Although the “look” of this dancing-girl automaton by English toymaker Ron Fuller is not personally to my taste, I could not resist the fact that it is powered by a stream of falling sand, which is a trick I’ve never seen before. Thanks to YouTuber greninmotion for the video. [via The Automata / Automaton Blog]
Chances are you have Douglas C. Engelbart to thank for what you’re holding in your hand right now.
I’m talking about your computer mouse, of course.
Dr. Engelbart was born on this date in 1925. In 1967, while working at the prestigious Stanford Research Institute, he applied for a patent on an “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System,” which issued in 1970, although, per his Wikipedia article, he never actually received any royalties on it. He has been widely honored for his contributions to human-computer interface development.
Dr. Engelbart has four children and nine grandchildren, and today he’s 85. Congratulations and happy birthday, sir!
Rob Ryan makes papercuts. It’s an art, and he’s good at it, and maybe it’s slightly unfair that it took the gimmick of mounting one over a piece of electroluminescent sheet for me to sit up and pay attention. Still, it looks great. Kudos, Ryan! [via Dude Craft]
There are some great quotes in here: “I never learned anything. I have a 5th grade education.” “I made this submarine because I have a lot of creative ideas.” “I made this to appeal to someone who can back me up and give me a helping hand.” “I seldom use a ruler. Everything is based […]
Olympic skier Jeret “Speedy” Peterson says tinkering is the spice of life. Photo by NBC Sports / USOC It’s pretty easy to see how knitting might be relaxing and a good way to spend idle time for a person who’s on the road a lot. Someone like an Olympic athlete. But taking apart a weed […]
No person who thinks of him- or herself as a “maker” should miss Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, which is loosely based on Judi and Ron Barrett’s eponymous 1972 children’s book. I don’t have kids, but I loved it, and this movie kind of made me want to have one, at least for a day, so I could watch it with her. The scene where Flint is curled up in a waste barrel, lamenting all his failed inventions (“Spray-on shoes!” “Ratbirds!”), while his relentlessly uncreative father looks on helplessly, is particularly choice.
I should probably just go ahead and apologize to San Francisco animator and artist Sarah Dugan for posting these images of her awesome robot-uprising-themed prints without giving her a chance to restock her Etsy shop with same. Hopefully she’ll be amenable to direct inquiries from interested buyers. Like me. Because I definitely need one of each of these. [via BotJunkie]
