Spam Caught, In A Tin Of Spam

We’ve seen many inventive enclosures for single board computers over the years: some are decorative, others utilitarian, and yet more tailored to an application. This one from [Daniel Hepper] manages to be all three: a practical enclosure for an OrangePi Zero LTS running the PiHole web spam filter, enclosed in a seemingly unopened Spam tin.

The inspiration came from an out-of-date tin of Spam, a souvenir that had lain around for a decade. It had a paper label that could be carefully removed, after which a Dremel was used to cut an aperture in the reverse of the tin. The tasty-but-expired luncheon meat could then be scooped out, and a 3D-printed carrier for the OrangePi slid in. The label reattached, it looks for all the world like an unopened tin of Spam with a PoE cable emerging from its behind.

The constant war on spam has seen many creative attempts at a solution from within our community, and it’s certain that PiHole is one of the better ways to deal with its web-borne variants. It is however not unknown for a Hackaday scribe to play a part in delivering it.

19 thoughts on “Spam Caught, In A Tin Of Spam

    1. Almost certainly not – metal tin and wireless charging don’t really work, if they work at all.

      Cut out the bottom of the tin and replace with the plastic then it becomes somewhat possible, but you would still want that laser or Ethernet network connection – so a cable. radio wireless networking is a bad idea in general, especially for always on fixed devices.

  1. I have a Pi Hole that uses a Pi Zero over wifi, so I guess I’ll have to go to Korea and get a plastic lid to let the RF through.
    Maybe they have them in Hawai’i. Spam is popular there for some reason. So is poi. Not a fan of either.

    1. googling says stored in pantry … 3-5 years. I thought it was longer than that….

      Neat idea! Spam killer inside :) .

      My Pi-Hole is running on a RPI-4 which is also running the PDP 11/70 simulator by Obsolescene Guaranteed, an rdis.io server, time server, and other services for my home network.

  2. As a child, we used to have Spam and fried Spam by times, particularily when camping. So when I took my friend’s kids to a cottage, I got a number of treats from my childhood, including Spam.

    Their reaction? HE’S TRYING TO FEED US CAT FOOD!!!

    I have my GPS & Pi based time server in a tea tin from the U.K., with Big Ben on it. I’ve been meaning to get a nice print of the scene from Peter Pan of them flying around Big Ben to put on the tin.

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