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moar ideas.
author Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu>
date Thu, 04 Sep 2014 15:58:12 -0700
parents 35eb4c1a7bf7
children 04394e3857e2
rev   line source
rlm@43 1 #+title: Big List O' Ideas
rlm@43 2 #+author: Robert McIntyre
rlm@43 3 #+email: rlm@mit.edu
rlm@43 4 #+description: list of ideas from the last ~ 7 years
rlm@47 5 #+keywords: aurellem ideas half-baked random
rlm@43 6 #+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org
rlm@43 7 #+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org
rlm@43 8 #+babel: :mkdirp yes :noweb yes :exports both
rlm@43 9
rlm@42 10 * Ideas
rlm@42 11
rlm@43 12 This is a list of all the ideas I've had that I felt like writing down
rlm@90 13 for the past ~ 8 years. Some of them could be practical inventions and
rlm@47 14 are "just" waiting the that 95% perspiration to bring them to
rlm@47 15 fruition, some are ideas for science fiction, and some are simple
rlm@48 16 observations. Some are really only for my own personal notes and are
rlm@48 17 not meant to be comprehensible. They are arranged roughly in reverse
rlm@48 18 chronological order, with the most recent ideas at the top of the
rlm@48 19 list. The ones at the bottom of the list are heavily influenced by my
rlm@48 20 time at MIT.
rlm@43 21
rlm@43 22 If you find some of these interesting and would like to collaborate on
rlm@43 23 them with me or discuss them in more detail, I'd love to hear from
rlm@43 24 you. You can email me at ideas@aurellem.org.
rlm@43 25
rlm@52 26 If you want to use one of these ideas as your own and run with it,
rlm@52 27 please feel free. I'd love to hear about it if you do.
rlm@52 28
rlm@62 29 #+begin_quote
rlm@62 30 There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care about
rlm@62 31 getting credit.
rlm@62 32 #+end_quote
rlm@62 33
rlm@134 34 - problem with Aubrey de Grey's ideas :: Aubrey de Grey says that we
rlm@134 35 might be able to live forever by continually repairing our bodies
rlm@134 36 at the cellular level -- he details 7 different mechanisms of
rlm@134 37 damage and says that if all of them are dealt with /together/
rlm@134 38 that it would stop aging. (You can't miss even one because
rlm@134 39 they're all fatal.) However, it doesn't take into account that
rlm@134 40 we are also beings of information and that there is a very real
rlm@134 41 software component to our existence. Even if our biological
rlm@134 42 chassies can be maintained forever, I think it is unlikely that
rlm@134 43 our minds will operate well far outside of the design constraints
rlm@134 44 that we've evolved to handle. Say I programmed a webserver with
rlm@134 45 the express goal of it being able to serve webpages for month on
rlm@134 46 some stock server. I'll do fairly rigorous testing to make sure
rlm@134 47 that it can handle the expected load then then some. Now say that
rlm@134 48 you want to keep a particular instance of this webserver running
rlm@134 49 indefinitely. (The program instance is like your mind and the
rlm@134 50 computer it's running on is like your body). You might very well
rlm@134 51 be able to keep the physical computer infrastructure running for
rlm@134 52 forever by replacing hard drives / ram / CPUs, etc. However,
rlm@134 53 since I designed the webserver to work for a month, it probably
rlm@134 54 has memory leaks, rare stochastic bugs, or other build in limits
rlm@134 55 / constraints (think log files or some date rollover shenanigans)
rlm@134 56 that will ultimately kill the webserver server even with eternally
rlm@134 57 perfect hardware. Do you really expect that a webserver
rlm@134 58 engineered to work for 1 month will run for 10 years? In fact, if
rlm@134 59 I put in the extreme effort to make it that robust, I've wasted
rlm@134 60 time that I could have spent on other projects by pursuing an
rlm@134 61 unnecessary engineering goal. Likewise, human minds have only
rlm@134 62 ever run for at most 122 years before they are destroyed due to
rlm@134 63 hardware degradation. Fixing the hardware doesn't change any
rlm@134 64 software bugs that are almost certainly present in the human
rlm@134 65 mind. Think of all the pathological things that can go wrong with
rlm@134 66 a webserver, multiply it by a million, and that likely how
rlm@134 67 evolution has designed our minds. For example, consider memory :
rlm@134 68 why should you expect that we have evolved the ability to
rlm@134 69 coherently organize memories past say 150 years? There's been
rlm@134 70 absolutely no selective pressure for this ability, so you can bet
rlm@134 71 that if there's any fitness to be gained from not having
rlm@134 72 unlimited memory potential (such as better metabolic efficiency),
rlm@134 73 we have it! You might think that maybe we would just forget
rlm@134 74 things the same way that we sort of forget things that happen
rlm@134 75 earlier in our lives, but complicated information processing
rlm@134 76 systems don't have to fail gracefully when they're pushed far
rlm@134 77 past their design constraints. A 150 year old person is just as
rlm@134 78 likely to suffer a catastrophic psychosis due to software
rlm@134 79 limitations associated with memory as he is to do something with
rlm@134 80 all those memories we might consider reasonable. More likely, in
rlm@134 81 fact, since there are so very many ways for a complicated
rlm@134 82 software system to break and so few ways for it to run
rlm@134 83 successfully. Therefore, I think Aubrey de Grey's "hardware-only"
rlm@134 84 approach is missing a very important component of longevity
rlm@134 85 science, and any successful effort to make people live orders of
rlm@134 86 magnitude longer than they do naturally will need to deal with
rlm@134 87 people's software as well as their hardware.
rlm@134 88
rlm@133 89 - validating neurocryopreservation :: Problem : you want to test
rlm@133 90 whether a brain is functionally preserved through vitrification,
rlm@133 91 but you don't want to figure out how to preserve all the other
rlm@133 92 organs in the animal. It might be possible to keep the rest of
rlm@133 93 the body at almost 0C and vitrify just the head for only a few
rlm@133 94 minutes. Induce hypothermia, then separate out the head's blood
rlm@133 95 supply from the rest of the body, then just cryoptotect and
rlm@133 96 vitrify the head. Might need some sort of thermal guard to keep
rlm@133 97 the outer head / neck from becoming too cold. You leave the
rlm@133 98 spinal cord intact! Then you devitrify to 0C, remove
rlm@133 99 cryoprotectant, and then reattach the blood supply. You can
rlm@133 100 determine brain preservation using behavioral assays!
rlm@133 101
rlm@133 102 - freezing water purifier :: you slowly freeze water, but also run
rlm@133 103 liquid water over the frozen mass. This takes away basically all
rlm@133 104 impurities and creates "washed ice" then you melt the ice. Maybe
rlm@133 105 you could re-use the heat from creating the ice to melt the ice?
rlm@133 106
rlm@133 107 - ultra strength :: allow a person to visualize their muscle
rlm@133 108 recruitment patterns. Give them adrenaline and let
rlm@133 109 them feel what it's like to have the normal limits
rlm@133 110 removed. See if they can replicate the effects.
