Idea-A-Day Status March 24, 2013

7/29/2019 Idea-A-Day Status March 24, 2013

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From Blog to Book.

306wd.com/ideaaday



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Chapter 1

2010

1.1 November

About (2010-11-10 12:11)

One idea per day. That’s my goal.

The point is not to have great ideas flushed out. Nor to find something that’s going to get me richand famous. But rather, that I get used to delivering things quickly, being happy with 30 minutes of rough

work.

So this is an exercise about delivering concepts for no apparent reason. Getting them out there andnot being worried about how exactly right or not right they are. An exercise at writing. An exercise atcompleting, even if only completing a rough draft.

I’ll focus on ideas because, like most people, I have them alot when commuting, sitting in meetings, orexercising. Then I kick myself later when I see people espousing, selling, and/or receiving government grantsfor ideas that I have had in the past but didn’t act on it. But that’s the point isn’t it? I didn’t act on itThe reason why I didn’t act on it could have been due to many reasons:

1) I have a life. A family, a house and a job in a foreign language that I am still, and will always belearning

2) I think that the idea is so obvious, that it’s not worth perusing. It must have been already investigated by people smarter than me. These are the ideas that when I see them later being perused really getmy goat, if I may use that phrase.

3) I want to think it all the way through, research, draw sketches out, etc... before I do anything. This is theengineer in me, as well as a fear of looking stupid because I forgot some obvious thing like porcupines areallergic to raisins. This is probably the biggest issue. I mire the idea down in details that I don’t have thetime to deal with in one sitting, and then due to #1 never get around to doing.

• Will they be original ideas? Original to me. Maybe someone else already had it, but if I write it downI had no notion of the previous work.

• Will these be good ideas? Hopefully a couple.

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• Will these be researched? Maybe. But my goal is less than an hour of work per day on this (see #1).

• Will these be complete ideas? Unlikely, but I may go back and edit them as I think more on it.

• Will it really be one per day? I’m going to try, but realistically not. I doubt I will publish whiletraveling, for example. But an average of one idea per day, and each idea assigned a specific day (evenif generated on another day) goes a long way to making this seem more legit.

• Will they have a theme? no

• Can I have one of your ideas? Really?! Just contact me and I’m absolutely sure we can work somethingout, assuming it’s not for evil purposes. These ideas can always be developed further if I had a reasonto focus on it (i.e. government grants)

• Can I steal one of your ideas? Who would ask that? Well thanks for asking but no.

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Chapter 2

2011

2.1 February

Let’s try this.... (2011-02-01 02:33)

Date of Idea: Nov 8

One idea per day. That’s my goal.

The point is not to have great ideas flushed out. Nor to find something that’s going to get me richand famous. But rather, that I get used to delivering things quickly, being happy with 30 minutes of rough

work. It’s about clicking that ”Publish” button.

So this is an exercise about delivering concepts for no apparent reason. Getting them out there andnot being worried about how exactly right or not right they are. An exercise at writing. An exercise atcompleting, even if only completing a rough draft.

I’ll focus on ideas because, like most people, I have them alot when commuting, sitting in meetings, orexercising. Then I kick myself later when I see people espousing, selling, and/or receiving government grantsfor ideas that I have had in the past but didn’t act on it. But that’s the point isn’t it? I didn’t act on itThe reason why I didn’t act on it could have been due to many reasons:

1) I have a life. A family, a house and a job in a foreign language that I am still, and will always belearning

2) I think that the idea is so obvious, that it’s not worth perusing. It must have been already investigated by people smarter than me. These are the ideas that when I see them later being perused really get

my goat, if I may use that phrase.

3) I want to think it all the way through, research, draw sketches out, etc... before I do anything. This is theengineer in me, as well as a fear of looking stupid because I forgot some obvious thing like porcupines areallergic to raisins. This is probably the biggest issue. I mire the idea down in details that I don’t have thetime to deal with in one sitting, and then due to #1 never get around to doing.

• Will they be original ideas? Original to me. Maybe someone else already had it, but if I write it downI had no notion of the previous work.

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• Will these be good ideas? Hopefully a couple.

• Will these be researched? Maybe. But my goal is less than an hour of work per day on this (see #1).

• Will these be complete ideas? Unlikely, but I may go back and edit them as I think more on it.

• Will it really be one per day? I’m going to try, but realistically not. I doubt I will publish while

traveling, for example. But an average of one idea per day, and each idea assigned a specific day (evenif generated on another day) goes a long way to making this seem more legit.

• Will they have a theme? no

• Can I have one of your ideas? Really?!

So let’s try this.

Curling Ice (2011-02-02 12:57)

Original idea: like forever ago

I used to curl. I still would but curling clubs are rare in the U.S. and even rarer in my part of Eu-rope. But back when I was part of a club there was a debate over spending money, good money, thousands

of money, to have the stones ”cored”. That means to take the stones we had at the time, made of a granite

that is good for knocking off each other, core them out and replace the center part with granite that is betterfor the running surface (which is really only a 5” diameter ring on the bottom). There were previous debatesabout when to get the stones resurfaced, which was a polishing of the running surface. The discussion wouldalways center around whether it was needed or not.

To know if it was needed there were opinions and tests, like throwing the stones a bunch of times and

seeing what happens. This is difficult because the ice conditions change with every throw. Some players knowhow some rocks behave because they play so often, but that’s at best a couple rocks per sheet (and there’s 16total per sheet). There’s even a guy I heard about that comes in, puts all the stones on a big ramp and letsthem go. Records how far they go, resets the thing, but with the rocks all shifted to remove some unknownvariable from the test and redone. All of these methods rely on manual expertise to evaluate something thathas many many variables affecting it.

My idea is to strap an accelerometer to a stone and throw it normally. A Wiimote would work. Then just collect the data as to how the stone is curling (in the side to side direction) as well as how fast itslows down after the point of release, there will be a peak in the acceleration where it will turn abruptly to

deceleration. Throw a stone normally a few times and do it for every stone (mixing the stone order and going

back and doing earlier ones again). Statistically all the stones should sit on top of each other, outliers can beseen. Do this every two months and see it, over a season or two, anything significant changes.

Perhaps throwing it ”through the house” overcomes alot of the variables. That is throwing it so hardthat it will not stop before it someone catches it (before it hits the back wall). The accelerometer should stillrecord it’s behavior, and the ice will have less effect. I actually have a lot of ideas to work this out, both in

terms of technology and data analysis, but just don’t have the need to record it all.

This is an example of an idea that was so simple to implement, I never got around to doing anythingother than thinking I should do it. Ah well.

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Muscial Critique (2011-02-03 12:22)

Original date of idea: Today

Bon Jovi’s ”You give love a bad name” would be better with a drum solo.

Congressional Corruption (2011-02-04 13:19)

Original Idea Date: Oct 28, 2010

With all the talk of lobbyists and other influence peddlers this election season, and the vast sums omoney drummed up to try and get elected, there is always talk of ”reforming the system”. I’ve heard all sortsof things from new laws for transparency to mandating only public funding of candidates, but all of thesesuggestions back into the same problem that makes it hard to crack down, the 1st amendment and freedom ofspeech. How can you tell someone that they are not allowed to support a candidate of their choice, regardlessof their motivations? You cannot. So how about a move from the environmental playbook: The solution topollution is dilution. If my memory serves correctly, there are 535 members of congress (435 house + 100

senate). Expand congress. Triple the house (1305) and add another 50 to the senate. The influence per $spent will go down, since you would conceivably have to spend at least as much as you do now, but eachcandidate has less power. The representation levels are not unprecedented, look at Germany. They have 622members for 81 million people, over 4 times more representation. If each candidate represented fewer peoplethey would have that much more time to deal with the issues specific to their (smaller) district and it wouldbe that much easier for constituents to keep an eye on who is actually being represented.

While we’re having fantasy fun with the governmental structure, after adding 50 new senators (3 perstate now), make the vote in the senate along state lines. That is, 26 states would be needed to carry avote. And each state would have to internally vote amongst the three to get that one vote out. The powerdynamics would be very interesting, still with some swing senators yielding lots of power (although therecould be as many as 50 swing senators in this scenario), to senators with absolutely no power (where theother 2 from the state always vote as a block).

Of course, having more politicians as a rule is not necessarily a great idea.

