

The Most Useless Machine Ever - javery
http://www.instructables.com/id/The-Most-Useless-Machine/

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michael_dorfman
Back in my high school Basic Electronics class (more then 30 years ago, now)
we had to draw the schematics for electronics projects of our choosing. I
tended to specialize in "useless machines", much to my instructor's
befuddlement.

My favorite was the "solar-powered nightlight", which was a solar panel wired
directly to a lightbulb.

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pohl
That brings back memories of the Battery Discharger that I submitted to my
high school science fair.

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HeyLaughingBoy
Hmmm. I actually got paid to design and build one of those :-)

For some industries they can be quite useful.

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gruseom
I'm surprised no one has mentioned that the machine was invented by Claude
Shannon and that this is an inferior knockoff.

The original has an uncanny hand which changes the character of the device
from purely mechanical to somehow philosophical.

(Normally I'd dig up a link, but I don't have time right now.)

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nudded
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ34RDn34Ws>

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noodle
i laughed at this version i found on the related video list:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gw2Bq0HYu1M>

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tungstenfurnace
Arthur Dent: I wonder what'll happen if I press this button.

Ford Prefect: Don't.

Arthur Dent: [presses it] Oh.

Ford Prefect: What happened?

Arthur Dent: A sign lit up saying "Please do not press this button again."

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mseebach
<http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/The-Do-Not-Click-Button.aspx>

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slapshot
Very fun in that it appears to be alive in some way and allows the user to
project feelings/emotions onto it.

To me, it looks like the machine is bothered when the user flips the switch
and wants to be left alone. Of course, that's ridiculous, but that's the fun
of the machine.

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JeremyChase
I really like this thing, but I don't see why it has to be even this complex.
Although since the servo is powered in both directions, the machine will work
even when upside down.

A simpler alternative would have a STSP switch with a battery and motor. When
you turn the switch on the motor raises the arm and switches itself off, a
weight on the arm could lower it. Then again my version wouldn't work in zero
gravity.

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RiderOfGiraffes
Andrew Lipson (and I'm sure many others) built one out of lego.

<http://www.andrewlipson.com/lego.htm>

This is the same Lipson as in the Lipson-Shiu Corporate Type Test

<http://www.solipsys.co.uk/new/LipsonShiuTest.html?HN>

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thinkbohemian
Hmm...looks like my first internship must have replaced me with a machine.

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pavel_lishin
Well, don't feel bad. That machine will get what's coming to it when they
outsource its job overseas.

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jacquesm
Beware if your job could be done by a simple script and you get lippy with the
sysadmin...

Fortunately this machine seems to be immune against that.

Now if they made a variety that turned itself _on_ , that would be something.

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stcredzero
Reminds me of that hack I read about, where someone used a CD tray on an old
machine to hit the reset button of another.

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greyboy
<http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/ITAPPMONROBOT.aspx>

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noodle
i think my next little building project will be trying to make this happen
without electricity somehow.

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derefr
I can imagine one with a crank and a flywheel, where pumping enough energy
into the flywheel mechanically activates a hand that cranks in the opposite
direction to discharge the potential...

