Jackhammer Jill, the animated GIF automata

Ernie made us a Jackhammer Jill automata from pinewood and paint: "She bounces up and down like the animated GIF." Ernie wins the whole goddamned Internet.

Jackhammer Jill.wmv (Thanks, Ernie!)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

MORE: animation • automata • awesomesauce • Gadgets • happy mutants • makers • videos

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones

Three words:

MAKER SHED KIT!
BDiamond

What a cute idea!
xzzy

It’s good that it’s hand cranked, because if it had an electric motor on it I’d be unable to resist the urge to dump as much power into as I could in attempt to bounce her to pieces.
http://boingboing.net/ Jason Weisberger

Incredibly fantastic!
blueelm

That’s… brilliant!
David Pescovitz

Wow. Really wonderful. We’re touched, Ernie! Thank you!
malindrome

Wonderful Things, now in analog!
http://profile.yahoo.com/DGOXI67QBJUJX6JKG2B3JHGESQ Travis

AniGif at https://dl.dropbox.com/u/567076/jackhammer-jill_a_GIFSoup.com.gif
- jerwin
  
  The circle is now complete.
grimatongueworm

I see a whole new line of vibrators in the making: The Jackhammer Jill Bobble-Head vibe.
Jas Strong

Automata is plural. Automaton is the singular form.
- Cory Doctorow
  
  It appears that in the realm of modern automata (as opposed to “cellular automata” or other uses), the accepted term-of-art is “automata” for singular, presumably to distinguish hand-cranked, mechanism-over-a-box automata from other forms. IOW, “automata” is a coinage to describe a specific kind of automaton. This is definitely the usage internally in the community of automata makers.
  - Jas Strong
    
    I’m not buying it. I’ve definitely heard people referring to them in the singular as “an automaton”. My internal grammar nazi sends everyone except two guys out of the room, blows up at them, and then weeps.
Bokonon

C’mon Ernie, Outstanding use of imagination.
BobRH

We all realize, of course, that she is an automaton, not an ‘automata’.
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Why can’t there be a feminine form of the word?
  - pitkataistelu
    
    Because such usage would imply there is a masculine form. There isn’t.
  - valiant66
    
    automata IS the feminine form: automato fell out of usage due to its fruit/vegetable associations.
BobRH

… and in my previous comment, my ‘end pedantry’ close tag didn’t work :)
http://twitter.com/Skyhawk1 skyhawk1

Cool.
Peppermint

It’s a jackhammer? D: What with the title “boing boing”, I always assumed it was a pogo stick… My world is changed forever o_o
- grimatongueworm
  
  Then the site would be called “Poing Poing”.
BarBarSeven

She’s moving in a lewd & lascivious manner.
Preston Sturges

Jackhammer Jill is just her porn name.
ernier4154

Thanks for the nice comments folks. I enjoyed making it and watching it bounce around. 8^)

Ernie Reynolds
- Rich Keller
  
  Hats off to you, good sir!
- Susan Carley Oliver
  
  It’s so lovely! Might you be offering plans in the future?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones

Wait . . . Ernie Fossilius?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/508929730/in/set-72157600242397151
- http://www.flickr.com/photos/stefan_e_jones/ Stefan Jones
  
  Never mind, there’s a post by Ernie Reynolds right up there.
penguinchris

I love it but I’d like to suggest a small improvement – make the ponytails hinged so that they bounce like in the GIF (the bouncing boobs might pose a bigger challenge).
valiant66

I want the Coop version.