Fuel Economy Indicator That Teaches Proper Braking (2011-02-05 13:14)

Actual Date of Idea: About 2 years ago on the way to work.

On many cars there is an indicator that tells you your mileage. It shows some value from 0 to lots and isupdated constantly. If used as a gauge, it can help people learn how to drive more efficiently. A problem with

it is that it doesn’t give specific feedback as to what you can do, and there are many variables. One of thebiggest ones is to use the brakes as little as possible. When brakes are used, it turns momentum into heat (inthe case of regenerative braking with electric motors, it captures some of it, but there are still losses. Neverbraking is and will always be more efficient than regen). I think of it as burning gas. It would be possible toestimate, from the vehicle characteristics and deceleration rate, the amount of energy lost into the brakesand combined with the fuel economy estimate would indicate how much gas, in gallons, has been spent bybraking.

Perhaps having a real time display you watch while braking isn’t as safe as you’d think. So insteadhow about a calculation that shows your total gasoline lost per the trip and/or another display with what

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your f uel economy would have been had you not done any braking. It’s very rare to get anywhere withoutbraking, but learning to look f ar down the road and coasting as often as possible will make f or quick gains,and the display proposed here will give you an indication of whether it’s making a difference or not.

Could other feedback suggestions be made by computer. Something that estimates vehicle weight andtells you to empty the trunk might be good, but would be hard to calculate that from the inexactness of the variables. A display that shows where the engine is operating with regard to efficient zones is nice, butdifficult to deal with in real time while also saf ely driving, and having an automatic tranny or an indicator of when to shift a manual helps keep things in line. Something that tells you to slow down, especially whencruising on the autobahn at over 110 mph would help, but it would be very naggy.

E-Shoes (2011-02-06 11:33)

Date of Idea: Back in the summer when electric bikes were out front of the bike shop.

Electric cars are, in popular press, better than non-electric cars. Electric bikes are marketed much thesame. The next logical step is of course, electric shoes.

A small motor with a cam built into the hell that rotates to help push off the ground for you. Regencapable either by capturing your heel-strike or with a sole that allows you to slide forward a bit spinningthe motor through a linkage while going down hill. Batteries are packaged on the top of the f oot, additionalbatteries can be strapped to the leg or waist for longer treks. Lights on for safety at night.

Think globally, act locally.

Economic Modelling (2011-02-07 07:45)

Date of Original Idea: Today

I’m not an economist, I’m an engineer. But everyone seems to have their own take on the econ-omy these days– what went wrong, why it went wrong, who’s f ault it is, who should pay, and so on. Myfavorite are analogies made by people, especially economists. They try to break it down to some example at”your local supermarket” or a kid running a lawn mowing business. But no one, that I know of anyway, has

taken the engineering approach to it. So that’s today’s idea, to use not a dumb-ed down analogy, but ananalogy that requires some engineering background to get.

So first. The economy is represented as a shape. I like circles:

[1]

And economic activity will be thought of as economic energy. I don’t want to use ”energy” toomuch since it sounds kinda new-agey for people that don’t normally use it in the sense of work integratedover time. So this is, in a simple f orm, the f armer buying tools from the blacksmith to grow f ood and theblacksmith buying food from the farmer with the money used to buy the tools.

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[2]

But of course, it’s more complicated than that. It is actually a large network of flows. I’ll keepwith the circular analogy and not go with a network model such as you’d find in an electrical or a thermalmodel. So each little blue sectors, be it automotive, finance, real estate, movies, what have you, doesn’t stayonly in the little area, but feeds into each other: a person working for the automotive sector spends some ofhis money on housing and groceries and entertainment and so on. Ok, we all get that. In my model theaggregate of this makes for one giant flow that keeps moving around. This is harder to measure and harder

to define, but it is the fundamental economic activity of the system.

[3]

That’s a good example of ”real” energy, but there are forms of ”complex” energy. Electrical engineers know this stuff, it’s voltage, power, energy whatever that is not seen or used to do real work, but the

eff ects of it is measurable and takes real energy away. But it’s there. Credit is similar. It’s not real wealth

but it allows parallel paths of work of the economic units. It requires some overhead and on the bottomline it only the ”real” parts contribute (or should contribute) to actual wealth. In this simple model, it isrepresented by flows in the third dimension (in and out of the screen). But really I don’t need to discuss it

much more so just the one picture:

[4] So a very big economy with all sorts of activity is really complex. Flows breaking, splitting, reforming. Much like the gaseous swirls in the surface of Jupiter. Every sooften a Great Red Spot forms. It feeds on itself as well as supporting, and being supported by, many smallerswirls. It is still in the overall flow but it has much more influence than many around it.

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[5]

But sometimes, often actually, it gets too large to be self sustaining and requires alot of influxfrom other sectors. Problem is, this can’t last since to do so would consume the activity of all the rest of theeconomy. Where is the activity going? It’s going into the complex plane, the 3rd dimension of this analogy.

That dimension is getting out of proportion from the real plane and it is causing a great inefficiency in the

system. It is at this point in an electrical network that someone steps in and adds or subtracts complex

components to the system to bring it back in line. In the economic analysis that is similiar to adjusting thecredit supply. But if it is done incorrectly, things get very very out of whack.

[6]

And that part of the system must be shutdown and restarted, but you cannot do that to the eco-nomic system and things just go nuts. The popping bubble leaves a void and disrupts the overall flow.Sectors immediately downstream of the flow are hit first, then sectors that require much more trust andcredit (e.g. autos). No one knows where the flows are actually moving to and from so containment of theproblem is as impossible to guarantee as fixing the problem.

[7]

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The empty voids mean the economy has less going on, and the whole thing must shrink to fill thevoids. Newer voids open up here and there while the original shrinks (in reality, voids are forming anddissipating often, like cavitations in a fluid, all the time, but they don’t have much impact outside theirimmediate area as they don’t disrupt the aggregate flow too noticeably). We just now have to wait for theaggregate flow to get stabilized again before we can feel comfortable.

[8]

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/economicloops1.png








Learning what’s best (2011-02-08 07:46)

Date of Original Idea: Since I was 3

People should listen to me.

Clean (and Fresh Scented) Energy (2011-02-09 13:05)

Date of Original Idea: A couple years ago

Idea: Dryer sheets remove the static cling from clothes. Where does it go?

Next Steps: Research is needed into harvesting that static electricity from the used dryer sheets andconverting it into usef ul energy. Added benefit: the dryer sheets can be re-used several times bef ore theybegin to fall apart physically. I could sell small devices that recharge your iPod with the used sheets.

Thanks, I got it (2011-02-10 20:42)


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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/economicloops1.png


















We need a socially recognized and accepted signal to indicate to someone that whatever he or she isexplaining is already understood by the listener. By making the signal, the speaker is politely informed thatthey can move on to the next subject or just plain stop talking, without feeling insulted or interrupted.

I find that a good deal of my working life and also a great deal of my interactions with other peopleis spent listening to people explain in detail things that I already know. Similar to some standard clauseabout cancellations that someone at the airline must tell you every time you call, regardless of how manytimes you’ve booked this month already. I don’t mean to sound conceited, like I already know everything,and trying not to be so is one of the reasons why I get caught so often in these situations. I usually give thebenefit of the doubt that if someone is going through the trouble of formulating concepts and drawing littlepictures that they are telling me something new, however I am often disappointed and find myself confusedas to why someone is explaining something to begin with. Am I missing the point? No they just want to tellme stuff, to instruct and inform. They are usually friendly about it, but are not keyed into the little cluesI’m giving out to try and expedite the discussion, such as saying ”understood” or ”I got all this”. I could usea little signal like crossing my arms in an ”X” or sticking a finger in an ear or something subtle but not sosubtle as to be missed.

Passing Time Productivly (2011-02-11 21:57)


An idea for a business plan: A combination publishing house and temp agency. The company hires as-piring writters with talent but who need to put the time in to hone their craft. They won’t find the time todo it working 9 to 5 busy work. So instead, this temp agency focuses on jobs where the person is 90 % of thetime idle. Night watchmen is a perfect example, but also cell phone store worker in dull periods or parking

attendant on Sundays, or so on. With all the free time on the job, they write. And the good stories/writtersmove on while the ones without the talent and drive get placed in jobs where more activity is required.

