On Saturday, September 13, 2014 10:12:17 AM UTC-7, Jeff Liebermann wrote:

This looks to be a job for Unistrut, scrap metal, 2x4 lumber, and duct
tape.

Amen to that. You left out coathanger wire, though...

Yet another curiosity is the built in camera. With the computer
tilted back on its kickstand in somewhat tilted back operating
position, the elevation of the camera is pre-aimed to ... my neck down to my
waist, without any means of adjustment.

That, there's a solution for. Get one of those Fresnel sheet magnifiers,
and experiment. Any non-central portion of the magnifier acts like a
prism. Find the right region, snip out a small section, and slap it over
the tiny little lens.