11/12/2010 [DMFA #1165] - Different kinds of weird

[Rafe]

...You should search out "The Most Useless Machine Ever."  I think that was the name at least; it was featured one evening on The Daily Show or The Colbert Report.  It's a box with a switch on top to turn it on.  When you turn it on the lid pops up, a lever reaches out, and it flips the switch to "off" before disappearing back inside and closing the lid.

I've seen it.  I enjoy strange useless devices.

My favorite is probably Junkfunnel Lab's aptly named Suspicious Looking Device:



According to their website (http://junkfunnel.com/sld/) the SLD is designed "to appear as suspicious as possible, whether carried in hand or placed indiscrimately in public places. "

It features flashing lights, an LED display that appears to be counting downwards, buzzers that start going off if anyone touches it or throws a switch, and finally, motorized wheels on the bottom that pop out and start rolling it around, all in a bright orange case made from a surplus Civil Defense radiation geiger counter.  Here's a video clip:  http://junkfunnel.com/sld/sld.wmv

Every time I see it I think, "Why the hell didn't I think of that?"

[Naldru]

See http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/311945/june-08-2010/sign-off---the-most-useless-machine for video of the device mentioned as "The Most Useless Device".  I once saw a similar device that had a hand pop up and flip the switch.  I believe that it was called "Thing In A Box" after the character Thing in The Addams Family.

I would be very careful about using the Suspicious Looking Device.  As seen in the article this link points to, many police departments have very little sense of humor.