A short story idea (2011-02-12 21:00)

Date of Original Idea: Couple months ago in a car trip to Paris

A rough idea for a story:

A man goes to sleep in a hotel room and wakes up well refreshed. Had a great night sleep, puts onhis glasses and starts to get ready to attend a business meeting he is traveling for. But something seemsodd. Packs all his things up, can’t quite put his finger on the problem. Wanders down to check out andget a receipt (oddly, the quick checkout wasn’t slipped under the door or hanging on the door handle) andthe hotel has no record of him staying there. He and a few other people standing around the front desk.

They all have their stuff and a similar morning but none of them actually checked into this hotel. They allchecked into another one across town, and come to think about it, so did our hero. They were checked into

the Maplethorpe, not the Hyatt Regency. They go to find their rental cars but they are not in the parking

lot. Together they jump in a cab and go to the hotel they checked in. When they arrive, the hotel is gone.The parking lot is still there with their cars. But the hotel, which stood in the middle of the parking lot isgone and the parking lot is not now larger, or with an empty space, it simply filled in the place where thehotel was, but didn’t get any bigger. As if the very space that the hotel existed in was deleted and the edgesof the remaining space closed in and sealed up. There were a f ew other people standing around perplexed.Some employees, some visitors, a bakery delivery truck. Our hero wonders how this will go on his expensereport, no receipt but probably very likely the charge is already on the credit card. Should have raided the

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minibar last night.

After that I don’t know where to go. Or should it go any further. Maybe just flush that out, but Idon’t think I can get more than another paragraph out of it. There needs to be more missing buildings orspaces. Maybe half an airport and a road that is now much shorter. That’s probably enough for an ABC TVdrama, but that’s not good enough.

Wearable Blood O2 Sensor (2011-02-13 19:56)

Date of Original Idea: A few years ago.

This is another idea f or an idea, but maybe I can get two out of it. One general idea now and lateran idea of how to realize it. Maybe [1]this is the way.

For exercise there are heartrate monitors that give a good estimation of how hard the body is workingbut if you want to know when you go off the cliff of aerobic (or is in anaerobic?) having an blood O2 monitormight be helpful. They have them in hospitals that just clip on your finger and use a light sensor and get a

0...100 % measurement of the O2 in your blood. If there was a way to get it to be more firmly affixed andhave the accuracy to measure the blood O2 level, that’d rock.

1. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20927943.800-smart-contact-lenses-for-health-and-headup-displays

html

Wearable Stress Monitor (2011-02-14 19:58)

Date of Original Idea: Dec, 2010 sounds good.

Working off the Feb 13 entry, why not also measure stress? Can that be done without drawing blood?Is there something electrical or a combination of blood pressure and jaw tightness that can be combined into

a stress measurement. There are certainly physical symptoms of mental stress, so those must be measurablesomehow. Can it be measurable in a strap-it-on=and-look-at-your watch way like is done with heart ratemonitoring?

This would be useful for running, racing, driving, working, and dealing with the kids.

Oh, a quick google search says that this is not a new idea. I wonder if any of these things work. Oneclips on your earlobe, which I would think cannot be both secure and comfortable during exercise.

Just a thought... (2011-02-15 19:42)

The louder you get the righter you’re not.

Flag Burning (2011-02-16 19:41)

Date of Original Idea: some time ago

I see photos on the news of people burning pieces of cloth colored in ways that they think they are burning

American, British and Israeli flags. 10 stripes. 18 stars. Green. One of the great ironies about these demonstrations is that it doesn’t bother me nor many Americans (though there are many prominent Americans

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http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20927943.800-smart-contact-lenses-for-health-and-headup-displays.html






that don’t deal well with freedom of expression) simply because they are doing something that the flag standsf or the ability to do, if you can f ollow that. What bothers me is that they didn’t get the flag right. I’m allf or self-made stuff, but put a little pride into your work if you know what I mean. So f or those people that

want to actually insult the touchy Americans but don’t have time to get the flag right, I want to providea service. Cheap, flammable flags. A global chain of stores that sell American, British and whatever flagscurrent events calls for, all made in China of course. People can buy as many flags as they’d like and holdhuge bonfires. I’ll take the profits back to fund an anti-flag burning amendment lobby on the logic that if theflag burners think they’re getting people pissed off, they’ll burn more.

The trick is to build stores that themselves don’t burn down. And to hire employees that don’t torchthe merchandise before the store opens.

I just don’t look forward to ironically testifying on Capitol Hill to my Unamerican behaviors (the irony isthat I’m selling anything I can for cash, and there’s nothing more American than that)

Gas Tax (2011-02-17 20:51)

Date of Original Idea: A while ago, but let’s say today for continuity of this blog

Gas Tax. That’s right I said it, and I’ll do it again: gas tax.

Ok the idea of a gas tax is not new, however with the past 3 years of financial turmoil, due in part tovolatile oil prices should make the ground more fertile for these ideas. The larger problem is the inability of fixed costs (purchased cars, location of houses, etc...) to correct themselves quickly. It is also a problem for

automakers to plan several years ahead knowing that if the oil prices are volitale the market will want smallcars but if stable, the market will chose large cars. Whichever automaker guesses right looks smartest.

This specific idea is raising the gas tax $0.05 every 4 months f or 10 years. By no measure is this alot.$1.50 over 10 years. However psycologically it will play a huge role. As we’ve seen in the past year, the stableoil prices have allowed a complacency to come in to people’s choices of cars. And likely in other places too.However if it is known that gas prices will definitly not stay this low, whomever is to blame, it will influencethe next 10 years of choices in size of car, length of commute and so on. Automakers can have a little moreconfidence in smaller cars as the future and people will learn that they don’t really need a big car all the time(and f or the f ew times they do need it, they can rent one cheaper than buying and maintaining a bigger one).

Romantic Comedy Story Concept (2011-02-18 18:58)

This story could fall into the lucrative romantic comedy genre, or maybe just with some added graphicdescriptions of glistening members, just a cheap trash novel. Or maybe it could be an actual news story in

the coming years.

Political incumbent is married to girl. Girl used to date boy, but like long time ago and they haven’tbeen in contact for that amount of time. Boy now is running as a grass-roots candidate against the politicalincumbent, for some righteous reason that the movie buying public will instantly associate hero with himand villain with political incumbent. Boy learns of girls connection, and of course he still loves her despitehis rocky relationship that has been going on for years without any real commitment from him. Boy andgirl have arguments, then hidden dinner but only as friends but get caught by press and it doesn’t look like just friends and causes boy’s girlfriend to leave. Meanwhile incumbent has affair with some other hookertype woman that crowd will find villainous, perhaps a lobbyist for Baby Seal Hunting or something equally

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despicable. That results in her getting divorce and incumbent, who stood on f amily values, loosing. Thenafter the swearing in of the boy to office girl turns up and they have a happy ending full of happy endings.

A twist could be that the politcal incumbant’s lover is boy’s girlfriend. It would even less believableso might play well on the screen.

Lousy story I know, but when it breaks $40 million on the opening weekend you’ll be envious of myability to concept this shit. Or has this one already been made? I’ve lost track.

Radiator Bed (2011-02-19 17:03)

Date of Original Idea: In a cold winter bed between 2010 and 2011

Electric blankets have numerous problems surrounding the durability of the wiring and the need to cleanthe blanket from time to time. Waterbeds have the ability to be warmed up and keep the sleeper(s) warm

but there are issues with durability here too. Not to mention weight problems in some houses, etc. So howabout...

Between the bed and box spring goes a slightly-flexible-but-mostly-stiff plastic that is a series of tubesfor water, warm water to flow through. The tubes, in and out, are either connected to the building hot waterheating system, in parallel with a local radiator, or to a small space heater plugged into the wall (the trick

here would be getting a pump to be either very quiet or or with just enough white-noise). Minimal wearon the large tube mattress part (while sleeping anyway), while all sensitive connections and any electricalconnections are made exterior to the bed where they will not take so much abuse.

Even better. If it is attached to an external device f or heat and pumping then we can also add a leakdetector. Around the series of tubes is another plastic encapsulation. This has a single connection to a littlepressure pump and sensor. When turned on and/or periodically the thing can pressurize the encapsulation

and check the leak rate of the air out of the area. The idea being to catch small leaks in the air bag before

further damage can happen and cause larger damage to the water containing network. Obviously this wouldbe an up-sell as the added costs would be significant.

