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Originally designed by Claude Shannon from an idea by Marvin Minsky (if you don't know who they are, boy are you missing out!*), I give you, The Most Useless Machine Ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z86V_ICUCD4

* Shannon is the father of information theory. Minsky founded the MIT AI Lab.

IWOOT!

MEGALOLZ!!!

useless ?

I am sure I can think of lots of applications like ... err...


Speaking of useless devices there are loads of good ideas at a site called the 'half-bakery'

www.halfbakery.com

My favourite was the solarpanel torch. To allow the light to shine on sunny days.

Discombobulator wrote:My favourite was the solarpanel torch. To allow the light to shine on sunny days.

I think a solar panel torch is a great idea, on the assumption it charges a battery for use rather than power's the torch directly.

Did anyone else expect a picture of an iMac when they opened this thread?

I once came up with an idea for a cruel psychological machine. It was a hand held box with a button and a light on top. Sometimes when you press the button, the light comes on. Your task is to discover under what circumstances this happens. I should build a few and hand them out in the pub to see who goes insane trying to work out that the relation between cause and effect is actually random

http://www.unleashyourdreams.co.uk/Unle ... e_Box.html

A_n_t wrote:

Discombobulator wrote:My favourite was the solarpanel torch. To allow the light to shine on sunny days.

I think a solar panel torch is a great idea, on the assumption it charges a battery for use rather than power's the torch directly.

It's too late to get that patent in! Google "solar flashlight" and you'll find them in bulk from China.



This one takes 6 hours to charge fully, after which it gives 8 hours of light.

A friend of mine has a kinetic torch. Shake it a couple of times and it extracts so much energy it shines for a couple of hours. Mind you, it uses LEDs rather than a bulb.

Tomo wrote:A friend of mine has a kinetic torch. Shake it a couple of times and it extracts so much energy it shines for a couple of hours. Mind you, it uses LEDs rather than a bulb.

how does he practice that technique?

Tomo wrote:Originally designed by Claude Shannon from an idea by Marvin Minsky (if you don't know who they are, boy are you missing out!*), I give you, The Most Useless Machine Ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z86V_ICUCD4

* Shannon is the father of information theory. Minsky founded the MIT AI Lab.

I reckon they're great- http://www.kugelbahn.ch/sesam_e.htm

I think I will make a box with one big red button on the top and a screen that reads..

1: Push button to activate

...when the button is pushed the screen reads..

2: Release button to detonate

Tom Lauten wrote:I think I will make a box with one big red button on the top and a screen that reads..

1: Push button to activate

...when the button is pushed the screen reads..

2: Release button to detonate

Nice. Easy to do and nice.

That sounds like an "offer to make" to me....


...he hinted and hoped....

Tom Lauten wrote:That sounds like an "offer to make" to me....


...he hinted and hoped....

Certainly. Drop me a PM.