ok you can ask....

[Blknight.aus]

Rube Goldberg (http://www.chilloutzone.de/files/player.swf?b=10&l=197&u=ILLUMllSOOAvIF//P_LxP92A42lCHCeeWCejXnHAS/c)



for those keeping track....

the one you dont get to ask about was from someone whose never heard a pianola played and the roll I happened to grab out to play for them was the chicken dance... Apparently it bought back the memory of the abomination of a song that was at the other end of the E-link...

[moose]

Hmmm, seen a few of these "rube goldberg" machines now, dunno who he is, but not sure I'd be overly proud of having useless machines named after me.
They always seem to do things like switch on a light or something. If you're gonna waste that much time building something, why not build a robot that can at least do a few different things?

[JDNSW]

Rube Goldberg was the American equivalent of Heath Robinson. Both were illustrators who at least occasionally drew this sort of gadget for humorous publications or as humorous illustrations for books.

This is the first time I have seen Rube Goldberg used as an epithet for this type of gadget in Australia. Also the first time I have heard of anything this complex having been actually made. Someone obviously has a lot of time on their hands.

John

[abaddonxi]

Where did I put the car keys?

:D:D

[moose]

Rube Goldberg was the American equivalent of Heath Robinson. Both were illustrators who at least occasionally drew this sort of gadget for humorous publications or as humorous illustrations for books.

This is the first time I have seen Rube Goldberg used as an epithet for this type of gadget in Australia. Also the first time I have heard of anything this complex having been actually made. Someone obviously has a lot of time on their hands.

John
Ok, so who was Heath Robinson? :eek:
Do a search on "rube goldberg" on youtube and you'll come up with heaps of entirely useless contraptions.
Here's one that makes ramen noodles.:p

YouTube - Japanese Rube Goldberg Contest (http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvdq8cRNBM)

[abaddonxi]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/01/292.jpg (http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/whrobin.htm)

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/01/293.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heath_Robinson)

[JDNSW]

Ok, so who was Heath Robinson? :eek:


"William Heath Robinson (31 May 1872 – 13 September 1944) was an English cartoonist and illustrator, who signed himself W. Heath Robinson. He is best known for drawings of eccentric machines and "Heath Robinson" has entered the language as a description of any unnecessarily complex and implausible contraption."

"Reuben Garret Lucius Goldberg (4 July 1889– 7 December 1) was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor who received a 1948 Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning. He is best known for his series of popular cartoons depicting Rube Goldberg machines, complex devices that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways."
Courtesy Wikipedia


The fact that "Rube Goldberg" has intruded into Australian Speech as a synonym for "Heath Robinson" is a tribute to the power of the worldwide Americanising influence coming from press, books, movies, TV and now the internet, particularly for English language users.

John

[ivery819]

So......

I've been blaming Heath Robinson for the design of the Range Rover Sport but I was wrong.:o
As Land Rover was owned by Ford at the time, it is more likely the work of Rube Goldberg.:mad:
Another of life's little mysteries solved !:angel:

[dullbird]

well I thought that was good........although a lot of effort to open the curtains :p

[Grover-98]

Wouldn't you be massively annoyed if the dart missed or something just near the very end didn't work!

Or someone called the phone before the other phone so it wouldn't work in order.:angel: