But the question many people in Blackpool were asking was whether choosing an old-fashioned machine politician as leader was really the best the party could do.

ECONOMIST: Bagehot

But capping a trend that began in the 1980s, the committee now is the center of action in the current fight for the House, a modern-day equivalent of the old-fashioned political machine.

CNN: latimes.com: Talking baseball and politics with George W. Bush

This single work, made up of 53 low-lying pieces, was fashioned by a computer-directed machine extruding coils of cement.

ECONOMIST: Anish Kapoor

The arcade machine itself was constructed out of wood and styled after the old fashioned machines still standing at some arcades, pizza joints and music venues.

ENGADGET: Beercade replaces arcade coin slots with beer taps, rewards winners with brew