The iPod wasn't designed to rock the block. So when NYU students Ahmi Wolf (center) and Mark Argo (not shown) wanted a more sociable MP3 player, they built their own. The pair ripped the radio and obsolete tape deck out of a Lasonic TRC-931 boom box - an icon of '80s hip hop culture - and retrofitted it with a 30-gig hard drive, Linux, and Wi-Fi. The 802.11b-boys then took their streaming beat box to NYC's City Hall Park, where their so-called Bass-Station simultaneously blasted vintage Grandmaster Flash to battling break-dancers and served MP3s to downloading audiophiles. All of the music was mixed wirelessly. Because the hot spot is completely open, listeners can also post tracks to the ghetto blaster and move them to the top of the playlist. "It's kind of like giving them all a chance to be DJ," Wolf says.
Bass-Station Breakdown
Original Lasonic TRC-931 amp and speakers
Mini ITX motherboard with 800-MHz processor
Netgear Prism-based PCI Wi-Fi card
256 Mbytes of SDRAM
30-Gbyte 2.5-inch Toshiba laptop drive
10 NiCad D-cell batteries (rechargeable)
- Brian Lam
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Transformers in Overdrive
High Concept, Low Resolution
Freeze Frame
Reading, Writing, Revolving
The Doomslayer
Final Fantasy at the Philharmonic
What's on Your iPod?
The Hub of the Party
Infrared-Light District
Time Warp
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