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.

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

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

For some industries they can be quite useful.

That's actually useful.

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.)

It's attributed to Shannon right in the posting:

After seeing a video of such a machine I just had to have one of my own. Normal 0 According to Wikipedia, Claude E. Shannon built the first “Ultimate Machine” based on an idea by Marvin Minsky.

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

Thanks for the link! The "comic timing" of Shannon's machine is much better (if that makes any sense).

A bit more fascinating information Kevin Kelly's Technium

http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2008/03/the_unspeakab...

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.

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."

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

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

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...