Mercurial > thoughts
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author | Robert McIntyre <rlm@mit.edu> |
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date | Sun, 13 Oct 2013 12:09:05 -0400 |
parents | 86b9eb9afc3e 036fe1b13120 |
children | ed7d0ca99c55 |
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1 #+title: Big List O' Ideas2 #+author: Robert McIntyre3 #+email: rlm@mit.edu4 #+description: list of ideas from the last ~ 7 years5 #+keywords: aurellem ideas half-baked random6 #+SETUPFILE: ../../aurellem/org/setup.org7 #+INCLUDE: ../../aurellem/org/level-0.org8 #+babel: :mkdirp yes :noweb yes :exports both10 * Ideas12 This is a list of all the ideas I've had that I felt like writing down13 for the past ~ 7 years. Some of them could be practical inventions and14 are "just" waiting the that 95% perspiration to bring them to15 fruition, some are ideas for science fiction, and some are simple16 observations. Some are really only for my own personal notes and are17 not meant to be comprehensible. They are arranged roughly in reverse18 chronological order, with the most recent ideas at the top of the19 list. The ones at the bottom of the list are heavily influenced by my20 time at MIT.22 If you find some of these interesting and would like to collaborate on23 them with me or discuss them in more detail, I'd love to hear from24 you. You can email me at ideas@aurellem.org.26 If you want to use one of these ideas as your own and run with it,27 please feel free. I'd love to hear about it if you do.29 #+begin_quote30 There's no end to what a man can accomplish if he doesn't care about31 getting credit.32 #+end_quote34 - aurellem shirt :: I should make an aurellem star symbol tee-shirt.36 - high school science :: this is a lesson in scientific ethics. The37 goal is to calculate /g/, the local gravitational38 acceleration. The students are told that the textbook says it's39 /exactly/ 9.81 before they start the experiment. See how they40 doctor their results to get closer to the textbook value. It's41 neat because for any given school, /g/ is probably *not* exactly42 equal to 9.81, because that is just an average!44 - opencourseware subtitles :: there are ladies who type up lectures45 while they are being given. These recordings should be kept and46 given to OCW for subtitles. If the timestamps of keys are47 recorded, then it is easy to make subtitles.49 - screen locking timing :: you use your computer camera to see if you50 are sitting in front of the computer. If you are, then the screen51 will never lock. If you are, then the screen will lock with a52 30-40 second timeout. It's an extension of using inactivity to53 initiate the countdown, just with more information.55 - mirror toilet :: a toilet with a square basin made or mirror instead56 or porcelain. That way, you can see how good of a57 wipe job you have done / watch how your excretion58 system works.60 - test dummies :: why don't we clone encephalic humans and use then to61 test /in vivo/ human organ systems and drugs? It62 would be ethical as long as there are women who are63 willing to host the clones, and it would be a64 tremendous resource for studying the human body. I65 see nothing wrong with it morally, since no one is66 suffering, and it stands to save many lives throughout67 more advanced technology.69 - X-ray telepresence :: given that a doctor is operating on a patient70 via telepresence, one cool things you can do is shine X-rays into71 the patient to view the insides during real time. If the system72 was coupled with a Baysean model of the layout of the structure,73 and the x-rays were only fired whenever the uncertainty of the74 model reached a certain threshold, then the radiation damage75 and surgery risk could be minimized.77 - superfluid vascular system :: I wonder what would happen if you78 replaced the blood in a human with a superfluid. What would the79 physical dynamics be? Would the superfluid flow through the80 vasculature, or would it ignore it and travel through the cells,81 or something else entirely. Since superfluids need to be cold to82 retain their superfluidity, how would the dynamics change during83 perfusion of a superfluid, where the fluid gains and looses84 superfluidity as it goes deeper into the body and is cooled by85 superfluid from upstream. In summary there are two things to86 simulate 1.) replace all blood in human with superfluid87 instantly. 