rlm@133 111
rlm@133 112 - phone names :: make a PX record for domain names that's like the MX
rlm@133 113 record, except that it is a phone number instead of
rlm@133 114 an IP address. That way, you can use the domain name
rlm@133 115 registration system to provide names for phone
rlm@133 116 numbers. Then, as long as you control the domain, you
rlm@133 117 can point people to your current phone number by
rlm@133 118 updating that record.
rlm@133 119
rlm@133 120 - edible flowers :: Edible white flowers that you put in a colored
rlm@133 121 solution with flavor. When the flower turns the
rlm@133 122 right color, it is also flavored and ready to eat!
rlm@133 123
rlm@131 124 - suicide cryonics :: according to [[http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/06/magazine/06suicide-t.html][this]], people who commit impulsive
rlm@131 125 suicides have a newfound sense of the importance of life. Perhaps
rlm@131 126 they are good cryonics targets.
rlm@131 127
rlm@131 128 - lead bone :: Could you fill in all the empty spaces in a bone with
rlm@131 129 lead? Might be cool.
rlm@131 130
rlm@131 131 - the quest for life :: Every stupid story has the "immortal who
rlm@131 132 wants to become mortal" or some other such idea. I want to story
rlm@131 133 where the protagonist loses their immortality and feels /angry/
rlm@131 134 and ashamed about losing something that's so absolutely crucial
rlm@131 135 to their identity. A reverse of "death makes life worth living",
rlm@131 136 they feel that living forever is what makes life worth
rlm@131 137 living. Now they've "lost their sunrise" or their "connection to
rlm@131 138 the timeless universe" or something. So they go on a quest to get
rlm@131 139 it back, learning about themselves along the way, and regaining
rlm@131 140 the precious thing they lost in the beginning.
rlm@131 141
rlm@130 142 - world-map :: take a small table and paint the continents in
rlm@130 143 toothpaste on the table. Make a slightly raised barrier
rlm@130 144 around the table. Slowly pour water onto the table, and
rlm@130 145 it will form the oceans!
rlm@130 146
rlm@95 147 - stage magic rituals :: rituals should incorporate elements of stage
rlm@95 148 magic. Foe example in Teller's tempest, they have a scene where
rlm@95 149 they levitate a crown in front of someone, then put it on his
rlm@95 150 head. They also have a wedding ceremony where they levitated the
rlm@95 151 bride as well. Actual weddings and other ceremonies should
rlm@95 152 incorporate stage magic as an enhancement.
rlm@95 153
rlm@95 154 - isotope time dilation :: use a cyclotron to speed up rare isotopes
rlm@95 155 developed in nuclear fusion experiments. The relativistic time
rlm@95 156 dilation will stop the isotopes from decaying, and allow time to
rlm@95 157 study them. This is based on radioactive isotopes that fall
rlm@95 158 through the earth's atmosphere that take hundreds of times
rlm@95 159 longer to decay than normal.
rlm@95 160
rlm@95 161 - marsupial stimulation :: You take a freshly pouched marsupial baby,
rlm@95 162 and show it videos and other interactive things while it matures
rlm@95 163 in the pouch. What mental effects would this have?
rlm@95 164
rlm@95 165 - dynamic re-keying :: Some older ways of tuning insturments sound
rlm@95 166 better, but we use the even-tempered scale today because it makes
rlm@95 167 it easier to switch keys. With electronic music, why not make
rlm@95 168 key-annotations and dynamically re-tune the piece to sound good
rlm@95 169 in the current key? Coule be done as a midi+annotation -> midi
rlm@95 170 compiler for experimentation.
rlm@95 171
rlm@95 172 - death always implies damage :: is is possible for a corpse to differ
rlm@95 173 from a living person only in the fact that one is dead and the
rlm@95 174 other is alive? NO! A corpse must always have some sort of
rlm@95 175 molecular damage which causes the loss of function!
rlm@95 176
rlm@95 177 - inner eye :: Surgically install a bunch of tiny cameras inside a
rlm@95 178 person. Then, you can activate them all and get a
rlm@95 179 picture of your internal organs for diagnostic
rlm@95 180 purposes.
rlm@95 181
rlm@95 182 - chaos rails :: should make a visulazation of the homoclinic tangle,
rlm@95 183 it's truly beautiful.
rlm@95 184
rlm@95 185 - context gobbler :: this would be in "inside-out macro" that takes
rlm@95 186 the context (like you use for things like error, continuations,
rlm@95 187 and friends) and transforms it to something else. Maybe useful?
rlm@95 188
rlm@91 189 - cryonics middle ages :: some people say that cryonics is an
rlm@91 190 experiment and that it is foolish to wait until we have revived a
rlm@91 191 human. There is a middle ground where the procedure has a dismal
rlm@91 192 success rate on humans, say 1 in 20, so that you'd be a fool to
rlm@91 193 try revival. Nonetheless, this very risky procedure could be the
rlm@91 194 legal proof of concept needed to create a new class of life
rlm@91 195 between "living" and "dead": "stasis".
rlm@91 196
rlm@91 197 - philosophy of the mirror :: neat thought experiment -- if you take a
rlm@91 198 mirror of someone by actually reversing a person's chirality
rlm@94 199 molecule by molecule, then will the only be able to read mirror
rlm@91 200 writing? The answer is yes, by analogy to a purely mechanical
rlm@94 201 scan-tron device. This is one of the only interesting transforms I
rlm@91 202 know that can take a human brain and change it in subtle,
rlm@91 203 non-destructive ways. It's also an argument against dualism.
rlm@91 204
rlm@91 205 - biosphere in a bottle :: There are around 15 million species. 15
rlm@91 206 million stem cells will fill only a tiny size, far less than a cubic
rlm@91 207 inch. Preserve a single cell from every species on earth in this
rlm@91 208 small space, and you will have a record of our current biosphere
rlm@91 209 that can be protected. "Hold the genetic data of all species in
rlm@92 210 your hand!"
rlm@91 211
rlm@90 212 - chaos lock :: The "arrow of time" points in the direction of
rlm@90 213 increasing entropy. The time evolution of chaotic
rlm@90 214 systems depend exquisitely on their initial state. If
rlm@90 215 you take a measurement of a chaotic system at any
rlm@90 216 given point of time, you can evolve that system
rlm@90 217 backwards or forwards based on your measurement. So
rlm@90 218 let's say you start the chaotic system in a VERY low
rlm@90 219 entropy state, then let it run for a while, then take
rlm@90 220 a measurement with some uncertainty. Your
rlm@90 221 measurement is pretty good, but obviously not
rlm@90 222 PERFECT. If you evolve the chaotic system back in
rlm@90 223 time, then you will see that you don't really reach
rlm@90 224 a state with low entropy an hour before (the entropy
rlm@90 225 is easy to measure with surrogates like alignment,
rlm@90 226 etc). So use this technique to SEARCH for a more
rlm@90 227 accurate measurement! This potentially can give you
rlm@90 228 many more orders of magnitude than you could get alone
rlm@90 229 just using an instrument. Sometimes it will give you
rlm@90 230 bad results, the the odds of it doing that are
rlm@90 231 infinitesimal, and you can just measure a couple of
rlm@90 232 times.
