March 6th Goat Topic - Rube Goldberg machines.
11(In an ongoing series of the community giving this month’s goat @KittySprinkles some time away from meh …)
I have always found Rube Goldberg machines fascinating. I mean, why do something the conventional and practical way when you can do it much more complicated?!?
I think it stems from my seeing one in an I Spy book when I was younger and just finding the concept cool.
When looking at the picture, I would play the illustration in my head, but I never really bothered to look for a video of it. I mean, I meant to, but I never actually followed through with my intention.
Anyways, here is a video of it:
What’s the coolest Rube Goldberg machine you’ve seen? Pictures or videos work, though videos will earn you more points.
- 16 comments, 45 replies
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Some other examples of the Rube Goldberg machine:
Wakko’s Gizmo (from Animaniacs)
Testing the durability of the LG G6:
Honda Accord - The Cog
@narfcake
Watched the video before you added the title.
Honestly had no idea where it was headed, and the predominant thought in my mind was:
“Wow, that’s a long hallway.”
@narfcake I really like that commercial, but I call shenanigans on the tires rolling uphill.
@therealjrn
https://www.snopes.com/photos/advertisements/hondacog.asp
@narfcake So I was right. An unaltered tyre would not roll like that. Why would I want weighted tyres on my car?
@therealjrn Because the roads are too smooth here in America!
Also round is overrated:
@narfcake @therealjrn
Since when do car manufactures engage in shady behavior though?
@narfcake @PlacidPenguin It really mars what could have been a beautiful sequence. I wonder what else they monkeyed with?
@therealjrn Read the snopes article. It spells it all out.
Ok Go - This Too Shall Pass
@narfcake Yes this series is good. We’ve had them posted on the forums before.
@Kidsandliz You don’t have a story about how a few years back, you built an awesome Rube Goldberg machine in Spain or something? Pity.
@therealjrn Hmm me thinks you mistake me for a nerd engineer. I only am related to types like that and hang out with types like that. Now marble runs, those I have built. Along with sailing ships in bottles.
These videos are a good distraction from the forecast for my area tonight through tomorrow night.
Possibly getting up to 15 inches of snow. Ugh.
@PlacidPenguin You don’t sound like so placid a penguin at the moment…
@PlacidPenguin @shahnm
https://shirt.woot.com/offers/escape-from-the-cold?ref=meh_com
@narfcake @shahnm
That’s not the penguin t-shirt I assumed would be posted.
@PlacidPenguin @shahnm
https://shirt.woot.com/offers/yay-penguins?ref=meh_com
@narfcake @shahnm
I was actually thinking of Shiver.
@PlacidPenguin @shahnm Searching penguinshirtwoot for penguins …
https://penguinshirt.woot.com/catalog?q=penguins
… this would have been my 66th guess.
I used to love dominos stacking when I was a kid. I got all fired up a few months ago and decided I wanted to do a massive dominos trick. So I saddled up the truck and headed to Walmart to clean out their entire stock of dominos. I took one look at the price of dominos and bought a puzzle instead.
@ruouttaurmind
Did you look elsewhere?
@ruouttaurmind Mixing and matching dominoes?
@therealjrn If only @narfcake had a shirt for that.
@PlacidPenguin Since then I’ve tried all the usual suspects. Amz, Walmart.com, Target, eBay, the dollar stores, etc. Even Craigslist and tag sales.
Like all products, dominoes come in a variety of quality levels. The basic ones are moderately affordable, but they are very thin (about 5mm), and won’t lend well to stacking. How much would it break my heart to line up hundreds of dominoes, only to have one prematurely fall over and wipe out half my creation?
The better quality dominoes are about 8mm thick and are suitable. The best quality “tournement” dominoes are about 12mm thick and would be ideal, but as you can imagine, they are also quite costly at $18-$20 for 28 tiles. I’m thinking I want a few hundred tiles to really do something grand. That’s conceivably a few hundred dollars invested in a one time gag.
@PlacidPenguin @ruouttaurmind @therealjrn
https://shirt.woot.com/offers/domino-effect?ref=meh_com
@narfcake @PlacidPenguin @ruouttaurmind See? This is where Woot fucked up. I would have probably bought that on the spot today, just because. But at a cost of a Jackson? No way. What a mood killer.
@therealjrn The new pricing has definitely made me slow down. I mean, it’s been over two weeks since I bought a catshirt from catshirtswoot!
@narfcake @therealjrn TWENTY BUCKS FOR A SHIRT?? Wow.
