Some folks may have too much time on their hands.



Link to original video: https://youtu.be/Hmb0Q0Q_7jo

Damn. I got dizzy following the blue marble.

That was cool! How the hell do people think of that shit?

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
Some folks may have too much time on their hands.

What should they be doing with their time instead? Sitting around on the couch watching the teevee, or surfing the ’net for funny videos?

Perhaps your comment wasn’t intended to be all that serious, but it’s one I frequently see about people who pursue unusual activities. That was an incredible demonstration of intellect, imagination, and various mechanical skills. It may serve no “practical” or worthwhile purpose on its own, but it’s the sort of activity that leads to things that do. I’m reminded of a comment I read in a magazine decades ago shortly after the first laser was developed. Someone scoffed at its utility as nothing more than a laboratory toy to break balloons—and only blue balloons at that. If that writer is still alive, I can only wonder if he has any conception of what purposes lasers serve today.

It reminded me of firearm safety components. Actions are executed only after a very specific order of events.

I think it is an excellent way to exercise the mind.
Doubt it was done by a Millennial Video Game Zombie.

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
That was cool! How the hell do people think of that shit?

....the same way an employee can be busy all day and produce very little. lol

quote:

Originally posted by darthfuster:

quote:

Originally posted by 6guns:
That was cool! How the hell do people think of that shit?

....the same way an employee can be busy all day and produce very little. lol

I disagree.
This took thought, engineering and ability.
I wouldn't compare it to mindless busy work in an office or wasting time to collect an hourly paycheck.
I suppose you could be proficient at "not working and make it look like you are" but that would be a problem that falls on management or those responsible for the employees work.
This particular project may or may not have a direct monetary benefit but that is not the point.

Many people that do this type of stuff do it to let their minds work on problems in the background.

Or, maybe their was an educational point for some kids

Or, maybe it was just a dude who said: look at this!!!

Don't care, it is cool.

Good engineering utilizes fewer objects and less tasks to accomplish work.

I would toss the marble in the cup, from the couch while watching teevee, during a commercial!

Seriously, the "re-use" of the objects and them doing different work is very telling of the complexity of the tasks involved.

That is quite the machine.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
Good engineering utilizes fewer objects and less tasks to accomplish work.

I would toss the marble in the cup, from the couch while watching teevee, during a commercial!

Seriously, the "re-use" of the objects and them doing different work is very telling of the complexity of the tasks involved.

That is quite the machine.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

Actually, all I was going to post was "wow" but yours is so much more eloquent.

I did like the "re-use" and the springs.

3 months of work and 500 trials before it worked...

yep, certainly some creative stuff going on

Amazing. The thought that went into that astounds me.

That's pretty cool, imagination indeed

Reminds me of when I was a young child. One of my uncles worked in a big laundry facility and he'd bring home a lot of those cardboard sheets that used to be put into folded shirts (not the ones with holes cut in them--solid rectangles of cardboard). His son (3 years my senior) and I would cut those into strips 1 1/2" wide and fold them into 3-sided tracks, then glue them together into complex marble runs on his dad's Ping-Pong table. We sometimes created runs that would take a marble several minutes to traverse.

flashguy

This message has been edited. Last edited by: flashguy,

I like it. Reminds me of when I step on a dog toy I hop around and inevitably smash my toe.

I guess that visual is not as much fun.