[Arm-netbook] TPM backdoor

[joem]

On Thu, 2013-09-05 at 05:23 -0700, freebirds at fastmail.fm wrote:
> On Thu, Sep 5, 2013, at 04:13 AM, joem wrote:
> "The priority as guided by Luke is currently getting SATA working."
> 
> Another priority of this mailing list is the Rhombus laptop. I am not a
> TPM troll. I offered to donate. I had made the following
> recommendations:
> 
> (1)  Introduction paragraph on the webpage for newbies describing the
> laptop as open source hardware, a link to a wiki describing open source
> hardware, and a description of what the laptop won't have (TPM, hidden
> unremovable bluetooth, Computrace, etc)
> (2)  A request for donations and volunteers;
> (3)  A donation button
> (4)  Link to a mailing list for people willing to volunteer. (The
> rhombus laptop needs its own mailing list.)


Well my 'contribution' so far is suggesting build it out of
laser cut birch plywood veneer. Then its green
and expensive tooling can be avoided for at least the first batch.
A bit marquetry would turn them super luxury models that no one
else has. And these cases could be made in the third world in a green
way with low tech + $1000 laser cutter.

I investigated - a container load costs about $1600.
But shipping taxes and everything else will push it to $8000+.

And the vendor advised me that such veneers are crinkled
and needs to be steamed into shape.
At that point, I wasn't sure if I had all the technology to
move forward so I left it there.

Subsequently I found thin flat birch plywood about 0.5mm that don't
require steaming. They are still easy to laser cut and shape.
But very expensive - unless I can get down to a mill in Far East
and see if they do a deal, its a no goer for now.

May be someone else has such access?

Also found out that some mills do flat bamboo veneers.
They also good for laser cut and a lot greener as bamboo
matures very fast. Again, the ones I found were expensive.

Alternative techs are marble powder and resin mixed with
coconut husk fiber (coir) as a filler. Dirt cheap.
With a little bit of coloring, it will feel as if made of marble but
light weight and durable. Again low tech and anyone can
produce it and make some money selling the cases once
the designs are sorted out and recipe open sourced.