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What's the Coolest Thing You've Ever Built?
Josh Lindenmuth asks: "In high school I was involved in an engineering competition where we needed to create a machine that could move 100 lbs of groceries from a disabled person's car up and down a set of stairs, and then into their kitchen. It was probably the coolest thing I ever built (there were only 3 of us on the team), even though the wooden treads started splintering halfway up the stairs (we didn't have a metal shop, so it was made entirely out of wood, spare boat parts, and conveyor belts) and then it completely destroyed the stairs on its way down (it weighed over 300 lbs)." That's Josh's story, now he wants to know yours. Cool computers, cars, hovercraft, handheld devices, fusion reactors — what is the most interesting gadget, product, or device that you've ever built on your own?
Period!
There was that one time I built a machine that could propel cats to the moon. It almost worked, too.
One time I made a "Jump to Conclusions" mat. You see, it was this mat that you would put on the floor... and had different conclusions written on it that you could jump to.
Feet tend to distribute wait in a nice, convenient way. That, added to the fact that muscles allow us to slowly descend our feet to contact the step. A 300lbs robot composed of wood, probably does not have this feature. Plus, wood is much harder than flesh (duh). Get a 300lbs pirate with wooden pegs for legs and watch him fuck up your stairs in a few weeks.
have you considered a rewarding and successful career with the United States Government?
You work for Microsoft, don't you?
That reminds me of a joke:
A scientist goes to God and says, "We don't need you anymore. I can create a human from nothing more than a handful of dust."
"Alright then, let's see," God replies.
"No problem," says the scientist, and he bends over to scoop up some dust.
"Hold on," God interrupts. "Get your own dust."
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