invention | J.R. Johnson

Posts Tagged ‘invention’

Got Books?

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2026, books, creativity, invention, Thoughts on January 15, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Today, a little update related to a post I made in (checks notes) 2012: Today in Spectacular Bookseller Practices: A Random Used-Book Vending Machine.

The image for that post is broken and there wasn’t a lot of information about the actual book vending machine, but I’m here to rectify that oversight!

What am I on about? The BIBLIO-MAT, a.k.a the book vending machine.

THE BIBLIO-MAT

The BIBLIO-MAT is a random book vending machine designed and built by Craig Small for The Monkey’s Paw, an idiosyncratic antiquarian bookshop in Toronto.

It’s awesome and handmade and should be something you can get in multiple sizes and formats for next-day delivery because it is just that cool. (Seriously, what would a suitcase sized or food truck style or e-book version of this look like?)

Check out the link for how-it-works videos and enough interior sketches to inspire your own if you are mechanically inclined (and have a significant pile of maybe-never-to-be-read books).

Because as Dame Margaret Atwood says, “THIS! IS! BRILLIANT!”

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Art and Invention

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, art, creativity, invention, silly fun on August 17, 2025| Leave a Comment »

I have a soft spot for wacky and fun inventions, and this one is right up there.

Watch This Guy’s Interactive Wooden Pixel Machine Make Art in Real Time

Sitting in my office in NYC, I sent a CNC machine in a guy’s workshop in Wisconsin a 40 by 25 pixel drawing and watched it flip hand painted wooden blocks across a grid, one by one, until the glorious smiling 404 Media logo appeared—then watched it slowly erase, like a giant Etch A Sketch, moving on to the next drawing.

For more on the why and the how and the seriously?, see I spent 6 years building a ridiculous wooden pixel display.

Want to play (and have a Bluesky account)? Vist kilopixel and submit your art!

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Bonkers Busy

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2025, cool stuff, invention, Thoughts on May 14, 2025| Leave a Comment »

Bonkers busy at the moment, and predictably behind. If only I’d started the day with one of these:

via TKSST

Creative fun, yes please!

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Calling All Medical Device Designers (Or Kids with Apps, Whatever Works!)

Posted in Other, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, creativity, invention, Thoughts on August 28, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Surely, surely, there must be a better way to mammogram.

Imagine, if you will, a world in which we have all of the current tools and science we have now, but no system to create detailed imagery of mammary tissue. There is an obvious need for such a thing, but how would you do it?

Would you create the medical equivalent of a panini press? I bet you would not!

Seriously, though, it’s like the Dark Ages. We can do better.

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*I couldn’t find a good image of a panini press, but this antique laundry wringer gets the point across, I think. Photo by Eric Prouzet on Unsplash*

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The Little ‘Copter That Could

Posted in Science!, tagged #365Ways, #365Ways2024, #ThanksIngenuity, inspiration, invention, Mars, NASA, science, space on January 27, 2024| Leave a Comment »

If you’ve seen any space news this past week, you may already know that Ingenuity, the adorable little helicopter that has exceeded all expectations in its exploration of Mars, has ended its mission.

After Three Years on Mars, NASA’s Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends – NASA

Originally designed as a technology demonstration to perform up to five experimental test flights over 30 days, the first aircraft on another world operated from the Martian surface for almost three years, performed 72 flights, and flew more than 14 times farther than planned while logging more than two hours of total flight time.

Ingenuity arrived on Mars with the Perseverance rover almost two years ago. It began as a limited technology demonstration but quickly became a scout for the rover’s mission and a fan favorite. Now, after 72 flights, a difficult landing has caused irreparable damage to its rotor blades.

Here’s what NASA Administrator Bill Nelson had to say about the end, and what the plucky little project managed to accomplish.

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Ingenuity, and its swatch from the original Wright flyer, will remain on the Martian surface as a testament to how far we’ve come.

“That remarkable helicopter flew higher and farther than we ever imagined and helped NASA do what we do best – make the impossible, possible.”
— Bill Nelson, NASA Administrator

This weekend join me in raising a glass to the first powered, controlled flight on another world, and to the little ‘copter that could.

Thanks, Ingenuity.

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