rlm@90 233
rlm@90 234 - cryo-evolution :: perhaps there would be a way to rapidly evolve a
rlm@90 235 symbiotic bacterial organism that could protect
rlm@90 236 human tissues from freezing damage.
rlm@90 237
rlm@87 238 - suicide parasite :: sometimes, people kill themselves for no good
rlm@87 239 reason. We often explain this with things like "hidden
rlm@87 240 depression" or we say that they had something like chronic jaw or
rlm@87 241 back pain. I think that smells of rationalization. I don't buy
rlm@87 242 it. I propose that in many suicide cases there is a disease that
rlm@88 243 causes the suicidal behavior. We already know that certain
rlm@87 244 parasites have mind-bending properties in other animals, even
rlm@87 245 mammals like mice. It's not much of a stretch to imagine a
rlm@88 246 parasite that causes suicides in humans. Some problems:
rlm@87 247 - What does the suicide parasite get out of it? :: This might be
rlm@87 248 answered by the whole thing being a glitch caused by
rlm@87 249 cross-species contamination. Toxoplasma works this way.
rlm@88 250 - What predictions does a disease model make :: suicide should
rlm@88 251 be more common among people who share a contagion
rlm@88 252 vector. There should be suicides that don't make any
rlm@87 253 sense : people who weren't really depressed, who had no
rlm@87 254 reason to kill themselves. People who have killed themselves
rlm@87 255 should have a higher incidence of some unknown parasite in
rlm@87 256 their brains.
rlm@86 257
rlm@89 258 - domestic insects :: People should eat more bugs because they're much
rlm@89 259 more efficient, so why not do some major domestication research
rlm@94 260 to make very appealing bugs? Beetles, in particular, seem to be
rlm@94 261 excellent targets for domestication because they have extreme
rlm@94 262 levels of genetic malleability.
rlm@87 263
rlm@87 264 - birth-clones :: What if each person was intentionally split at birth
rlm@87 265 into a normal embryo and a few "backup" cells which
rlm@87 266 is then frozen. The backup cells are created just
rlm@87 267 the same way as natural identical twins. The backups
rlm@88 268 can be used to regenerate organs. etc. Also, it
rlm@87 269 would be a good sci fi concept, because you could
rlm@87 270 have a culture where people reward people who were
rlm@87 271 especially awesome are "reborn" from their
rlm@88 272 backups. Imagine having a young Bach every
rlm@87 273 generation, etc.
rlm@86 274
rlm@94 275 - pronunciation guide :: a simple webpage where you type in a word and
rlm@94 276 it returns a simple, English sentence describing exactly how to
rlm@84 277 pronounce the word. For people who don't want to learn IPA.
rlm@86 278
rlm@87 279 - cortex-search :: use the repertoire of actions learned to limit the
rlm@87 280 search space of possible actions.
rlm@87 281
rlm@83 282 - learning to teleport :: scifi idea, this is a story about a person
rlm@83 283 who is struggling with his/her society's ideas about
rlm@83 284 teleportation. It's considered a fundamental part of being a
rlm@83 285 member of that society (after all, the difference between animals
rlm@83 286 and humans is that humans are creatures of pure information while
rlm@83 287 animals are burdened with base matter, "that's how you travel the
rlm@83 288 stars, etc") Humans are born normally, grow up, and then
rlm@83 289 eventually transcend via destructive upload. Analogies to jumping
rlm@83 290 off a diving board into a pool (which I simply /could not do/ for
rlm@83 291 a long time), etc.
rlm@83 292
rlm@87 293 - no-float-ice :: cup that has cross beams at the bottom where ice
rlm@87 294 forms. Then when you drink liquid from the glass,
rlm@87 295 the ice stays at the bottom and doesn't hit your
rlm@87 296 lips. For bars and fancy things.
rlm@87 297
rlm@82 298 - bitcoins for immigrants :: A common case with Mexican immigrants
rlm@82 299 (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned
rlm@82 300 in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this
rlm@82 301 through things like Money Gram or Western Union, and they get
rlm@82 302 fleeced in the process with fees. Bitcoin could greatly reduce
rlm@82 303 the cost of sending money from America to Mexico, but I don't
rlm@82 304 believe that it's currently used for that among Mexican
rlm@82 305 immigrants currently due to lack of knowledge. I bet you could
rlm@82 306 set up physical locations like those obnoxious Western Union huts
rlm@82 307 in places like Texas, Arizona, etc, and greatly undercut
rlm@82 308 them. Or, perhaps some educational seminars about bitcoin might
rlm@82 309 be in order. There's some money to be made there because there is
rlm@82 310 great demand, and it's a good thing to boot!
rlm@82 311
rlm@81 312 - reverse eye-tracking :: A painting that is actually a digital screen
rlm@82 313 with a camera. It records people's eye tracks permanently. It's
rlm@81 314 "artistic" because paintings are normally these things that you
rlm@81 315 look at without changing, but this one is changed the second you
rlm@81 316 look at it, recording where /you/ looked forever for others to
rlm@81 317 see. Make it be a painting of a woman and see the trolling as the
rlm@81 318 breasts and groin area light up with interest from all the males
rlm@81 319 passing by.
rlm@81 320
rlm@80 321 - smart toilets :: Instead of using indirect measures like infrared
rlm@80 322 detectors of the presence of a person, use computer
rlm@80 323 vision to directly measure whether the toilet needs
rlm@80 324 to be flushed. I think a lot of things will end up
rlm@80 325 going this way as we get better computer vision.
rlm@80 326
rlm@77 327 - validate chemopreservation :: chemopreservation is difficult to
rlm@77 328 validate because it destroys the functionality of a brain, and
rlm@77 329 brain simulation will take a long time to mature as a
rlm@77 330 technology. However, one very powerful way to validate
rlm@77 331 chemopreservation would be to have a person/animal learn
rlm@77 332 something with high complexity such as a number or the solution
rlm@80 333 to a maze, or a flashbulb memory. Then you preserve their brain
rlm@80 334 chemically, slice it up, and read /that specific memory/ from the
rlm@77 335 detailed brain scan. Much more difficult, but much more doable.
rlm@77 336
rlm@75 337 - candy screw :: edible candy screw with candy nuts that you can screw
rlm@75 338 as well.
rlm@76 339
rlm@74 340 - better bibliography :: when writing a thesis or paper, have the
rlm@80 341 bibliography not just be an opaque list of resources, but have it
rlm@74 342 be a list of /summaries/ and /qualities/ that each paper has in
rlm@80 343 the context of the paper being written. When examining a
rlm@80 344 bibliography, I want to know if reading the papers in the
rlm@74 345 bibliography are worth my time, and I also am probably also
rlm@74 346 interested in exactly the things that are being discussed in the
rlm@74 347 paper I'm reading. The bibliography is the perfect place to
rlm@74 348 provide information about the referenced papers from the
rlm@80 349 author's perspective. I will use this biographic form in my own
rlm@74 350 thesis.