2.) perfuse superfluid into human.89 - projective guessing :: I think that we read and see things by90 making a really good guess about what we're expecting to see,91 and then searching for our guess in what we see. If it really92 doesn't match, then we start to make more guesses / analyze the93 image from first principles, but most stuff is projective94 guessing.96 - Intestinal flora maintenance :: why not inoculate babies at birth97 with "ideal" gut flora instead of whatever bullshit they98 naturally get, thus giving them optimal digestive/nutrient99 extraction capabilities. Might also be able to make their farts100 not stink for life, too.102 - server culture : mirrors :: make a distributed system where people103 can mirror the websites of people they like -- essentially cover104 the server costs of favored websites. This could make popular105 websites run at no cost. The system would require that the106 mirrored content be the same as the official source. Sort of like107 bit-torrent for websites.109 - map programming :: one problem with functional programming is that110 in order to remain functional, you have to pass up arguments up111 into each calling function to get the full range of behavior112 from the lower level functions. Normally people come to a113 compromise involving abstraction and sparing use of dynamic114 variables to configure runtime behavior. What would be the115 advantages of making a programming language where every function116 receives one argument, a map, which contains all the symbol117 bindings it would ever need? This map is passed on to all118 subordinate functions. This way, you could replace functions on119 the fly, and arrange for there to be sensible defaults,120 etc. Might cause more harm than good but is an interesting idea.122 - rest nest :: a small EEG device you would attach to your head when123 you go to sleep at night. ML algorithms would determine124 your particular sleep cycles. This would mostly be an125 alarm clock that you could give a time range, say126 7:00AM - 7:15AM, and it would wake you up during an127 ideal time corresponding to then end of one of your 90128 min sleep cycles. You would feel much more rested upon129 waking up, and would wake up faster. There might be130 some other uses for the EEG data as well.132 - image compression :: use a library like gimp or opencv to process an133 image to make it have less entropy, then store the reverse of134 those operations along with the compressed simpler image as a135 super-compressed image file (possibly sccapting some136 lesses). Trades file size for decompression time, and allows one137 to cheat by using information in gimp/opencv to compress the138 image.140 - fixed cryopreservation :: why not use a fixative to buy enough time141 to ramp up cryoprotectants to an acceptable level at room142 temperature? Then, the whole system can be rapidly cooled and143 vitrified. This method "severs the biological link" in that the144 fixatives are highly toxic, but current vitrification procedures145 do this anyway since there can be a lot of freezing damage.147 - dilated security camera :: a security camera that would capture148 full video footage of everything at 60fps but then decide to keep149 only every 1 frame every 5 seconds unless there's something150 "interesting" happening.152 - bitcoin wallet :: Part of "server culture", this would be something153 like "coin.your-domain.com" which would serve as154 your personal trusted access to your own bitcoins155 from anywhere.157 - libpay :: this would be a free library which would enable158 micro-donations to software projects and other projects,159 so that you could donate a penny to "emacs" and it would160 be automatically split up to every person who has ever161 contributed to emacs in proportion to the amount of162 community esteem, code quantity, bugs fixed, whatever the163 community decides. This might make it possible for164 programmers to live entirely off of free programming.166 - distributed graphics :: Browser based graphics-card accelerated167 distributed computing API.169 - pronouns :: use capital letters A-Z instead of pronouns. They solve170 pronoun referents and gender neutrality, are short to171 say, and you can encode useful information into the172 choice of letter. For example, instead of "Meetings173 shall be presided over by the president, unless she is174 absent." USE "Meetings shall be presided over by the175 president, unless P is absent." We already use this a176 little, since I and U are reserved for the subject and177 object respectively.179 - phone DSP :: software app that inserts an audio DSP between the180 input to a phone and the output. The DSP is