LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity - Gizmodo Comments

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Arelar — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 16:28:36 EDT

finally a douglas adams quote and you people are busy with childhood memories and the like! you should be ashamed of yourselves. shame!

Arelar

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

moukkis — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:58:49 EDT

It reminds me of Windows 98.

moukkis

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Skorpius — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:22:27 EDT

Abiento.

Cerrado!

Skorpius

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

gstar — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:46:58 EDT

It doesn't matter if it's been done before or not, it's funny as hell. Don't Panic.

gstar

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Mr.Wilson — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:47:57 EDT

Almost perfect, just needs something like another hand powered by a quick motor to smack a finger constantly flipping the switch in virtual exasperation. Maybe a wagging finger to slide out afterwards as well!

Mr.Wilson

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

BasicBlack — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:54:59 EDT

@Neight:

I misunderstood. It's just that there's a lot of superior "been there done that" around here that is not meant in the same spirit as your post. I'll add a grain of salt in the future.

BasicBlack

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

birdgirl39 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:52:38 EDT

This is the greatest invention in the history of mankind....I mean Vogon-kind!

birdgirl39

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

atomx — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:36:11 EDT

They need a home version that reaches out and slaps whoever dares to ignore my No Soliciting sign. I'll have to set it low for the Girl Scouts...

atomx

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

ericjlarson — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:14:26 EDT

@BasicBlack:

I would think that someone quoting Shakespeare and Chaucer would know the difference between your and you're.

ericjlarson

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

makanai — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:11:11 EDT

Want.

makanai

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

James — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:07:59 EDT

@Neight: That brings back so many memories. Thanks. Such and 80's toy.

James

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

ZeroCorpse — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:06:27 EDT

Of course, if I'd have RTFA completely, I'd have seen that the coffin bank was already mentioned.

ZeroCorpse

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

ZeroCorpse — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:04:18 EDT

`Been around since at least the 1960s in one form or another.

ZeroCorpse

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

ZeroCorpse — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:58:05 EDT

It's almost the exact same thing as those old novelty banks we used to see in the Spencer's Catalog. You'd place a coin on the switch on the top of the box; The lid would open, and a hand would come out and scoop the coin off the switch and into the box, thus turning off the device.

All they did here was remove the pressure-switch in favor of a toggle, and eliminate the need for a coin.

Otherwise, it's EXACTLY the same mechanism.

ZeroCorpse

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Boden — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:51:49 EDT

I dont wanna be a buzz-kill either, but when I was a high school junior in the mid-90s we designed and made these at a summer camp for prospective engineering students at the University of Missouri - Rolla. There's a much easier way to build these (sans-microcontroller) just using an internal contact switch in parallel with the external toggle switch. The real fun is designing a four-bar mechanism for the "arm" so that it only requires a single simple DC motor to run and takes an improbable path to turn off the switch (such as reaching from the top face to a side face of the cube).

Boden

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

rabiddachshund — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:35:15 EDT

test

rabiddachshund

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

rabiddachshund — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:34:44 EDT

@Neight: "Nostalgia isn't what it used to be."

I like this one better though. It makes less noise and the constant speed (as opposed to the quick drawback) is kind of like an added "up yours."

rabiddachshund

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

zenpoet — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 12:31:34 EDT

@BasicBlack: Good God man, you just referenced Chaucer and Shakespeare on Gizmodo. Do you intend to bring culture to these unwashed masses?

How are we supposed to care about the new Thanko USB Shoe Warmer when we have visions of Pip bouncing around our brain pans?

What's next, Milton and Marlowe?

zenpoet

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy! — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:50:50 EDT

Surely something so useful only to itself proves that there is in fact a God, thus negating him, with proof undoing the faith he thrives on.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

BasicBlack — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:48:38 EDT

@Elcheecho: "not from whence. just whence."

Sure, if your Chaucer.

"From whence at pleasure thou mayst come and part"

Shakespeare, Sonnet XLVIII

BasicBlack

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Neight — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:46:49 EDT

Sigh...

Yeah that's right... Bash me for reminiscing about my childhood while at the same time informing others of how this isn't as ingenious as everyone may make it out to be.

I believe it's fantastic the way this particular iteration was built, but would you keep your mouth shut if someone began bragging about a movie they were making involving space knights that use mystical powers and swords made out of light and the epic battles between good and evil?

So forgive me if my tact was less than stellar, but isn't it better to be informed?

Neight

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Elcheecho — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:39:11 EDT

not from whence. just whence.

Elcheecho

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

RGfin — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:34:49 EDT

@Neight: Well aren't you the coolest.

RGfin

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

BasicBlack — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:23:11 EDT

@Neight:

One day, I might lose my sense of wonder and enjoy taking simple joys from others. Right now, it kind of sucks.

BasicBlack

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

tucker — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:18:51 EDT

just like the box i installed Vista on. everytime i start it, it shuts itself down.

tucker

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

xint — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:15:09 EDT

Future Car Security System?

xint

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

xaksei — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:13:28 EDT

The only thing I can think of to make it better, is hire Blizzard to do the annoyance sound effects.
[orkvoice]"STOP POKING ME!!!"[/orkvoice]

xaksei

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Neight — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:12:45 EDT

In fact... here it is:

[www.grand-illusions.com]

Neight

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Step666 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:07:59 EDT

Brilliance.

Step666

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Mitch — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:07:01 EDT

I want to do this to my cubicle.

Mitch

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Ghede — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:00:52 EDT

What would be nice would be an extra arm, shaped like a fist. After a certain amount of consecutive flips in a short time, it rises out of the box and shakes at you, or at least in the general direction of the switch.

It is still hilarious all by itself though.

Ghede

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

hanswurst0815 — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:00:51 EDT

This, in my opinion, is the greatest anything, ever, in the whole universe.

hanswurst0815

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

pharago — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:00:31 EDT

LOL

pharago

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

zenpoet — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 11:00:11 EDT

I would like to to see him mod it so that the hand grows more impatient, until finally, it just pops out of the box and holds the switch down, only returning to inside the box when motion or light sensors say the room is empty.

zenpoet

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

zenpoet — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:58:08 EDT

I must have one of these for my desk!

zenpoet

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Darrone — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:57:25 EDT

realistically, it should include some sort of finger-severing blade that ensures the box is left alone.

Darrone

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Joseph — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:56:06 EDT

I need something like this for my office door.

Joseph

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

Neight — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:54:22 EDT

I had a little black box as a kid in the early 80s that ahd a big switch on it. Upon switching it, the top would pop up and a hand would come out and switch itself off.

Seems like the same thing.

Neight

LeaveMeAloneBox is Douglas Adams-esque in Its Simplicity

strider_mt2k — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:53:08 EDT

I am transported in fits of whimsicality!

strider_mt2k