Ernie Fosselius's amazing hand-whittled automata

David Pescovitz 1:46 pm Thu Sep 14, 2006

Ernie
Ernie Fosselius is perhaps best known as the creator of the brilliant DIY Star Wars spoof Hardware Wars. We were delighted to find out that Ernie happens to live a stone's throw from the MAKE: compound in Sebastopol, CA. These days, he whittles incredible hand-cranked automata out of wood. He used to exhibit them in a big V8 trailer but now the Mechalodeon is traveling lighter and greener in a home-built pedal powered vehicle complete with a crank organ on the front. We visited his workshop recently and MAKE: media maker Bre Pettis put together a wonderful short video of Ernie talking about his magical creations. (Photo from Mark F.'s Ernie Fosselius set on Flickr.)

Link

UPDATE: Thanks to Kim Scarborough for reminding me that Ernie also created the pinball/counting cartoons from Sesame Street! Link to Ernie's Wikipedia bio, Link to YouTube video of "The Number 6"

Amazon used a China firm on U.S. blacklist for thermal cameras to monitor workers for COVID-19 fever

• Amazon's new Chinese thermal spycam vendor was blacklisted by U.S. over allegations it helped China detain and monitor Uighurs and other Muslim minorities READ THE REST
Financial Times journalist Mark Di Stefano accused of accessing private Zoom meetings, then publishing the information

Mark Di Stefano of the Financial Times is accused by The Independent of accessing private Zoom meetings held by The Independent and The Evening Standard as journalists were learning how… READ THE REST
Hackers tried to break into WHO, which faces more than two-fold increase in cyberattacks

Hackers tried to break into the World Health Organization earlier in March, as the COVID-19 pandemic spread, Reuters reports. Security experts blame an advanced cyber-espionage hacker group known as DarkHotel.… READ THE REST
Short Post, just one paragraph

Dessert cheesecake wafer bear claw fruitcake. Fruitcake chupa chups donut candy canes marzipan. Apple pie sweet roll tart chocolate cake macaroon marshmallow carrot cake gummi bears sweet. Pastry sugar plum… READ THE REST
Save 50% on a 1-year subscription to Dashlane's premium password manager

We all know vital information about ourselves and our private digital accounts can be compromised by cybercriminals. However, many would be frightened to know just how compromised they and their… READ THE REST
The Bite Helper removes the itch of a mosquito bite in seconds

While mosquitoes have certainly earned their title as the deadliest animal on earth, their impact on most of our lives is usually a lot less consequential. But even though they… READ THE REST