delicious181 and configurable, and can allow men to make their182 voices deeper, etc. The app would allow you to hear183 your own voice as others hear it. Most people hate how184 their own voice sounds. The app would also allow one to185 immediately change the parameters of the DSP using good186 presets.188 - predestined body learning :: a good example of predestined learning189 might be the mirror neurons.191 - restaurant receipt :: use a carbon copy receipt instead of two stupid192 copies.194 - anti google glass :: glasses with mounted lasers and computer vision195 that targets the cameras in google glass and destroy them.197 - wearable towel :: towel with clasp, velcro, whatever, that allows198 one to wear the towel more securely than just199 wrapping it tightly and hoping for the best.201 - crossdressing :: Easiest way to disguise oneself as a woman is to202 wear a burka.204 - book-mode :: intelligent color highlighting for books and205 articles. It would disambiguate pronouns and involved206 references. For example, if "Rachael" as red, and "the207 blonde haired girl" refers to "Rachael", then "the208 blonde haired girl" would he colored red. Also, you209 could disambiguate multi part run-on sentences by210 highlighting each subcomponent. Maybe would also have211 applications to scientific reading.213 - Handheld light Rain measurement :: this would be a clear, teflon214 coated plastic disk with a camera underneath the disk. You would215 be able to hold the device out and it would measure the rate of216 accumulation of water droplets from fine mists and light rain by217 using computer vision to measure the diameters of the drops.219 - Big Brother Farming :: This would be a vision system that would220 individually monitor each plant and turn on water, etc to ensure221 maximum/uniform growth for each plant.223 - Discrete Faucet :: A faucet with discrete ticks instead of224 continuous.226 - Laser Circle :: take a glass microfiliment and shine a laser at one227 end at an oblique angle. It will make a perfect,228 large circle on the wall, converting a laser beam229 into a laser cone, preserving most of the energy of230 the laser.232 - Invisible Glass :: Take a container of liquid and embed a233 glass sculpture made out of glass that has exactly the same index234 of refraction and color of the liquid. Then the sculpture will be235 totally invisible in the container, and will only be revealed236 when the liquid is drained. The container might be a fancy237 wine/spirit bottle or an hourglass.239 - Caterpillar people :: A race of caterpillar like creatures gains240 intelligence after eons of predation by birds, etc. These241 caterpillar creatures still undergo metamorphosis into a large242 butterfly-like creature. The metamorphosis process turns the243 caterpillar's brain into mush and reforms it into a minimal,244 dumb, truly insect-like mind, completely destroying the person245 the caterpillar was. The society develops all sorts of customs and246 religious interpretations of the metamorphosis. It is viewed as247 good and natural by some since it is part of their life cycle and248 necessary to propagate the species, as only the butterflies can249 mate. Some think that the butterflies are still the same person250 because they have the same soul, even they no longer posses the251 memories or personality of the original caterpillar. Some see the252 butterfly form as the "true form" of the species, since the253 butterflies can fly, mate, and are beautiful. Many make a big254 deal out of the fact that 1-2% of the caterpillar's mind is255 actually preserved in the butterfly. Some see it as a terrible256 tragedy and argue that the caterpillars should try to stop the257 metamorphosis by technology. Practically, some very important258 members of society undergo hormone therapy and/or surgery to259 prevent metamorphosis so that they can live longer as themselves.261 This is a continuation of Marvin Minsky's ideas about pain being262 something that preserves our bodies while destroying our minds,263 something that is a remnant from our too harsh animal days that264 hasn't caught up to the fact that we have very complex brains265 now. It's a worst-case scenario about a maladaptive genetic266 legacy. Also, it's inspired by "There She Is!!!", which makes a267 compelling point about homosexuality by introducing a second268 gender characteristic (bunny/cat, male/female), which makes269 homophobia look very silly. Here, our own biological legacy of270 pain and death is made to look like the tragedy it is