Anyone can make something that does something. Right now I could make you a cup of noodles using just hot water. See what I mean? But how many people can make nothing from something? That is kind of exactly what Rafael Mizrahi did. It all starts with a little event called GeekCon where a great many great geek minds gather together and try to make the most impressive useless they device they can. It sounds crazy because it is, but it is also awesome.
Honestly, the man himself can say it far better than I.
GeekCon.org makers conference is all about building useless creations.
And we wanted to aim high and build the world’s biggest, most useless AI machine (AKA “leave-me-alone box”). Initially, we thought of building a large wood box, with a door on its top. The presenter would climbs on ladder and pull a large toggle button while the opening theme song from Space Odyssey (Strauss – Also Sprach Zarathustra) is playing at the background, to create a dramatic scene.
And then, the twist came. Let’s build a large version of HAL-9000 computer from space odyssey which will behave as a useless machine. The idea was silly and geeky altogether, so it is definitely fits GeekCon.
and it definitely fits in perfectly with our site, too! Peep the madness in the video below to see this magnificent beast in action.
In closing after the hype and hubbub and success of it all, Rafael’s final words about the three day event said it best:
Overall, it was a yet another great geekcon weekend. A weekend that you improve your skills of bringing a vision come true, in 3 days.
You learn what to do and what not to do. You improvise and prioritize.
You code, glue, cut, drill, paint, drink beer, code again, no sleep, solder, brainstorm with friends, help other teams, eat lots of cookies and coffee, drink beer again. And if the gods permit and the stars are aligned in the right direction, you might be able to demonstrate your working creation at the finale of the event, hopefully more than one time.
So there you have it, kids. There is no such thing as truly useless. Even sometimes proving you can make something useless only proves you truly the complete opposite of that.
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