Truly invisible and functional finger bandage (2011-02-20 16:28)

Date of Original Idea: Dec 2010

I recently had a cut on my finger that required a bandage to be wrapped around the tip of it. It wasawkward to type with and frequently got mangled by day-to-day stuff. What I wanted was a full finger sizedbandage, something like two half shells of bandage that form fit around my finger, flexing at the right placesof course. Then it would be intact and not have any little edges around the tip to catch on things. It wouldhave to come in different colors for different skin tones, or some people would look like they had some weirdfinger disease. I suppose it would also have to be specific for each finger and person. Maybe a sizing device

at the store that you stuck your finger into to get a reading.

Come to think of it, really too much trouble. Bandages work just fine.

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Toll Road Pricing to Encourage Desired Behavior (2011-02-21 21:28)


Toll roads are typically priced in distance. Some magic formula that the thruway commission uses. Thepricing scheme is stuck in some sort of a time warp, where it is assumed that clocks cannot be synchronized.

This simple proposal is to charge a rate based on the average speed. To ”discount” slower driving and chargea premium on faster driving... within limits on both ends.

Say the current rate on your local toll road is 1.0 times the magic formula. That is, if you’re in theU.S. probably for an average speed limit of 60 to 70mph. If you average 60 to 70 mph then you will paythe fee you are used to. If you average 50 to 60 you will pay a little less. If you average 70, 80 or 90mph,you will pay significantly more, but not actually be in violation of any speed limits. Naturally there will be

some speed limit (as well as a minimum speed), and driving f aster than it at any time or more amazingly,averaging it, will result in your usual conversation with the police.

[1] The keys are the two end areas to keep things bounded, andthe sharp uptick in the rate above the speed.

This has the following advantages:

• Police can concentrate on only the really fast drivers. No need to make everyone hit their brakes whenthey see a cop at the last minute. Fewer police will be necessary.

• It gives incentives for slower driving.

• It gives incentives for stopping for breaks on long drives.

• Rest stops and the items they sell, gas, food, etc... could be marketed as carrying a discount sincestopping and buying results in a lower cost for the toll road (yes yes, it really doesn’t work that way,but so much of what is advertised really is what they are trying to convince you it is)

• It allows fast people to drive fast and get to where they are going if it fits their budget.

• People will pay what they are comf ortable paying, but many will pay just to drive f ast bringing in morechad for the road authority.

It does require something that I have failed to find in the U.S., proper lane discipline. Stay as far right aspossible (no cruising in the ”not thinking lane” which is always the second from the left), no passing on the

right and look before changing lanes leftward.

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/thruway2.png

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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/thruway2.png

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/thruway2.png



Office Worker Exoskeleton (2011-02-22 21:07)


Exoskeletons are these futuristic like things that always seem to be just on the horizon for disabled people orsoldiers or dock workers. It’s a robotic looking device that someone climbs into or attaches to the body andis used walk f ar (or at all) or pick up heavy things or carry lots of stuff. [1]Some of them are becoming moreand more realistic everyday. Today’s idea is an extension of that into the white collar workf orce, as if we gottoo much physical exercise as it was. So a device that you climb up into and strap yourself it. It has to makebig whopmp-bumhp noises when walking, have hidden little places for storing office supplies all over it, like

Robocop’s gun holster but with a three-hole-punch. A laptop can dock into it. A person could carry all thenecessary binders and different parts and pieces that they work on all day (I had to lug around 3 transaxle

adapters the other day and I could have used this). Eventually desks could be eliminated and you just workin the last location you whopmp-bumhp’d to, presumably near the coffee machine. No need to search out awheely-cart for the big items, just a charging plug during the down time.

The obvious challenges:

• Preventing serious hacking of the devices (not a bad idea by itself, but prevents work from being done

• Keeping them running. Think what it’s like now when you have a computer problem, imagine if you’restuck somewhere yelling for help.

• Preventing the necessary arm wrestling and hallway races from turning into the office into some futuristicMechwarrior-like landscape through warring factions and furniture throwing.

1. http://berkeleybionics.com/

Towards another idea (2011-02-23 18:05)

Date of Original Idea: Today/Last Night

Ok, this feels like a cop-out but my idea is to get an idea for recording those ideas that I have in themiddle of the night or morning. When, just after coming through a vivid dream, I’m grudgingly awake withsome terrific idea or even crafted sentences for a story. I convince myself that I’ll remember this since it’s sogood and drift off again. Then later I’m left with some vague memories about a gorilla as a attorney and justhow bad off you’d have to be to see that as better than representing yourself. I even had a title f or that, butit’s gone. So my idea is like an improved and automated alternative to paper and pencil at the bedside tablebecause that just doesn’t work for me.

Her name is Lola (2011-02-24 20:55)

Date of Original Idea: October 2010

Know the Manalow song Copacabana, or Kopakobana, or Kuppecohana, or whatever it’s called? It’s anice little story about a cocktail waitress and some violently jealous men. Wouldn’t it make for a great rideat DisneyWorld?

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http://berkeleybionics.com/

http://berkeleybionics.com/



Here’s the pitch: A [1]dark ride (which isn’t what it sounds at first) where you mount up on a mov-ing vehicle that just keeps going round and round, but instead of a vehicle it is a little platform for you tostand on, lean slightly forward, and put your hands on the hips of either the next person in front of you,or a plastic person installed to reduce the creepiness of dark rides and touching other people, so that youform a long conga line. Then you ride through the rooms describing the different scenes of the song, hearingthe song cycle and cycle. And during the catchy little tune between the parts of the song, while you conga

through to the next room, the platf orm that your standing on waggles. Left right left right. Making yourtush, along with all the other tushes in the conga, do the conga.

It will be a hit! Del Monte could sponsor it.

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ride

Package Opening Security Robot (2011-02-25 21:02)

Date of Original Idea: Dec 23, 2010

In regards to [1]this story.

A series of machines that will open packages for you. It will handle the package with care while at the sametime containing any possible detonation. Maybe even an option to check for chemical or bio agents. Thenwhen the package is opened, the contents and packing material can be retrieved and the next package loadedfor opening.

Different sizes for different packagesDifferent styles for loading (the delivery guy loads them into a hopper or you do it yourself on the cheapermodels)Outdoor or indoor optionsFully contained for chem and bio agents, or just blast walls for other concerns.Different protection levels for containing different levels of explosions.

Camera.Laser position scannerSome sort of device that can rotate the package to the correct position, like from baggage handling or popbottle return sorting machines.and a box cutter on a 2 axis placement machine.and one of you need to be head of homeland security for awhile to make sure these become required.

1. http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/12/23/exp.exp.rome.embassy.bombings.cnn?hpt=T1

Kitty Cannon (2011-02-26 20:15)

Date of Original Idea: One night where the cat wouldn’t let me sleep

The title is quite descriptive. A cannon that you can load a cat into and launch it into another neigh-borhood.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ride

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/12/23/exp.exp.rome.embassy.bombings.cnn?hpt=T1

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2010/12/23/exp.exp.rome.embassy.bombings.cnn?hpt=T1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_ride



[1] The trick is to calibrate the angle and launch power to

get the cat far enough away that he doesn’t come back until breakfast time, but not so far that he doesn’tcome back at all, cause that would be cruel.

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/kittycannon_sm.jpg

Rain Powered Car (2011-02-27 20:39)

Date of Original Idea: Few years back

A bathtub on the roof, a spout through the drain down to a little water wheel, a chain around the waterwheel going over to a differential. Green propulsion at it’s best, good in the northwest.

No I don’t think it will work, but I’ve always wanted to make a web page with a series of photos from a”development session”. A car with a roof-mounted bathtub perched at the top of a slightly sloped but short

driveway. A fearless test driver in helmet giving a thumbs up. Another photo of the car 3 feet down theslope, water all over the ground behind it, driver clenching the steering wheel and looking as if waiting f or arocket launch. A third photo with the car 7 feet from the starting position, the ground soaked in water, thedriver with his head out the window looking into the sky. A final photo of two additional people entering the

scene, each in a white labcoat with a clipboard. The tall one making notes near the ”drive unit” the otherholding out his hand as if checking for rain while the driver is yelling something at the shorter engineer andpointing to his watch.

