1.1 --- a/org/ideas.org	Thu Jan 23 11:18:36 2014 -0500
     1.2 +++ b/org/ideas.org	Mon Mar 10 13:01:48 2014 -0400
     1.3 @@ -33,13 +33,49 @@
     1.4  getting credit.
     1.5  #+end_quote
     1.6  
     1.7 -- Brain silo :: dyl
     1.8 +<<<<<<< local
     1.9 +- suicide parasite :: sometimes, people kill themselves for no good
    1.10 +     reason. We often explain this with things like "hidden
    1.11 +     depression" or we say that they had something like chronic jaw or
    1.12 +     back pain. I think that smells of rationalization. I don't buy
    1.13 +     it. I propose that in many suicide cases there is a disease that
    1.14 +     causes the suicidal behavior. We already know that certain
    1.15 +     parasites have mind-bending properties in other animals, even
    1.16 +     mammals like mice. It's not much of a stretch to imagine a
    1.17 +     parasite that causes suicides in humans. Some problems:
    1.18 +     - What does the suicide parasite get out of it? :: This might be
    1.19 +          answered by the whole thing being a glitch caused by
    1.20 +          cross-species contamination. Toxoplasma works this way.
    1.21 +     - What predictions does a disease model make :: suicide should
    1.22 +          be more common among people who share a contagion
    1.23 +          vector. There should be suicides that don't make any
    1.24 +          sense : people who weren't really depressed, who had no
    1.25 +          reason to kill themselves. People who have killed themselves
    1.26 +          should have a higher incidence of some unknown parasite in
    1.27 +          their brains. 
    1.28  
    1.29 +- domestic insects :: People should eat more bugs because they're much
    1.30 +     more efficient, so why not do some major domestication research
    1.31 +     to make very appealing bugs?
    1.32 +
    1.33 +- birth-clones :: What if each person was intentionally split at birth
    1.34 +                  into a normal embryo and a few "backup" cells which
    1.35 +                  is then frozen. The backup cells are created just
    1.36 +                  the same way as natural identical twins. The backups
    1.37 +                  can be used to regenerate organs. etc. Also, it
    1.38 +                  would be a good sci fi concept, because you could
    1.39 +                  have a culture where people reward people who were
    1.40 +                  especially awesome are "reborn" from their
    1.41 +                  backups. Imagine having a young Bach every
    1.42 +                  generation, etc.
    1.43  
    1.44  - pronuncation guide :: a simple webpage where you type in a word and
    1.45       it returns a simpe, English sentence describing exactly how to
    1.46       pronounce the word. For people who don't want to learn IPA. 
    1.47  
    1.48 +- cortex-search :: use the repertoire of actions learned to limit the
    1.49 +                   search space of possible actions.
    1.50 +
    1.51  - learning to teleport :: scifi idea, this is a story about a person
    1.52       who is struggling with his/her society's ideas about
    1.53       teleportation. It's considered a fundamental part of being a
    1.54 @@ -51,6 +87,11 @@
    1.55       off a diving board into a pool (which I simply /could not do/ for
    1.56       a long time), etc.     
    1.57  
    1.58 +- no-float-ice :: cup that has cross beams at the bottom where ice
    1.59 +                  forms. Then when you drink liquid from the glass,
    1.60 +                  the ice stays at the bottom and doesn't hit your
    1.61 +                  lips. For bars and fancy things.
    1.62 +
    1.63  - bitcoins for immigrants :: A common case with Mexican immigrants
    1.64       (illegal or not) is that they want to send money they've earned
    1.65       in the US back to their families in Mexico. They currently do this
    1.66 @@ -699,7 +740,6 @@
    1.67       guide knowledge acquisition. Motivation: One book of
    1.68       knowledge. /One./
    1.69  
    1.70 -
    1.71  ** From Jacob's idea list
    1.72  
    1.73  - Roommate-canceling headphones: uses roommate's laptop mic to seed