Hey, but as a Prime member I get free priority shipping of that overpriced shirt. Dang.
@narfcake @ruouttaurmind Free Shipping anyway from catshirtswoot & shirt.woot.com. Bleh.
@ruouttaurmind @therealjrn In the past, catalog was $11-14 + $5 shipping.
Single quantity, the price isn’t a huge effect, but quantity buyers are paying much more.
@narfcake IDK, the last shirt I ordered was Zombeer, and that was back in the summer of '15. It was $11, and shipped as part of my bigger order for the flat 5 fee.
Seems to me that was the policy back then? If I was already placing an order, I could add a shirt without additional shipping? I can’t imagine how else I would have wound up with so many wootshirts I’ve never worn. IIRC, if I was ordering just shirts I could get two or three, all shipped under the same flat 5?
Now you’re basically paying five bucks shipping per shirt no matter how many, or what else you order.
@ruouttaurmind Correct.
In the past, the $5 shipping was throughout woot, essentially making it “free” if you were buying other things. Now it’s included in every shirt, hence how the quantity buyers are the most affected.
The free shipping with Prime has made the rest of Woot a bit more reasonable in value, at least.
@narfcake
Absolutely. This is what caused me to participate in the last Woot-Off, purchasing three items including a 12-pack of random color Gildan t-shirts for $26 (too bad “random” in woot-speak means mostly neon pink shirts).
@ruouttaurmind I didn’t buy those. They lacked cats.
Also Woot’s “random” tends to be more random than meh’s “random”. Same colored fidget spinners, anyone?
@narfcake
If you’re offering to send fidget spinners, I’ll take them. I need a birthday present for a 3 year old.
@narfcake After close examination of the evidence, I can say with certainty, they are indeed cat free.
I can also say they are much lighter in weight than the product detail indicated. Listed as 6oz cotton, they are actually Gildan 5000, which is 5.3oz cotton. That extra .7oz actually does make a difference, especially when your intended use is HTV or fabric paint.
@ruouttaurmind Some goat blaming may be necessary for the lighter weight.
(Not so ironically, many of the Gildan shirts I have are intended for paint too. Or stains. Or grease. Or polishing compounds. Thrift store “rag bags” = cheaper than paper towels.)
my life is a series of rube goldberg machines…
@mikibell
I had the same thought!
/youtube TIM the incredible machine
@ELUNO
That game never really worked on my computer.
I believe I know where my copy of the CD is though.
@ELUNO looks like a cool game. I doubt I have the patience for it. Maybe next time I’m convalescing.
@PlacidPenguin I loved it!
@therealjrn Yeah, when it gets super complicated it becomes more of a chore. But it is really fun.
@ELUNO Wow! This was one of the only games we had on our first computer (that the parents would let us keep on it at least). My brother and I spent hours on that every week for at least a year or two.
Lots of fun, but definitely tedious and complicated when you got further into it.
Not strictly Rube Goldberg, but the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation used to (maybe still does?) have this awesome pool ball marble run track on display in the front windows.
@ruouttaurmind The Ontario Science Centre has had a George Rhoads kinetic sculpture called Having A Ball II which was installed in 1989 and was still going strong the last time I was there.
The best thing about this one is that it requires visitors to lift the pool balls and send them off on their runs, as opposed to the ones that are self-contained/motorised and you just sit back and watch. This way, it’s far more engaging for children who feel that they have ownership of their particular balls. I know I can play with the sculpture for at least 20 minutes each time I’m there without getting bored.
BTW, his kinetic sculpture at the San Jose Tech Museum of Innovation is titled Science on a Roll, and was installed in 1990.
@cranky1950
All of that WOULD explain the cost of Coke.
@cranky1950 This is a better version
@mike808
I’m not completely positive, but it seems like that is a gif of a gif mosaic.
Although, it is so distracting, that I can’t tell if there’s any glitching going on.
3 1/2 thumbs up.
One of my favorite games:
@heartny
Never played it
.
@heartny Oh shit, I loved this game.
More instrumental with a hint of Rube
@mehcuda67 This is a nice musical one too:
Seems like I remember a couple of those in episodes of the FINDER… just can’t locate them at this time… That was a fun show while it lasted.
Of course, there’s the LEGO-Only, modular Rube Goldberg Machine: The Great Ball Contraption:
Some of these are absolutely mesmerizing.
They guy who made this one is on the rolling ball forum am on (this is prior to it even hitting the airways which is tomorrow 3/12).