rlm@74 351
rlm@73 352 - digital inter-library loan :: libraries at universities already do
rlm@80 353 inter-library loans for books, so why not do the same for access
rlm@73 354 to stupid paywalled digital papers? All the universities could
rlm@73 355 allow access to articles for registered students to all the files
rlm@73 356 available through any participating university. This could be
rlm@73 357 achieved by sending requests through proxies at participating
rlm@73 358 universities. Each university would decide who at the university
rlm@73 359 can access the proxy network. Access to the proxy network could
rlm@73 360 be made easy using something like http://libx.org/.
rlm@73 361
rlm@72 362 - chess visual :: to show the vast size of the game trees considered
rlm@72 363 by computers, show two people playing chess in a
rlm@72 364 void. They are floating in space, and there is a
rlm@72 365 simple chess board between them. Then, as they play,
rlm@72 366 the game tree's they are considering are drawn
rlm@72 367 behind him. The root of the tree starts centered in
rlm@72 368 their heads or whatever they use to think, and the
rlm@72 369 tree grows out from behind, never crossing the
rlm@72 370 dividing plane between the two players. Each
rlm@72 371 player's tree is a different color. As they grow,
rlm@72 372 there are animations for pruning, etc. Eventually,
rlm@72 373 they look like the hemispheres of a brain, wings,
rlm@72 374 etc. A human's tree might occasionally have a long
rlm@72 375 chain, while the computer tree would be more
rlm@72 376 uniform. You could compare deep blue and a modern
rlm@72 377 laptop. Use actual data when fighting two computers!
rlm@72 378
rlm@71 379 - time verification :: some standard way to verify that some piece of
rlm@71 380 data was recorded at a specific time. Might involve a time
rlm@73 381 server, a key for each time period, something like that.
rlm@71 382
rlm@70 383 - tamper proof gold bars :: [[http://www.tungsten-alloy.com/gold-plated-tungsten-alloy-bar.html][this site]] offers gold plated tungsten bars
rlm@70 384 as "novelty" items. One reason to prefer coins is because they
rlm@70 385 are much harder to counterfeit because there is less surface area
rlm@70 386 to mass ratio. However, gold bars are still a great design
rlm@70 387 because they can hold a lot of value in a small space. A gold bar
rlm@70 388 could be given the same protections (and more) that gold coins
rlm@70 389 have to offer by changing it into a "gold book", which would have
rlm@70 390 hundreds of "pages" of gold bound together. This could be
rlm@70 391 implemented with multiple steel rods going through the book which
rlm@70 392 can be removed, or some more classier mechanism for holding the
rlm@70 393 pages. The point is that the bar can be EASILY subdivided (and
rlm@70 394 people would perform this test before buying), thus guaranteeing
rlm@70 395 it's authenticity.
rlm@70 396
rlm@68 397 - aurellem shirt :: I should make an aurellem star symbol tee-shirt.
rlm@68 398
rlm@86 399 - touch vision :: inspired by GelSight, I want to reexamine cortex and
rlm@86 400 see if I could implement touch as a very low range
rlm@86 401 form of vision.
rlm@86 402
rlm@67 403 - high school science :: this is a lesson in scientific ethics. The
rlm@67 404 goal is to calculate /g/, the local gravitational
rlm@67 405 acceleration. The students are told that the textbook says it's
rlm@67 406 /exactly/ 9.81 before they start the experiment. See how they
rlm@67 407 doctor their results to get closer to the textbook value. It's
rlm@67 408 neat because for any given school, /g/ is probably *not* exactly
rlm@67 409 equal to 9.81, because that is just an average!
rlm@67 410
rlm@67 411 - opencourseware subtitles :: there are ladies who type up lectures
rlm@67 412 while they are being given. These recordings should be kept and
rlm@67 413 given to OCW for subtitles. If the timestamps of keys are
rlm@67 414 recorded, then it is easy to make subtitles.
rlm@67 415
rlm@66 416 - screen locking timing :: you use your computer camera to see if you
rlm@66 417 are sitting in front of the computer. If you are, then the screen
rlm@66 418 will never lock. If you are, then the screen will lock with a
rlm@67 419 30-40 second timeout. It's an extension of using inactivity to
rlm@66 420 initiate the countdown, just with more information.
rlm@66 421
rlm@66 422 - mirror toilet :: a toilet with a square basin made or mirror instead
rlm@67 423 or porcelain. That way, you can see how good of a
rlm@66 424 wipe job you have done / watch how your excretion
rlm@66 425 system works.
rlm@66 426
rlm@80 427 - test dummies :: why don't we clone anencephalic humans and use then to
rlm@62 428 test /in vivo/ human organ systems and drugs? It
rlm@62 429 would be ethical as long as there are women who are
rlm@62 430 willing to host the clones, and it would be a
rlm@67 431 tremendous resource for studying the human body. I
rlm@62 432 see nothing wrong with it morally, since no one is
rlm@67 433 suffering, and it stands to save many lives throughout
rlm@62 434 more advanced technology.
rlm@62 435
rlm@62 436 - X-ray telepresence :: given that a doctor is operating on a patient
rlm@62 437 via telepresence, one cool things you can do is shine X-rays into
rlm@62 438 the patient to view the insides during real time. If the system
rlm@80 439 was coupled with a Bayesian model of the layout of the structure,
rlm@67 440 and the x-rays were only fired whenever the uncertainty of the
rlm@62 441 model reached a certain threshold, then the radiation damage
rlm@62 442 and surgery risk could be minimized.
rlm@62 443
rlm@62 444 - superfluid vascular system :: I wonder what would happen if you
rlm@62 445 replaced the blood in a human with a superfluid. What would the
rlm@62 446 physical dynamics be? Would the superfluid flow through the
rlm@62 447 vasculature, or would it ignore it and travel through the cells,
rlm@62 448 or something else entirely. Since superfluids need to be cold to
rlm@62 449 retain their superfluidity, how would the dynamics change during
rlm@62 450 perfusion of a superfluid, where the fluid gains and looses
rlm@62 451 superfluidity as it goes deeper into the body and is cooled by
rlm@67 452 superfluid from upstream. In summary there are two things to
rlm@62 453 simulate 1.) replace all blood in human with superfluid
rlm@62 454 instantly. 2.) perfuse superfluid into human.
rlm@51 455
rlm@59 456 - projective guessing :: I think that we read and see things by
rlm@67 457 making a really good guess about what we're expecting to see,
rlm@59 458 and then searching for our guess in what we see. If it really
rlm@59 459 doesn't match, then we start to make more guesses / analyze the
rlm@59 460 image from first principles, but most stuff is projective
rlm@59 461 guessing.