Why haven’t I done it? Cause I don’t have a bathtub handy.

Listen to me Garmin (2011-02-28 20:46)

Date of Original idea(s): many runs ago

I have a watch that I wear when I run with built in GPS. It tells me how fast I’m going and how far

I’ve gone. It can tell me other things too like elevation, but really just the first two are important. It has alotof little features in it, but not everything I can think of. What Garmin needs to do is release a DevKit forthis watch and let people like myself experiment with new ideas. They can also host a forum where otherscan upload new concepts of what they have done with the watch. It will add value to this piece of hardwareReally. Here are some of the ideas that I want to have my watch do... simple things:

• Display both metric and non-metric units at the same time. I want to see miles and km.

• Let me set a target distance and count down to it.

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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/kittycannon_sm.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/kittycannon_sm.jpg



• When counting down to a target, do gross and fine levels so that it’s eventually counting off the last1000m of a marathon in 100m increments. (which seem like eternities)

• Let me set a target distance and time and continuously show me what my average pace should be toensure that I reach it.

• Have it so when I hit the lap button, it corrects the distance covered to be to the nearest round mile/km.

It gets off a bit over a long distance, maybe 100 to 200m or so depending on buildings and so f orth,and I find it annoying. But if the distance shows 22.04 miles and I hit the lap button, I want the totaldistance to be corrected to 22.00 miles.

• When it auto-laps, it puts a little screen up with the average pace of the past lap. a) that screen shouldgo away if I hit a button and b) that little screen, if it’s going to block out all the other data on thescreen, might as well tell me other stats about the last lap

• I want to change the beep it makes for auto-lap (although it is cool in a race when passing a milemarker there are all the same beeps)

• I want to be able to record heart rate before and after recording distance/time. After is important info

for checking fitness levels and before is interesting to see how prior conditions affected your race

But mostly I just want control of the hardware I own.

2.2 March

Land-Based GPS (2011-03-01 19:27)

Date of Original Idea: Feb 3, 2003 (really! I found an old note)

Wouldn’t it be cheaper for land-based GPS points? Some cel phones already use cel-towers to do sometriangulation. So with some added sophistication in the signal sent by the towers the cost of launching a newsatellite every few years could be avoided (GPS satellites have only a few years of life in them before they areburnt-up in the atmosphere and replaced).

I suppose it wouldn’t work well in the oceans. And if you need to have satellites wizzing around f orthe ocean coverage you might as well use them for land. But what if there were really powerful shore basedtransmitters? Like so powerful people that cancer clusters developed in the side-bands of these towers, milesand miles of clusters. Would it work?

Wind Powered Ferris Wheel (2011-03-02 19:32)

Date of Original Idea: 17 Jan , 2011

Eco-Friendly Fun! A giant ferris wheel, much like the London Eye, but bigger. With turbine bladesin the middle and a generator on it just like a wind turbine. Control the loading of the generator to slowdown the ride to an acceptable level. People enter the loading structure and either take the elevator or climbthe stairs (something like the Eiffel Tower to the first level). From there they can shop, eat or ride. On dayswhen the wind isn’t blowing they can buy a t-shirt that says ”I went to the EcoWheel and all I got was thislousy T-Shirt”

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[1]

When the wind is blowing in the right direction and people are willing to drive out to it, this thingwill rival other regional sight-seeing destinations!

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/windpoweredferriswheel.jpg

Noisy Upstairs Neighbor Combat Device (2011-03-03 19:57)

Date of Original Idea: Dec 28, 2010 while some lady in heels walked around on her uncarpeted floors in theunit above me.

[1]

A device that allows a person to strap in a bucket from around the house and a handle from a broomThen the person can place the bucket against the ceiling with one hand while pulling and releasing a cordwith another. The action results in a loud bass thud that resonates into the upstairs apartment, much theway their thuds resonate down. For when they won’t answer the door or you’re just too passive aggressive toeven knock.

Can be sold at drug stores or discount general in a small box:

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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/windpoweredferriswheel.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/windpoweredferriswheel.jpg



[2] Big words printed on the side though: Caution, this willmake them cause more noise and then no one will get any sleep. Maybe also include a book of tactics likegetting up at 2 a.m. and doing this when they are sleeping. You’re sure to win with these tactics!

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/noisyupstairsneighbortop1.jpg

2. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/noisyupstairsneighborbottom.jpg

The Crapper Napper (2011-03-04 20:57)

Date of Original Idea: A few years ago stuck in Cleveland airport

A portable hammock with 5 hooks. The hooks clip on to the top of stall walls in the bathroom, 2 oneach side and 1 on the door. <p>

[1]

It gives you a place to sleep or rest that is clean, if not pleasantly scented. I argue that it is cleanerthan the floor anywhere in the airport (men stand at the urinal, then wander all over the place), cleaner thanthe seats. It is as clean as the inside of the storage bag you keep it in. Air freshener can be included in the

bag and you can put a swipe of it, from a vapor rub sort of can, under your nose if necessary.

The door hook works to hold the door closed when your weight is in the hammock. A quasi-feature isthat it will not work on the corner stalls, ensuring that there is always a stall available f or regular business

and no urgent threat to airport functionalitiy.

Available at airport kiosks:

• $29.99 for the ”Sport”

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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/noisyupstairsneighbortop1.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/noisyupstairsneighborbottom.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/noisyupstairsneighborbottom.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/noisyupstairsneighbortop1.jpg



• $39.99 f or the ”Comf ort” (with air freshener and a little pouch that hangs down f or you to put yourshoes into)

• $59.99 for the ”Executive” (all the features of the ”Comfort” plus a pouch for your laptop and Blackberry

I figure one manufacturing run and they’ll be in all airports across the country. One or two years later theywill find their way into goodwill bins and in 3 to 5 years bus stations will be plagued by the homeless toting

the Crapper Napper ™

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/crappernapper.jpg

Santa Transponder (2011-03-05 17:57)

Date of Original Idea: Dec 2005?

Hey Kids! don’t read this.

Years ago we were planning on visiting family for Christmas. This involved a drive and stay in another

state. My kids were concerned that Santa would not be able to find them, or worse yet, deliver the goods onChristmas morning to our house putting a week-long delay in the receiving of said gifts. We tried to calmtheir fears, but they kept bringing it up. We found the answer at Target. They had gift cards that were thesize of fat credit cards and if you pressed the button a bunch of LE Ds on a christmas tree would twinkle. Onthe back was all the regular gift card stuff, a unique bar code and disclaimers. We ”bought” two gift cards(then used them on regular purchases) and passed out the cards to the kids with the information that thesewere Santa Transponders. The bar code was registered to them and if they pressed the button on ChristmasEve, Santa would be able to reroute the gifts to the location that the button was pressed. You could tell it

was working cause the LEDs twinkled in response. This worked well.

My idea is to commercialize this idea f urther. The gift card design and the electronics inside can’t cost

that much. The bar code can be just randomness. Just add a web site where the kids can ”register” theirtransponders (for security sake, just first name and first letter of the last name and maybe a process where

you press the button once, click enter on the computer, then press it again f or confirmation). Sell them f or$6/apiece or 2 for $15 in Target check-out aisles. Of course you need a new one every year because as we allknow, the more stuff you buy the better the world is.

6 Under (2011-03-06 19:22)

Date of Original Idea: Oh so long ago

I was driving along a beautif ul lakeside road in the ”thumb” of Michigan once and I passed two things

that were sandwiched between me and the water. 1) a golf course and 2) a cemetery. And I thought that itwas such a waste to have such a beautiful area, a wonderful view that makes you think it is great to be alivetaken up by dead people who cannot appreciate it. Somehow my mind went from that to what if we couldcombine these two vast wastes of space, golf courses and cemeteries? (how inspiration works I will neverknow).

The details:

• Picture a regular golf course. Fairways, tee-boxes, etc...

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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/crappernapper.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/crappernapper.jpg



• Those that are to rest in piece are cremated and cast into a cylinder with a little plaster-of-paris. Picture6” in diameter and 18 to 24” in height.

• The ”resting places” are on the edge of the fairway, just before the rough. A post-hole digger sinks ahole.