through the271 lens of the the caterpillar people.273 - relationships as a business :: [[http://thedailywtf.com/Articles/Up-or-Out-Solving-the-IT-Turnover-Crisis.aspx][Turnover-Crisis]] is an excellent talk274 about the "culture of quitting," which is about better business275 by letting people go instead of keeping them around past their276 "apex". Focuses on information transfer. Cool idea of an alumni277 network, which for relationships would be a group of satisfied278 ex-lovers, who would recommend new people your way, and who might279 consider coming to you again, refreshed from their time away with280 new stories/experiences. I should look for examples of this and281 how they worked out.283 - coffee with tea :: /rlm-tea/ contains 2% sugar, 10% cream, and 20%284 dylan coffee. /dylan coffee/ contains 5% sugar,285 20% cream, and 10% rlm-tea. Start your mornings286 with recursion!288 - psychic crystal :: in a science fiction story, this would be an289 object that is very easy to move physically but is extremely290 difficult to move with telekinesis.292 - http://betsofbitco.in/ :: what a great place for an AI/person to293 prove themselves as a good predictor. I wish this could be294 automated.296 - true reflection :: don't forget about that mirror in the student297 center!, it's two mirrors at right angles, like staring at a298 corner of a room. The light reflects so that it shows you what299 you actually look like, instead of your mirror image.301 - remote control wasp :: use computer to drive wings with remote302 power/logic.304 - encrypted email phone book :: public (distributed?) database of305 email->private-key pairs, to enable automatic encryption.307 - universal eye color :: every equivalent creature will see each308 others' eyes as black -- it's universal. Even if the creatures309 see in radio waves, and their eyes are 2m long pieces of jagged310 metal, when those creatures look at each other, they will see311 black, the absence of light and color (since it's being absorbed312 by the sensor array).314 - intelligent microwave :: it learns where the hot nodes of its fields315 are, and uses them to evenly heat any food item. It has an infared316 camera or something to keep track of how hot the food is. That way,317 you don't get bowls where the edges are boiling, while the center is318 still frozen. Requires a little bit of intelligence/vision, since319 the exact pattern of heating totally depends on the exact shape of320 the food. Wouldn't need a carousel, and wouldn't need a timer,321 just a desired temperature. Could also detect ice, and automatically322 defrost the parts which are frozen. Might be able to work much323 faster since it can avoid overheating; might have problems with324 heating the insides of thick things, might need a weight sensor too.326 + Would be much cleaner than other microwaves, since food would327 "sputter" and splash liquid much less.329 + Throw in some SIFT+R processing to match previously cooked foods330 and learn the exact heating profiles for things that have been331 cooked before -- it can get faster the more it's used.333 - compression :: brain-aware image compression algorithm335 - Credit card proxy :: would be a company which works like paypal336 except for real world transactions338 - Flesh pillow :: a pillow like the arm or torso of a human, complete339 with simulated temperature, bones, and heartbeat.341 - super screw :: a screw which has only one or two threads and instead342 uses compression to fit into a hole (the whole shank343 of the screw is split into multiple pieces to344 accomplish this; the tip is a point, then the middle345 bulges out and gets compressed when screwed in.347 - light filter :: (like light tweezers) to mechanically separate348 fluids with different index of refraction350 - chalk eraser project :: maybe make a directional eraser, for easy351 release of chalk dust, like fur, and how it likes to rest in a352 certain direction.354 - silver socks :: socks laced with silver for the antimicrobial355 properties.357 - UROP :: magnet gear/metal teeth tape359 - rod of moses :: device to distill urine through evaporation and360 easily dispose of urea crystals for use in desert --361 produce drinkable water.363 - UROP :: Make the LED in line with the flow for the micro injector, so364 that it may transmit maximum flow. Motor that changes365 distance of internal magnet from windings depending on366 desired speed so as to obtain maximum power efficiency.368 - lottery scraper :: web scraper which monitors various lotteries,369 looking