rlm@59 462
rlm@67 463 - Intestinal flora maintenance :: why not inoculate babies at birth
rlm@59 464 with "ideal" gut flora instead of whatever bullshit they
rlm@59 465 naturally get, thus giving them optimal digestive/nutrient
rlm@67 466 extraction capabilities. Might also be able to make their farts
rlm@94 467 not stink for life, too. MORE IMPORTANTLY, might help to
rlm@91 468 preventatively stop some forms of /colic/, which affects 1 in 5
rlm@94 469 babies and causes constant screaming and pain for about 5 weeks.
rlm@59 470
rlm@56 471 - server culture : mirrors :: make a distributed system where people
rlm@56 472 can mirror the websites of people they like -- essentially cover
rlm@56 473 the server costs of favored websites. This could make popular
rlm@56 474 websites run at no cost. The system would require that the
rlm@56 475 mirrored content be the same as the official source. Sort of like
rlm@67 476 bit-torrent for websites.
rlm@56 477
rlm@56 478 - map programming :: one problem with functional programming is that
rlm@56 479 in order to remain functional, you have to pass up arguments up
rlm@67 480 into each calling function to get the full range of behavior
rlm@56 481 from the lower level functions. Normally people come to a
rlm@67 482 compromise involving abstraction and sparing use of dynamic
rlm@67 483 variables to configure runtime behavior. What would be the
rlm@56 484 advantages of making a programming language where every function
rlm@67 485 receives one argument, a map, which contains all the symbol
rlm@56 486 bindings it would ever need? This map is passed on to all
rlm@56 487 subordinate functions. This way, you could replace functions on
rlm@56 488 the fly, and arrange for there to be sensible defaults,
rlm@56 489 etc. Might cause more harm than good but is an interesting idea.
rlm@56 490
rlm@55 491 - rest nest :: a small EEG device you would attach to your head when
rlm@55 492 you go to sleep at night. ML algorithms would determine
rlm@55 493 your particular sleep cycles. This would mostly be an
rlm@55 494 alarm clock that you could give a time range, say
rlm@55 495 7:00AM - 7:15AM, and it would wake you up during an
rlm@55 496 ideal time corresponding to then end of one of your 90
rlm@55 497 min sleep cycles. You would feel much more rested upon
rlm@55 498 waking up, and would wake up faster. There might be
rlm@55 499 some other uses for the EEG data as well.
rlm@55 500
rlm@50 501 - image compression :: use a library like gimp or opencv to process an
rlm@50 502 image to make it have less entropy, then store the reverse of
rlm@50 503 those operations along with the compressed simpler image as a
rlm@80 504 super-compressed image file (possibly accepting some
rlm@80 505 losses). Trades file size for decompression time, and allows one
rlm@50 506 to cheat by using information in gimp/opencv to compress the
rlm@50 507 image.
rlm@50 508
rlm@47 509 - fixed cryopreservation :: why not use a fixative to buy enough time
rlm@42 510 to ramp up cryoprotectants to an acceptable level at room
rlm@42 511 temperature? Then, the whole system can be rapidly cooled and
rlm@42 512 vitrified. This method "severs the biological link" in that the
rlm@47 513 fixatives are highly toxic, but current vitrification procedures
rlm@42 514 do this anyway since there can be a lot of freezing damage.
rlm@38 515
rlm@67 516 - dilated security camera :: a security camera that would capture
rlm@58 517 full video footage of everything at 60fps but then decide to keep
rlm@58 518 only every 1 frame every 5 seconds unless there's something
rlm@58 519 "interesting" happening.
rlm@58 520
rlm@40 521 - bitcoin wallet :: Part of "server culture", this would be something
rlm@40 522 like "coin.your-domain.com" which would serve as
rlm@40 523 your personal trusted access to your own bitcoins
rlm@40 524 from anywhere.
rlm@40 525
rlm@40 526 - libpay :: this would be a free library which would enable
rlm@40 527 micro-donations to software projects and other projects,
rlm@47 528 so that you could donate a penny to "emacs" and it would
rlm@47 529 be automatically split up to every person who has ever
rlm@40 530 contributed to emacs in proportion to the amount of
rlm@40 531 community esteem, code quantity, bugs fixed, whatever the
rlm@47 532 community decides. This might make it possible for
rlm@40 533 programmers to live entirely off of free programming.
rlm@40 534
rlm@45 535 - distributed graphics :: Browser based graphics-card accelerated
rlm@45 536 distributed computing API.
rlm@41 537
rlm@40 538 - pronouns :: use capital letters A-Z instead of pronouns. They solve
rlm@40 539 pronoun referents and gender neutrality, are short to
rlm@40 540 say, and you can encode useful information into the
rlm@40 541 choice of letter. For example, instead of "Meetings
rlm@40 542 shall be presided over by the president, unless she is
rlm@42 543 absent." USE "Meetings shall be presided over by the
rlm@40 544 president, unless P is absent." We already use this a
rlm@40 545 little, since I and U are reserved for the subject and
rlm@40 546 object respectively.
rlm@40 547
rlm@40 548 - phone DSP :: software app that inserts an audio DSP between the
rlm@40 549 input to a phone and the output. The DSP is delicious
rlm@40 550 and configurable, and can allow men to make their
rlm@40 551 voices deeper, etc. The app would allow you to hear
rlm@40 552 your own voice as others hear it. Most people hate how
rlm@40 553 their own voice sounds. The app would also allow one to
rlm@47 554 immediately change the parameters of the DSP using good
rlm@40 555 presets.
rlm@40 556
rlm@47 557 - predestined body learning :: a good example of predestined learning
rlm@40 558 might be the mirror neurons.
rlm@40 559
rlm@47 560 - restaurant receipt :: use a carbon copy receipt instead of two stupid
rlm@40 561 copies.
rlm@40 562
rlm@41 563 - anti google glass :: glasses with mounted lasers and computer vision
rlm@41 564 that targets the cameras in google glass and destroy them.
rlm@41 565
rlm@40 566 - wearable towel :: towel with clasp, velcro, whatever, that allows
rlm@40 567 one to wear the towel more securely than just
rlm@40 568 wrapping it tightly and hoping for the best.
rlm@40 569
rlm@47 570 - crossdressing :: Easiest way to disguise oneself as a woman is to
rlm@44 571 wear a burka.
rlm@41 572
rlm@40 573 - book-mode :: intelligent color highlighting for books and
rlm@40 574 articles. It would disambiguate pronouns and involved
rlm@93 575 references. For example, if "Rachael" was assigned the
rlm@93 576 color red, and "the blonde haired girl" refers to
rlm@93 577 "Rachael", then "the blonde haired girl" would be
rlm@93 578 colored red. Also, you could disambiguate multi part
rlm@93 579 run-on sentences by highlighting each
rlm@93 580 subcomponent. Maybe would also have applications to
rlm@93 581 scientific reading.