• A funeral is book for 6 or 8 4-somes, depending on the desired length of the service.

• Several black stretch-golf carts are used. Classy ones.

• Ceremony is done, cylinder sunk, family moves on to the wake at the clubhouse.

• Hole is filled in. A 6” marker is set complete with yardage info:

[1]

When a surviving family member wants to grieve, they can book a foursome, come through leave flow-ers at the tee-box.

Guys who like to golf would choose this, as would their wives who hope for visits from their husbandsafter death. Every Saturday morning he can leave some flowers and play through.

Additional up-sells could be specific locations on the golf course and wedding/wake combo discounts atthe clubhouse.

The name of the place (thanks Gary) is: 6 Under.

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/johndoemarker1a.gif

Home Heating from Fracking Failures (2011-03-07 20:41)

Date of Original Idea: Feb 28, 2010

We’ve seen the news reports and videos of f ailed attempts cleanly fracking natural gas. The gas andother ”secret ingredients” get into the drinking water of the people living nearby, who subsequently videothemselves lighting their tap on fire.

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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/johndoemarker1a.gif

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/johndoemarker1a.gif



IFRAME: [1]http://www.youtube.com/embed/U01EK76Sy4A

There’s energy in them pipes! Now all we need is a furnace that separates the gas from water and uses itto heat a home or, more ironically, heat water. It is apparently a low gas flow volume and the supply isprobably not too stable, so a low flame, much like a mutli-stage furnace on low setting. It would be excellentfor heating a volume of water as in a boiler system, where a low but fairly constant heating would get thesystem warmed up eventually and then kept at the temp, the thermal capacity of the system would deal with

lapses in the gas supply. In very cold climates it would probably need to be supplemented by other heatingsources. The problem might be that you have to keep the water running to get the gas to flow, and thenyou’re running a well pump that is not meant for such continuous duty, so a beefing up of the pump might

be necessary too. The water could be recirculated back down the well–it’s not potable anyway.

Need to get cracking on this one, with gas prices going up there will be a big demand for this type ofdevice in just a few years!

1. http://www.youtube.com/embed/U01EK76Sy4A

Enough Already (2011-03-08 19:47)


Chubby Checker’s The Twist should be retired. Nothing good can come from it being played anymore.

Waist Scarf (2011-03-09 18:29)


A scarf doesn’t just keep your neck warm, it keeps wind from blowing through the neckhole of your jacketwhile you move around. I need something like that at the other end too. My belly is cold.

A Store for Scrooge (2011-03-10 18:32)


In the story ”A Christmas Carol” old man Scrooge has a change of heart during Christmas Eve and wakes upa new man. He immediately employs a poor kid who happened to be walking by to buy him a goose and

later shows up at his employee’s house bearing gifts. Where did he get those gifts and where did the boy getthat goose? I don’t know of any store open f or such things Christmas morning, and unless your city isn’tendowed with a strong non-Christian commercial base, you probably don’t either. Imagine how that storywould have ended if the impulsive new feelings had to be delayed a day or two, not quite the same ending.

This idea is for a store that is ONLY open on Christmas morning for those newly minted Scrooges don’t needto delay gratification, and the after-last minute shoppers can get the goods. The store would only sell a fewitems at respectable markups, but it’s there for you- and who cares about prices anyway when the ghost of

Christmas Future scared the crap out of you. Either buy the $60 goose or get a pack of old baloney at the

gas station, your choice.

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http://www.youtube.com/embed/U01EK76Sy4A

http://www.youtube.com/embed/U01EK76Sy4A



The World without the Americas (2011-03-11 21:09)


Story idea, one of those alternate reality/history ones. This one is that the space where north and southAmerica is just open water. European explorers found nothing. The rise and fall of the Spanish and Por-tuguese empires never happened, including all papal interventions . France’s huge war expenses of the 17thand 18th century never happened, and theref ore the king had cash to keep his people happy and Napoleon

busy with menial jobs. The European wars of the mid 1800s didn’t happen, Germany didn’t unify, didn’t getinvolved as a unit in WWI, wasn’t fodder for Hitler to rise to power in. Japan and China were able to keepout the European colonialists, Australia stayed Asian. What does 2011 look like now?

Coming to a theater near you... (2011-03-12 10:57)

Sit and Spin: The Movie

A little fun can turn deadly.


Secure Warmth (2011-03-13 19:26)


Electrically heated seatbelts. Like heated seats, but in front of you too. Bands of warmth.

USB Rechargeable Electric Car (2011-03-14 07:36)


The title says it all. Instead of bulky cables and inconvienent locations, you can just plug your car into yourlaptop with a nice slim cable. Sure it might take longer to charge, but if you put the charging cable in thecabin of the car you could charge while you’re driving. You wouldn’t have to stop until the laptop batterywas also dead. Of course, there are power limitations on the amount of current through a USB connection soyou might need to have more than one cable. And laptop batteries are small so maybe more than one laptop.I envision a cable that plugs into the car on one side with a hole bunch of USB connectors on the other side.Then a trailer full of laptops if need be.

It probably won’t not work well, but the photos of the prototype and the stories of the manager who

wanted it made would be priceless.

Motion Sickness Correction Software (2011-03-15 20:12)


My daughter gets sick while reading or working on a computer in a car. The reasons f or this, as I un-derstand it, involve a disconenct between what the brain is sensing as motion and what the eyes areperceiving, specifically on small bumps and turns (which transport modes like airplanes and trains lack and

26



don’t cause this problem). An iPad (or similar device) brings the same results. But an iPad (or similardevice) has a accelerometer. Could software for the iPad (or similar device) be developed to correct this by

”moving” the image on the screen with the bumps and turns ever so slightly? If so, it would be a pretty cooapp.

Or it just make people even sicker.

2.3 April

Fail (2011-04-02 11:46)

Fail!

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Chapter 3

2012

Restart (2012-04-02 18:42)

Date of Idea: Today

The idea is to do this again. Restarting exactly one year after declaring failure on the first attemptWhat has changed, you ask, that this time it will be better? Have you been laid-off, or learned to live on 3

hours sleep or invented a time machine that can only take you back 3 hours in the past and this is the best

application I can find for it? No, I haven’t been laid off, in fact I’m working more hours now. No, I still needmany hours sleep. And no, if I had invented such a time machine I could find a much better applicationfor it. No, I don’t have a good reason for it. Perhaps I’m continuing to do the same thing with hope of adifferent outcome.

Harvesting Remaining Energy from Batteries (2012-04-03 18:49)

Date of Original Idea: a couple months ago

Most battery powered devices stop working when the voltage on the battery drops too low, but there’sstill energy in there. As I see it, the only useful way to get all the energy out is to take it out as heat, as thatwould be the only usef ul voltage independent and cost eff ective method. So if you’re in a part of the worldwhere you heat your home from external sources (wood, gas, oil, electricity), you just save your almost deadbatteries for the winter. Then you jam them in a bucket of BBs. They will short out the batteries, drawingevery last Joule of energy out and supplement the heating of your house.

If you saved up a couple dozen batteries and jammed them in a little pouch of BBs, you could wrapit around your neck or where ever and enjoy the heat directly.

Is it alot, no. Is it free, yes. Is it easy, yes.

Creapy Sound Generator (2012-04-04 20:10)

Date of Original Idea: not too long ago, while indisposed

There is a new device in the bathrooms at work. It dispenses air freshener periodically. I was wondering what that little ”grrr-schuus, click” sound was, then I found it. To make this even creepier, it should have

29



a little MP3 sound generator in it with sounds like ”camera click” and ”hard grunting”.

It would crack down on employee loafing around in the bathroom time. And would be a better solution thanany of [1]these.

1. http://www.hazards.org/toiletbreaks/

Mattress That Wakes You Up By Being Uncomfortable (2012-04-05 21:00)

Date of Original Idea: A couple weeks ago

A bed that changes from comfortable to uncomfortable to wake you up.

Possible implementations:

• something inflatable like the Sleepnumber bed that changes to a lousy number, or just plain vents all

the air, about 30 minutes before you want to get up.

• Something that heats up until you’re sweating. Of course you’ll have to wash the sheets more often.

• Something that cools off until the thought of a shower gets you out of bed.