for "special" gimmick changes in the rules (like 4x370 winnings on Wednesdays) and computes expected value...372 - Memristiors novel design :: make an evolutionary algorithm to make373 old stuff using all four basic circuit elements.375 - Conductive concrete :: concrete that has embedded metal fibers so376 that it can conduct electricity.378 - little bitty melting pot :: might be useful for some types of379 manufacturing/3D printing -- how small can an induction melter be380 made, for example.382 - power strip/timer programmable combination :: meh384 - algorithms :: which learn what their inputs are and in what order,385 and can adapt to changing circumstances -- they386 remember previous arguments and adapt so as to respond387 to different connections.389 - true pure tones :: hear a true pure tone by direct stimulation of the390 nerves of the ear392 - mechanical analogue to the electrical op-amp :: would be an object393 with two levers -- you pull on one lever and the other moves the394 same way, no matter what's in the way or what it is driving. This395 analogy could be useful to teach op amps to people.397 - paper folding device :: make it convenient to fold lots of papers in398 various ways.400 - concrete epoxy :: epoxy with sand/ some other solid material.402 - light capacitor :: suspend some ball of material with a high index403 of refraction and shine light into it so it gets stuck -- would404 the light stay trapped forever? Could you build up unlimited405 quantities of light inside the sphere (which could then be406 released slowly by frustrated internal reflection?408 - movie screening :: Movies always are too long at first. One way to409 shorten them ``scientifically" is to record blink rate during the410 move and then remove / shorten the frames of the parts in which411 there are a lot of blinking (average this over multiple people)412 better yet, put it online and do it across thousands of people. I413 got this from youtube in which there is an episode of kill bill414 which is composed entirely of the parts in which people had their415 eyes closed. slogan: want to make a movie people can't take their416 eyes off of? Just take those parts out!418 - optimize an article :: capture reading of a scientific article via419 screen capture while people read it, then use it to make the420 article better. like the movie-pruning idea.422 - super reading program :: teaches people the ideal mental mask to423 apply during reading so as to read very fast.425 - explosive thermite epoxy putty :: one part would contain the rust,426 one part the aluminum.428 - reading comprehension :: use the above screen capture routine to429 make a quiz program that constructs questions about the content430 you seemed to gloss over while reading. could be easy if the pdf431 came with embedded questions. Dylan: automatically generate432 word-cloud about the parts you found most interesting; help433 others who read the same stuff by drawing attention to the434 interesting parts.436 - hard sword :: make a samurai sword, but use osmiridum instead of437 martensite for the cutting part; it should be a better438 sword.440 - close range wireless :: use the induction technology used to441 recharge electric toothbrushes with no metal links to send data442 without any metal at all!444 - reading :: is a form of synsethesia446 - DNA printer :: A machine which translates the text eg, "ACTGAC" into447 actual DNA449 - black generator :: ferro-fluid magnetic field suspended micro450 generator to make electricity452 - alcohol battery :: alcohol/fluid flow powered battery454 - folding razor blade sword ::456 - perfect pitch :: learn perfect pitch using another sense in457 combination (sight or touch)459 - kaleidoscope projector ::461 - razor blade de-sharpener :: for guilt free disposal463 - bricks :: filled with luminescent plant material465 - bio metallic structure :: metal grids with seeds inside, which grow466 together and form a durable biological matrix. The metal467 substrate delivers water. (maybe use plastic instead of metal?)468 Dylan: enrich plants with inorganic compounds; electrical469 interfaces in cellular plant matter => remote-controlled470 photosynthetic/bioluminescent structures.472 - conducting extracellular matrix :: to allow better control of473 organic systems and an enhanced nervous system.475 - cross-modal memory hashing :: a way to retrieve memories more476 robustly.478 - flossing thimble-guards :: (these actually exist)480 - rules + lattice learning :: integrate lattice learning with rules by481 