_{image: atomicmpc.com.au}

PC modding... it's an obsession for those who have the will, the skill, the time and the money. You may have seen PCs in retail stores that have perspex windows cut into the side. That's an influence from case modding, where geeks who take their PCs to LAN gamefests wanted to show off the components inside the case without having to take the side off. The folks at Aussie mag 'Atomic ' are particularly supportive of the modding community.

_{Part of Babbage's Difference engine, built in 1879 by his son. Exhibit at the Whipple Museum, University of Cambridge}

Ok... what was the first computer? By that I mean a manmade device you can ask a question of that will give you the answer without any further input from you.

J.H. Muller came up with the idea of a mechanical calculator in 1786, but it wasn't until 1822 that Charles Babbage took the idea a step further and proposed making one, which he called 'The Difference Engine'.