Even if you need to use an alarm clock to actually wake up at the right time, at least you won’t have troublewanting to get out of bed.

Book Idea: Fake Replies (2012-04-06 19:25)

Date of Original Idea: Jan 14, 2012

A book of reply letters from celebrities. The initial letter that was sent to the celebrity is not on hand, onlythese replies and the reader has to read between the lines about what was initially said, suggested or proposed.Comedy, naturally, is the goal.

Example:

Dear Mr. Salmiho,

Thank you f or the letter dated March 3. I truly en joy getting f eedback from f ans, but as you can imagine thevolume of mail I get is quite high so I ask your forgiveness in this reply. Thank you for the kind words aboutthe poor showing of Mission Impossible 3, I agree that the franchise has been pushed too far, but you nevercan tell when something will reignite!

To your questions:

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http://www.hazards.org/toiletbreaks/

http://www.hazards.org/toiletbreaks/



1) no, I don’t think it is a good idea. Your mother has made those rules for a reason and I think you shouldfollow them so long as you continue to live in her house. Respect your mother.

2) boxers

3) When I’m travelling I do use an assumed name at hotels, and I thank you for the suggestions, but I don’tfeel that any of those on the list are either appropriate or respectable.

Well thanks for writing, and please don’t miss Mission Impossible IV, in theaters next June!

Sincerley,

Thomas CruiseBut much better than that.

Back seat kid dividers (2012-04-07 10:22)

Date of Original Idea: the last time I went anywhere with the kids

A sturdy, yet crash-friendly, L-shaped block that seat belts into the middle of the back seat. It is thick enoughthat no one can cross ”my side” and has cup holders as well as other storage areas individual for each kid. Itcan be easily removed.

That way the kids never have to learn to get along with other people and they’ll fit better into soci

ety.

Blister Bandage Dispenser (2012-04-08 19:06)

Date of Original Idea: March 28

Like the [1]Post-it highlight dispensers;, but filled with bandages to cover a blister on the back of theheel. Every time my wife or kids have a blister there they put a band-aid on it and it just rubs off in underan hour, but a dispenser built into the shoe it could continuously replace the bandage.

Of course, as I like to remind them, they could just wear socks.

1. http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/promos/flaghighlighter/

Post Office Help (2012-04-09 16:54)


Ok, it’s almost not completely my idea. Some guy says as much in this article [1]here. But he was

31

http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/promos/flaghighlighter/

http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/promos/flaghighlighter/



saying it like it would be ridiculous if USPS sold advertising that got slapped to your letters and/or packages.Sort of sneaking the junk mail into the ”keep” pile at home. A small sticker on the back side of a letter orthe side of a box would get some bad press at first, but it wouldn’t do any real harm so people would ignorethan. Then later you can build up to larger ads without much hassle.

Of course, it still requires that something of value is being sent through the mail to begin with....ad stickerson junk mail just weighs down the recycling bin.

1. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/courtyard-marriott-wifi/

Pi Table (2012-04-10 17:55)

Date of Original Idea: Mar 25 (came to me in a dream)

Self explanatory. For pies.

[1]

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pi-Table.jpg

Carnival Hotel (2012-04-11 18:26)

Date of Original Idea: April 10, 2012

There are hotels that are converted this-and-that’s. Planes, harbor cranes, fallout shelters, wine casks,

castles. How about a bunch of converted carny rides. All set up inside a big hanger (a converted airplanehanger!). Vomitproof seats removed and replaced with semi-comfortable bedding, at least as comfortable aspossible while retaining the original characteristics of the ride. Some of the rides would operate in order to beuseful, such as the ferris wheel. Some would operate, but very slowly, such as the carousel or the tilt-a-whirl,and some would stand idle such as roller coasters.

Possible converted rides

• Ferris wheel

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http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/courtyard-marriott-wifi/

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pi-Table.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pi-Table.jpg

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/06/courtyard-marriott-wifi/



• Carousel

• Tilt-a-Whirl

• that one that spins and holds you against the wall (would have to operate to keep sleepers from fallingover)

• Bumper cars

• Tunnel of Love (aka the honeymoon suite)

• Demon drop type things, have you dangling free

Can get started by watching f or deals [1]here. Although it looks like it’d be cheaper to buy an old Motel 6

and let people sleep in the elevator.

1. http://www.amusementtrader.com/category/186/New-and-Used-Rides.html

Nutty (2012-04-12 19:07)


Peanut butter perfume

Says it all.

3.1 May

Piss Powered (2012-05-22 19:26)

Date of Original Idea: May 20, 2012

Little turbines in the drain of urinals. Must be constructed so that that aim results in no splash-backas well as preventing spin-out due to the turbine itself. The energy collected from such a device could beused to run an LED somewhere. Get enough urinals together and you could light several LEDs for a shortperiod of time.

3.2 June

Even more with the pee (2012-06-09 18:06)

Date of Original Idea: somewhere in the last couple weeks

Take that last idea, the one with generators in the urinals, and turn it into a game. Based on the energy captured, award points and display them on a screen. See how you compare with the other guy. Let’s

take this a bit farther and add a bluetooth device. It scans and picks out the SSID of your phone and couplesthat information with the score you have in a database (can you do that, I mean with the bluetooth? itdoesn’t require a connection, just a unique identifier. Without connecting, can you get a unique identifier? Iwould think there would be all sorts of privacy issues around that, but then again, I’m not sure how it works)Then it can welcome you back and compare your performance today with previously. You can collect pointsYou have evidence to brag to your friends about how big a pisser you are.

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http://www.amusementtrader.com/category/186/New-and-Used-Rides.html

http://www.amusementtrader.com/category/186/New-and-Used-Rides.html



enough with the pee (2012-06-10 18:07)


No more ideas involving pee. At least for awhile.

Political Might (2012-06-24 19:00)

Date of Original Idea: the other day

In politics, cash is access, and as individuals or even grassroot groups most of us don’t have it. Butthe companies that are already sinking lots of money into lobbying eff orts of varying degrees do. It hasbeen successfully proven (recently SOPA), that by complaining to companies and not your representative.The company has a finanical incentive to get somthing done at the govermental level. So why write yourcongressman while you could convince a company that it is in their best interest to back your ideology?Boycott Walmart if they don’t support your stance on X, organize a campaign to let movie theaters in-masseunderstand your feelings on what RIAA is doing. Even as a small group, a congressman, or more specifically,

his/her staff (those that set the schedules) has minimal self interest in helping you. But if an organizationthat has at least the illusion of being able to scratch some backs in return (they will not always be staff orcongressmen/women you know), then it is more likely that your opinions will be heard.

Companies become the amplifier of political might.

Marketocracy (2012-06-25 20:36)

Date of Original Idea: April 9, 2012

Although this idea came first, it really goes one step further starting from yesterday’s idea. We replace elected

representatives in congress with appointed reps from businesses. (cut out the middleman, so to speak)

When people don’t like the way things are going, the business gets bad press and possible issues in themarketplace which can provide pressure to change things. It would be structured so that when they’re doinga bad job, it will impact the company’s bottom line. Transparency would be achieved cause there would beno question about why you’re writing certain laws or voting a certain way. It would be difficult for companiesto ram stuff through since they will have little to no influence over most of the other reps (where now, one

company can be f unding multiple reps at the same time). Companies that make money from starting wars

would have to negotiate with companies that lose money from starting wars, for example. It would have to

have some rules about the percentage of companies with $x of worth, and percent with $y of worth, etc..to prevent anti-market pressures that come from monopolies. And some sort of controls about them voting

themselves a raise (corporate taxes = 0), but that’s not too different than now.

3.3 July

Weekend Racers (2012-07-02 19:47)

Date of Original Idea: June 30, 2012

Goat-Cart track. that’s right, a goat-cart track. Like a go-cart track but with fewer greenhouse gases

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and a more animal rights issues. Easy to create in a few straightforward steps: Outline a track in recycledtires, hook goats up to wagons, put helmets on the kids, and hire a guy to clean up after the goats.

oh, and build a fence high enough so that people don’t see that you’re serious until after they pay.