rlm@40 582
rlm@40 583 - Handheld light Rain measurement :: this would be a clear, teflon
rlm@47 584 coated plastic disk with a camera underneath the disk. You would
rlm@40 585 be able to hold the device out and it would measure the rate of
rlm@40 586 accumulation of water droplets from fine mists and light rain by
rlm@40 587 using computer vision to measure the diameters of the drops.
rlm@40 588
rlm@40 589 - Big Brother Farming :: This would be a vision system that would
rlm@40 590 individually monitor each plant and turn on water, etc to ensure
rlm@40 591 maximum/uniform growth for each plant.
rlm@40 592
rlm@40 593 - Discrete Faucet :: A faucet with discrete ticks instead of
rlm@47 594 continuous.
rlm@40 595
rlm@40 596 - Laser Circle :: take a glass microfiliment and shine a laser at one
rlm@40 597 end at an oblique angle. It will make a perfect,
rlm@40 598 large circle on the wall, converting a laser beam
rlm@47 599 into a laser cone, preserving most of the energy of
rlm@40 600 the laser.
rlm@40 601
rlm@40 602 - Invisible Glass :: Take a container of liquid and embed a
rlm@40 603 glass sculpture made out of glass that has exactly the same index
rlm@40 604 of refraction and color of the liquid. Then the sculpture will be
rlm@40 605 totally invisible in the container, and will only be revealed
rlm@40 606 when the liquid is drained. The container might be a fancy
rlm@40 607 wine/spirit bottle or an hourglass.
rlm@40 608
rlm@47 609 - Caterpillar people :: A race of caterpillar like creatures gains
rlm@40 610 intelligence after eons of predation by birds, etc. These
rlm@47 611 caterpillar creatures still undergo metamorphosis into a large
rlm@40 612 butterfly-like creature. The metamorphosis process turns the
rlm@40 613 caterpillar's brain into mush and reforms it into a minimal,
rlm@40 614 dumb, truly insect-like mind, completely destroying the person
rlm@47 615 the caterpillar was. The society develops all sorts of customs and
rlm@40 616 religious interpretations of the metamorphosis. It is viewed as
rlm@40 617 good and natural by some since it is part of their life cycle and
rlm@47 618 necessary to propagate the species, as only the butterflies can
rlm@40 619 mate. Some think that the butterflies are still the same person
rlm@47 620 because they have the same soul, even they no longer posses the
rlm@47 621 memories or personality of the original caterpillar. Some see the
rlm@40 622 butterfly form as the "true form" of the species, since the
rlm@40 623 butterflies can fly, mate, and are beautiful. Many make a big
rlm@47 624 deal out of the fact that 1-2% of the caterpillar's mind is
rlm@40 625 actually preserved in the butterfly. Some see it as a terrible
rlm@47 626 tragedy and argue that the caterpillars should try to stop the
rlm@40 627 metamorphosis by technology. Practically, some very important
rlm@40 628 members of society undergo hormone therapy and/or surgery to
rlm@40 629 prevent metamorphosis so that they can live longer as themselves.
rlm@40 630
rlm@40 631 This is a continuation of Marvin Minsky's ideas about pain being
rlm@40 632 something that preserves our bodies while destroying our minds,
rlm@40 633 something that is a remnant from our too harsh animal days that
rlm@40 634 hasn't caught up to the fact that we have very complex brains
rlm@40 635 now. It's a worst-case scenario about a maladaptive genetic
rlm@40 636 legacy. Also, it's inspired by "There She Is!!!", which makes a
rlm@40 637 compelling point about homosexuality by introducing a second
rlm@40 638 gender characteristic (bunny/cat, male/female), which makes
rlm@40 639 homophobia look very silly. Here, our own biological legacy of
rlm@47 640 pain and death is made to look like the tragedy it is through the
rlm@47 641 lens of the the caterpillar people.
rlm@40 642
rlm@46 643 - relationships as a business :: [[http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Turnover-Crisis.aspx][Turnover-Crisis]] is an excellent talk
rlm@46 644 about the "culture of quitting," which is about better business
rlm@46 645 by letting people go instead of keeping them around past their
rlm@47 646 "apex". Focuses on information transfer. Cool idea of an alumni
rlm@46 647 network, which for relationships would be a group of satisfied
rlm@46 648 ex-lovers, who would recommend new people your way, and who might
rlm@46 649 consider coming to you again, refreshed from their time away with
rlm@46 650 new stories/experiences. I should look for examples of this and
rlm@46 651 how they worked out.
rlm@43 652
rlm@47 653 - coffee with tea :: /rlm-tea/ contains 2% sugar, 10% cream, and 20%
rlm@43 654 dylan coffee. /dylan coffee/ contains 5% sugar,
rlm@43 655 20% cream, and 10% rlm-tea. Start your mornings
rlm@43 656 with recursion!
rlm@43 657
rlm@43 658 - psychic crystal :: in a science fiction story, this would be an
rlm@43 659 object that is very easy to move physically but is extremely
rlm@43 660 difficult to move with telekinesis.
rlm@43 661
rlm@40 662 - http://betsofbitco.in/ :: what a great place for an AI/person to
rlm@40 663 prove themselves as a good predictor. I wish this could be
rlm@40 664 automated.
rlm@40 665
rlm@44 666 - true reflection :: don't forget about that mirror in the student
rlm@44 667 center!, it's two mirrors at right angles, like staring at a
rlm@44 668 corner of a room. The light reflects so that it shows you what
rlm@44 669 you actually look like, instead of your mirror image.
rlm@33 670
rlm@33 671 - remote control wasp :: use computer to drive wings with remote
rlm@32 672 power/logic.
rlm@32 673
rlm@47 674 - encrypted email phone book :: public (distributed?) database of
rlm@44 675 email->private-key pairs, to enable automatic encryption.
rlm@32 676
rlm@44 677 - universal eye color :: every equivalent creature will see each
rlm@44 678 others' eyes as black -- it's universal. Even if the creatures
rlm@44 679 see in radio waves, and their eyes are 2m long pieces of jagged
rlm@44 680 metal, when those creatures look at each other, they will see
rlm@44 681 black, the absence of light and color (since it's being absorbed
rlm@44 682 by the sensor array).
rlm@32 683
rlm@33 684 - intelligent microwave :: it learns where the hot nodes of its fields
rlm@83 685 are, and uses them to evenly heat any food item. It has an infrared
rlm@32 686 camera or something to keep track of how hot the food is. That way,
rlm@32 687 you don't get bowls where the edges are boiling, while the center is
rlm@32 688 still frozen. Requires a little bit of intelligence/vision, since
rlm@32 689 the exact pattern of heating totally depends on the exact shape of
rlm@47 690 the food. Wouldn't need a carousel, and wouldn't need a timer,
rlm@47 691 just a desired temperature. Could also detect ice, and automatically
rlm@32 692 defrost the parts which are frozen. Might be able to work much
rlm@47 693 faster since it can avoid overheating; might have problems with
rlm@32 694 heating the insides of thick things, might need a weight sensor too.
