the cat's entry time is recorded. When it breaks the beam again to leave, the lights switch off and a random phrase is tweeted to @eSleeper1.

I imagine this is how Auntie TUAW's cats sleep.

Pretty neat, Samuel, but we're afraid you weren't the first. I was going to end with a Mac OS X naming convention house cat joke, but decided against it. You're welcome. Here's a video of the eSleeper in action.

eSleeper from Sam Cox on Vimeo.