generating hypothetical examples483 - wooden refrigerator :: to give food a better taste Dylan: like484 barrels for wine, or planks for salmon. Maybe just have "flavor485 planks" for your pre-existing fridge. Need to mitigate effect of486 temperature on volatility?488 - radioactive transmutation molecule by molecule :: create precious489 metals or something else economically advantageous.491 - crowd preservation :: inoculate food with tons of harmless492 bacteria so that there's no room for bad bacteria as a method of493 preservation495 - old school preservation :: Pasteur - style holding jar with siphon496 as a way to store liquids at room temperature indefinitely w/o497 refrigeration.499 - restaurant policy :: Throw rude people out of restaurant as a matter500 of course -- make ambiance much better.502 - clean windows :: make something that mixes soap with fire hydrant503 water (and reduces the pressure a bit) and use it504 to clean windows of buildings.506 - ocarina :: make an ocarina out of pure silver508 - fire pen :: pen which burns words on to the page, thus never needing509 any ink. Is there a way to make it runnable from the510 human's energy?512 - website to design your own soda :: and label, and have it mailed to513 you / sell it from your own online store.515 - solar panels :: that float on the ocean517 - handcuffs with more than two cuffs (3?) :: great for daisy chaining518 people, binding them to environment, etc.520 - vector based SOUND files :: like the pictures but with SOUND. codify521 sound in a language with enough symbols so that it can describe522 everything and encode it in that. would be like going from speech523 to text or smtg. Could also store sound as an image of the524 wavefront encoded as a vector image.526 - Mouse :: with a horizontal scroll wheel in addition to the vertical527 scroll wheel529 - logic maintenance system for big institutions :: to make sure the530 things they are thinking about doing are not retarded532 - http://www.regulations.gov/ :: cool site534 - genetically engineered glowing fruit :: sell seeds?536 - memory slide :: IF memories are encoded using particular sensory537 impressions, what happens if the sensory organ538 itself changes? those memories would become539 inaccessible. maybe this is why we can't remember540 much from our childhoods. also, could this happen541 throughout life as well? Could S remember stuff from542 his childhood?544 - make a completely indestructible phone :: no moving parts or display545 you should be able to slam it around all you want, and it will546 just work. brutally simple. aerogel around the battery, minimal547 interface - never gets too hot, and can be dropped into water. no548 holes -- uses field effects for everything from the buttons to549 inductive charging and data transfer.551 - midi to ocarina "tabs" program :: (online website? buy ocarinas from552 it too)554 - 3d printing with sound pulses (or just patterns) :: like the 8.03555 lecture557 - lighter flint on spring :: make hot, throw it at something, and it558 makes sparkles!560 - nuclear energy :: Rebranding New+Clear Energy with informational561 campaign and public debate forum to enforce its562 transparent and open nature. France needn't be the563 world leader in nuclear energy. (Dylan)565 - bubbles :: Engineer a material which has both ductility and high566 surface tension to make the "third"567 minimal-surface-energy solution to a bubble suspended568 between two equal-diameter rings. (Solutions are569 cylindrical catenary curve, two separated half-bubbles,570 and a double-cone)572 - Textbook whose content can be varied continuously :: alter level of573 difficulty, rigor, diction, emphasize crossover with certain574 other discipline, etc. Content generated dynamically from575 knowledge base, along with questions that are moreover altered to576 guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of577 knowledge. /One./580 ** From Jacob's idea list582 - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed583 noise cancellation alg in your headphones (would this584 work?). -Update on sound canceling headphones that take feed from585 tv: how about ones that cancel people talking on the phone by586 receiving the phone signals and playing inverse sound587 waves. #signalprocessing ~jcole@mit.edu589 - ClackerAlert -- tells if you slam the keys too hard using sound data590 (and speed/jerkiness data)!.Prevents RSI ~jcole@mit.e592 - Panic Pin :: separate pin that you can tell someone if forced to593 identify your PIN (idea from idea about credit cards)