rlm@32 695
rlm@39 696 + Would be much cleaner than other microwaves, since food would
rlm@39 697 "sputter" and splash liquid much less.
rlm@32 698
rlm@39 699 + Throw in some SIFT+R processing to match previously cooked foods
rlm@39 700 and learn the exact heating profiles for things that have been
rlm@54 701 cooked before -- it can get faster the more it's used.
rlm@32 702
rlm@47 703 - compression :: brain-aware image compression algorithm
rlm@32 704
rlm@44 705 - Credit card proxy :: would be a company which works like paypal
rlm@44 706 except for real world transactions
rlm@32 707
rlm@33 708 - Flesh pillow :: a pillow like the arm or torso of a human, complete
rlm@33 709 with simulated temperature, bones, and heartbeat.
rlm@33 710
rlm@47 711 - super screw :: a screw which has only one or two threads and instead
rlm@47 712 uses compression to fit into a hole (the whole shank
rlm@33 713 of the screw is split into multiple pieces to
rlm@33 714 accomplish this; the tip is a point, then the middle
rlm@33 715 bulges out and gets compressed when screwed in.
rlm@33 716
rlm@47 717 - light filter :: (like light tweezers) to mechanically separate
rlm@33 718 fluids with different index of refraction
rlm@33 719
rlm@33 720 - chalk eraser project :: maybe make a directional eraser, for easy
rlm@33 721 release of chalk dust, like fur, and how it likes to rest in a
rlm@33 722 certain direction.
rlm@33 723
rlm@44 724 - silver socks :: socks laced with silver for the antimicrobial
rlm@44 725 properties.
rlm@32 726
rlm@53 727 - UROP :: magnet gear/metal teeth tape
rlm@53 728
rlm@82 729 - Rod of Moses :: device to distill urine through evaporation and
rlm@53 730 easily dispose of urea crystals for use in desert --
rlm@53 731 produce drinkable water.
rlm@32 732
rlm@47 733 - UROP :: Make the LED in line with the flow for the micro injector, so
rlm@44 734 that it may transmit maximum flow. Motor that changes
rlm@44 735 distance of internal magnet from windings depending on
rlm@44 736 desired speed so as to obtain maximum power efficiency.
rlm@32 737
rlm@47 738 - lottery scraper :: web scraper which monitors various lotteries,
rlm@44 739 looking for "special" gimmick changes in the rules (like 4x
rlm@44 740 winnings on Wednesdays) and computes expected value...
rlm@34 741
rlm@34 742 - Memristiors novel design :: make an evolutionary algorithm to make
rlm@34 743 old stuff using all four basic circuit elements.
rlm@34 744
rlm@44 745 - Conductive concrete :: concrete that has embedded metal fibers so
rlm@44 746 that it can conduct electricity.
rlm@34 747
rlm@44 748 - little bitty melting pot :: might be useful for some types of
rlm@44 749 manufacturing/3D printing -- how small can an induction melter be
rlm@44 750 made, for example.
rlm@34 751
rlm@44 752 - power strip/timer programmable combination :: meh
rlm@34 753
rlm@47 754 - algorithms :: which learn what their inputs are and in what order,
rlm@44 755 and can adapt to changing circumstances -- they
rlm@44 756 remember previous arguments and adapt so as to respond
rlm@44 757 to different connections.
rlm@34 758
rlm@47 759 - true pure tones :: hear a true pure tone by direct stimulation of the
rlm@44 760 nerves of the ear
rlm@43 761
rlm@43 762 - mechanical analogue to the electrical op-amp :: would be an object
rlm@43 763 with two levers -- you pull on one lever and the other moves the
rlm@43 764 same way, no matter what's in the way or what it is driving. This
rlm@47 765 analogy could be useful to teach op amps to people.
rlm@34 766
rlm@47 767 - paper folding device :: make it convenient to fold lots of papers in
rlm@34 768 various ways.
rlm@34 769
rlm@34 770 - concrete epoxy :: epoxy with sand/ some other solid material.
rlm@34 771
rlm@47 772 - light capacitor :: suspend some ball of material with a high index
rlm@43 773 of refraction and shine light into it so it gets stuck -- would
rlm@43 774 the light stay trapped forever? Could you build up unlimited
rlm@43 775 quantities of light inside the sphere (which could then be
rlm@43 776 released slowly by frustrated internal reflection?
rlm@34 777
rlm@40 778 - movie screening :: Movies always are too long at first. One way to
rlm@34 779 shorten them ``scientifically" is to record blink rate during the
rlm@34 780 move and then remove / shorten the frames of the parts in which
rlm@34 781 there are a lot of blinking (average this over multiple people)
rlm@34 782 better yet, put it online and do it across thousands of people. I
rlm@34 783 got this from youtube in which there is an episode of kill bill
rlm@47 784 which is composed entirely of the parts in which people had their
rlm@34 785 eyes closed. slogan: want to make a movie people can't take their
rlm@34 786 eyes off of? Just take those parts out!
rlm@34 787
rlm@47 788 - optimize an article :: capture reading of a scientific article via
rlm@44 789 screen capture while people read it, then use it to make the
rlm@44 790 article better. like the movie-pruning idea.
rlm@35 791
rlm@44 792 - super reading program :: teaches people the ideal mental mask to
rlm@44 793 apply during reading so as to read very fast.
rlm@35 794
rlm@44 795 - explosive thermite epoxy putty :: one part would contain the rust,
rlm@47 796 one part the aluminum.
rlm@34 797
rlm@44 798 - reading comprehension :: use the above screen capture routine to
rlm@44 799 make a quiz program that constructs questions about the content
rlm@44 800 you seemed to gloss over while reading. could be easy if the pdf
rlm@44 801 came with embedded questions. Dylan: automatically generate
rlm@44 802 word-cloud about the parts you found most interesting; help
rlm@44 803 others who read the same stuff by drawing attention to the
rlm@44 804 interesting parts.
rlm@34 805
rlm@44 806 - hard sword :: make a samurai sword, but use osmiridum instead of
rlm@44 807 martensite for the cutting part; it should be a better
rlm@44 808 sword.
rlm@32 809
rlm@44 810 - close range wireless :: use the induction technology used to
rlm@44 811 recharge electric toothbrushes with no metal links to send data
rlm@44 812 without any metal at all!
rlm@32 813
rlm@44 814 - reading :: is a form of synsethesia
rlm@32 815
rlm@44 816 - DNA printer :: A machine which translates the text eg, "ACTGAC" into
rlm@44 817 actual DNA
rlm@32 818
rlm@44 819 - black generator :: ferro-fluid magnetic field suspended micro
rlm@44 820 generator to make electricity
rlm@32 821
rlm@44 822 - alcohol battery :: alcohol/fluid flow powered battery
rlm@32 823
rlm@44 824 - folding razor blade sword ::
rlm@32 825
rlm@44 826 - perfect pitch :: learn perfect pitch using another sense in
rlm@44 827 combination (sight or touch)
rlm@32 828
rlm@44 829 - kaleidoscope projector ::
rlm@32 830
rlm@44 831 - razor blade de-sharpener :: for guilt free disposal
rlm@32 832
rlm@44 833 - bricks :: filled with luminescent plant material
rlm@32 834
rlm@47 835 - bio metallic structure :: metal grids with seeds inside, which grow
rlm@44 836 together and form a durable biological matrix. The metal
rlm@44 837 substrate delivers water. (maybe use plastic instead of metal?)