Spaghetti Ö’s (2012-07-31 20:32)

Date of Original Idea: July 30, 2012

Regular Spaghetti O’s plus some risotto.

pronounced ”spaa - geeh- T - oue’s”

3.4 August

Keyboard Cleaning Aid (2012-08-31 17:11)

Date of Original Idea: Aug 31, 2012

Keyboards should have a little door on the bottom, very much like toasters do, to let all the ”crumbsout that collect under the keys over the years.

icky.

3.5 September

Burrito Printer (2012-09-08 19:00)

Date of Original Idea: Sept 8, 2012

They’re 3-d printing everything now. cars, houses, candy, cats (I read it online I think). So why not

Burritos? A machine pulls the shell from the storage bin and then proceeds to dispense other ingredientsall according to a very detailed order sheet. The calories can be accurately counted (cause people eatingBurritos are generally pretty calorie conscious right?) and the ingredients will be put in the RIGHT PLACEin the RIGHT ORDER. Then it gets shoved off for cooking.

It could be used for other tortilla based foods as well: soft tacos, gorditos, etc. or combined with anacho arranging machine (you know, a machine that puts the nachos in the RIGHT ORDER into the RIGHTPATTERN to hold the cheese).

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3-Zone Tires (2012-09-09 19:00)

Date of Original Idea July 31, 2012

Tires with 3 inflateable zones to adjust for corning or straight driving. Useful on motorcylces? Canmake center zone flater to make the whole thing to go straight or inflate the center zone to make cornering

smoother. two other zones could be connected by communicative tubes to really just be one (would airflowing through the tubes to the other side during turns be a good or bad thing? ). Issue would also arisearound the sides pressing into the under-inflated center. Maybe a new tire technology is necessary, non airbased. Foam or pudding or something thicker but pumpable.

3.6 November

Daily Commute Podcast (2012-11-27 21:00)

Date of Original Idea: Nov 27, 2012

A podcast that is simply the recording from inside my car during my commute, to and from work. Publisheddaily. People can download and hear me listening to other podcasts, or singing along to some 80s classics,maybe practicing my German accent by repeating the news radio, or if the conditions are right and there areno active speed limits on the autobahn (and I still have my Golf GTD) you can hear me laughing manicallyand cursing various vehicles that won’t get out of my way.

Pacman Navi (2012-11-28 21:11)

Date of Original Idea: Nov 28, 2012

An option on the nav where the little symbol that is your car is changed to an animated pacman. And the

line that is your route is changed to white dots. And if there is an accident or construction or something thatshuts down the road could be a colored ghost just waiting for you (but better to avoid it)

3.7 December

Daily Power (2012-12-11 21:07)


Story idea. Guy gets random superpower daily. Some are cool (flying), some are lousy (immunity togravity, he wakes up and just floats around all day trying to get to his kitchen while never being sure if hehas to pee or not), some are disruptive (demobilizing electronic devices with his touch, but not being able toturn it off, or rather, not having the power long enough to learn to control it), some are not even noticeable(having super memory, but only for the day), some are cool but you have no idea that you have it (beingable to breath underwater, but how often do you encounter the need f or that?). They come and go withsleep. Maybe they repeat, cause how many new super powers can a creative writer generate. Maybe he getsbetter at the ones that repeat. When he’s trying to save the world/girl/city he can never really be sure if

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today is the day or if he waits for tomorrow he’ll be better equipped. He keeps a journal to chart it all out

said journal can fall into the wrong hands. Weaknesses come and go too, so he’s never really sure if he has aweakness or just a bad day. He follows horoscopes and having these powers just reinforces his belief, althoughthey’re still random, and he starts getting heavy into astrology, but that’s just a side story to show that he’sgot qwirks– maybe one day he has powers that let him realize that astrology is crap but then the next daycannot remember the logic behind it. He’s not terribly smart, but not stupid either.

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The idea here is to find a photo that is clearly from, say, the early 90’s with a younger man and an olderman or woman, and send the photo to random people around the age of 20 to 22 (men or women as the casemay be) with a note that says something of the sort:

Dear X In 1994 you and I met. You spun some tale that you were from the distant future, showedme some interesting technology that would seem to indicate it, predicted smart phones and the whole

Charlie Sheen incident, bummed a meal off me, and posed for the enclosed photo. You are the oldergentleman on the left. You asked me to send you this photo in/around 2013 to 2014 timeframe toinspire you to get to work, that it was actually this photo that got you going on the road to makingthe breakthrough and meeting the people necessary to develop your time travelling capabilities. To behonest, I’m still having a hard time believing it (which, ironically, you told me I would write in thisletter) and if it wasn’t for the technology you brought from the future to show me I would have neverbelieved enough even to write this letter and buy a stamp, so don’t forget to bring some cool stuff alongto show me. You also asked me to tell you

1) ”linear accelerations in a *near* vacuum, with emphasis on the near” and you’d know what thatmeant

2) Do not publicize your intentions until at least 2019, you’d know when

Take care, and don’t forget to look me up again, otherwise I didn’t write this letter.Sure, most people are not going to change their lives based on this letter, but send this letter to a significantlylarge number of people, but not so large that it is exposed as a hoax, and you’ll get lots of people dedicatingsignificant time to this task.

4.3 March

The Book of the Month Church (2013-03-06 20:48)

The number of religiously unaffiliated Americans has increased from 15 % to 20 % in the past 5 years alone(source Pew Forum on Religion and Public Lif e). The religiously unaffiliated now make up the f astest growing’religious’ group in America and represents a younger demographic than traditional religions. In order totap into this market, I propose a non-religion church. The church would serve to build communities, offersfellowship, and do many of the charitable things a traditional church does, but without the focus on money,power, politics or religion. Instead of being based on the teachings of the bible, sermons would be basedon topics found in any fictional book written by a deceased author. Each month would focus on a different

author or book and well known songs would be used as hymns which tie into the topic. Show tunes would be

encouraged. Cheese would be served with crackers during snack time. The intent would be a family friendlyalternative to church with wedding’s ceremonies performed on Saturdays.

Theme Park Ride Idea - Blind (2013-03-08 22:46)

Blindfolded participants navigate a large empty smooth surface. The participants wear headphones withposition/orientation sensors and a computer system generates a realistic acoustic image of a city scape.Participants must navigate construction sites, busy streets, wild animals, and open sewers without visualinput. Overhead fans, water misters, and, scent generators would be used to enhance the experience.

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Google Glass Application - Beer Googles (2013-03-10 19:45)

Idea for an application that overlays the present image with a more attractive view.

Google Glass Application - Electronics Lab (2013-03-13 20:00)

Idea for an application that overlays the output of a small handheld probe via blue-tooth (scope, dvmtemperature etc...).

Google Glass Application - Price is Right Trainer. (2013-03-14 19:00)

Idea for an application that overlays price information on all objects in view.

Google Glass Application - Diet Trainer (2013-03-15 19:46)

Idea for an application that overlays calorie information on all food objects in view.

Google Glass Application - Language Trainer (2013-03-16 20:38)

Idea for an application that overlays the name of all objects in view in languages of your choice.

Smartphone Supplemental Warning System (2013-03-17 20:56)

As smartphone usages increases so does the risk of injuries related to distracted walking. Idea for a pop-up

warning based on detection of hazards...How? Radar, blue-tooth, wifi, near field comm, rfid, visual?

[1] Look

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[1]

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ColorSensor.jpg

Parcel over Traffic Transport Protocol (2013-03-21 06:00)

This is an idea for an efficient parcel delivery system which connects drivers with shippers. The idea is thata driver could use a smartphone app to register a planned trip and the system would organize packages tobe picked up and dropped off at special f acilities at highway rest areas along the driver’s route. The driverwould earn money for each package and pay would increase as a function of successful deliveries. The pick upand drop-off could be automated with electronic storage boxes. A package could also take multiple hops withseveral drivers before reaching its final destination.

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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ColorSensor.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ColorSensor.jpg



[1]

1. http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ParcelOverTraffic.jpg

Puzzling Puzzles (2013-03-22 18:49)

Date of Original Idea: Mar 21 but I had to wait a few days to post.

More to the idea of Jan 24.1) a box filled with two different puzzles2) a box filled with two different puzzles that are the same picture but cut with a different pattern

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http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ParcelOverTraffic.jpg

http://306wd.com/ideaaday/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/ParcelOverTraffic.jpg





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http://www.blogbooker.com/

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Idea-A-Day Status March 24, 2013