rlm@44 838 Dylan: enrich plants with inorganic compounds; electrical
rlm@44 839 interfaces in cellular plant matter => remote-controlled
rlm@44 840 photosynthetic/bioluminescent structures.
rlm@32 841
rlm@44 842 - conducting extracellular matrix :: to allow better control of
rlm@44 843 organic systems and an enhanced nervous system.
rlm@32 844
rlm@44 845 - cross-modal memory hashing :: a way to retrieve memories more
rlm@44 846 robustly.
rlm@32 847
rlm@47 848 - flossing thimble-guards :: (these actually exist)
rlm@32 849
rlm@44 850 - rules + lattice learning :: integrate lattice learning with rules by
rlm@44 851 generating hypothetical examples
rlm@32 852
rlm@47 853 - wooden refrigerator :: to give food a better taste Dylan: like
rlm@44 854 barrels for wine, or planks for salmon. Maybe just have "flavor
rlm@44 855 planks" for your pre-existing fridge. Need to mitigate effect of
rlm@44 856 temperature on volatility?
rlm@32 857
rlm@35 858 - radioactive transmutation molecule by molecule :: create precious
rlm@35 859 metals or something else economically advantageous.
rlm@32 860
rlm@47 861 - crowd preservation :: inoculate food with tons of harmless
rlm@44 862 bacteria so that there's no room for bad bacteria as a method of
rlm@44 863 preservation
rlm@32 864
rlm@47 865 - old school preservation :: Pasteur - style holding jar with siphon
rlm@47 866 as a way to store liquids at room temperature indefinitely w/o
rlm@47 867 refrigeration.
rlm@32 868
rlm@47 869 - restaurant policy :: Throw rude people out of restaurant as a matter
rlm@44 870 of course -- make ambiance much better.
rlm@32 871
rlm@47 872 - clean windows :: make something that mixes soap with fire hydrant
rlm@44 873 water (and reduces the pressure a bit) and use it
rlm@44 874 to clean windows of buildings.
rlm@32 875
rlm@44 876 - ocarina :: make an ocarina out of pure silver
rlm@32 877
rlm@35 878 - fire pen :: pen which burns words on to the page, thus never needing
rlm@47 879 any ink. Is there a way to make it runnable from the
rlm@35 880 human's energy?
rlm@32 881
rlm@44 882 - website to design your own soda :: and label, and have it mailed to
rlm@44 883 you / sell it from your own online store.
rlm@35 884
rlm@44 885 - solar panels :: that float on the ocean
rlm@43 886
rlm@35 887 - handcuffs with more than two cuffs (3?) :: great for daisy chaining
rlm@43 888 people, binding them to environment, etc.
rlm@35 889
rlm@35 890 - vector based SOUND files :: like the pictures but with SOUND. codify
rlm@35 891 sound in a language with enough symbols so that it can describe
rlm@35 892 everything and encode it in that. would be like going from speech
rlm@43 893 to text or smtg. Could also store sound as an image of the
rlm@35 894 wavefront encoded as a vector image.
rlm@32 895
rlm@44 896 - Mouse :: with a horizontal scroll wheel in addition to the vertical
rlm@44 897 scroll wheel
rlm@32 898
rlm@47 899 - logic maintenance system for big institutions :: to make sure the
rlm@44 900 things they are thinking about doing are not retarded
rlm@32 901
rlm@47 902 - http://www.regulations.gov/ :: cool site
rlm@32 903
rlm@44 904 - genetically engineered glowing fruit :: sell seeds?
rlm@32 905
rlm@36 906 - memory slide :: IF memories are encoded using particular sensory
rlm@36 907 impressions, what happens if the sensory organ
rlm@36 908 itself changes? those memories would become
rlm@47 909 inaccessible. maybe this is why we can't remember
rlm@36 910 much from our childhoods. also, could this happen
rlm@47 911 throughout life as well? Could S remember stuff from
rlm@36 912 his childhood?
rlm@32 913
rlm@47 914 - make a completely indestructible phone :: no moving parts or display
rlm@36 915 you should be able to slam it around all you want, and it will
rlm@36 916 just work. brutally simple. aerogel around the battery, minimal
rlm@36 917 interface - never gets too hot, and can be dropped into water. no
rlm@36 918 holes -- uses field effects for everything from the buttons to
rlm@36 919 inductive charging and data transfer.
rlm@32 920
rlm@44 921 - midi to ocarina "tabs" program :: (online website? buy ocarinas from
rlm@44 922 it too)
rlm@32 923
rlm@44 924 - 3d printing with sound pulses (or just patterns) :: like the 8.03
rlm@44 925 lecture
rlm@32 926
rlm@40 927 - lighter flint on spring :: make hot, throw it at something, and it
rlm@40 928 makes sparkles!
rlm@32 929
rlm@44 930 - nuclear energy :: Rebranding New+Clear Energy with informational
rlm@44 931 campaign and public debate forum to enforce its
rlm@44 932 transparent and open nature. France needn't be the
rlm@44 933 world leader in nuclear energy. (Dylan)
rlm@32 934
rlm@44 935 - bubbles :: Engineer a material which has both ductility and high
rlm@44 936 surface tension to make the "third"
rlm@44 937 minimal-surface-energy solution to a bubble suspended
rlm@44 938 between two equal-diameter rings. (Solutions are
rlm@44 939 cylindrical catenary curve, two separated half-bubbles,
rlm@44 940 and a double-cone)
rlm@38 941
rlm@38 942 - Textbook whose content can be varied continuously :: alter level of
rlm@38 943 difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain
rlm@38 944 other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from
rlm@38 945 knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to
rlm@38 946 guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of
rlm@40 947 knowledge. /One./
rlm@40 948
rlm@40 949 ** From Jacob's idea list
rlm@40 950
rlm@47 951 - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed
rlm@43 952 noise cancellation alg in your headphones (would this
rlm@40 953 work?). -Update on sound canceling headphones that take feed from
rlm@40 954 tv: how about ones that cancel people talking on the phone by
rlm@40 955 receiving the phone signals and playing inverse sound
rlm@40 956 waves. #signalprocessing ~jcole@mit.edu
rlm@40 957
rlm@40 958 - ClackerAlert -- tells if you slam the keys too hard using sound data
rlm@40 959 (and speed/jerkiness data)!.Prevents RSI ~jcole@mit.e
rlm@40 960
rlm@40 961 - Panic Pin :: separate pin that you can tell someone if forced to
rlm@41 962 identify your PIN (idea from idea about credit cards)