Where
Things Work RightWhere
Things Work Right
** New ideas added 03/20/06 starting at number 283.
283. Real Time Earth -
A little help for the airlines.
Looking at Google Earth the other day and seeing how some of the maps there
and on other sites were
outdated the thought occurred that maybe here was a way for some airline
to make a little extra money
and maybe stay in business (or lower the price of its tickets for us).
The idea would be to mount cameras
simliar to those used on satellites now under each plane so they could
take and transmit pictures to some
company like Google during its flight, giving that company an up-to-date
view of the world for its users.
The company, whether it was Google, Microsoft, or some other entity, would
pay the airline for the photos.
The airlines would benefit from the extra cash flow and the company would
benefit from the edge it now
had over its competition in this field. There might also be a subscriber
market for real-time video showing
the night sky via cameras attached on top of the planes. The streaming
view would be much better than you
can get with all of the light pollution around most cities.
284. Crossbow Fishing Pole -
For peoplee who have trouble casting.
This would be an enhancement to current fishing reels for amateur fisherman.
A second handle on the reel
would pull back a spring that was built into the underside of the pole.
A small rod attached near the hook
(maybe replacing the weight) would slide down the shaft that the spring
is in. Once it was loaded you'd just
point and click sending the hook exactly where you want it. This
would also keep amateurs from accidentally
hooking the people around them when casting the traditional way.
285. Radio Wave Blanket -
If the sky is falling let's triangulate the pieces.
Not sure if this is technically feasible or not but the idea is based on
the concept of thinking of every cell tower
as the spoke in the center of a ring of other cell towers. If a steady
tone was continually broadcast among the
towers it might be possible to pinpoint where a disruption in that blanket
signal occurs, a disruption caused by
something like a meteorite falling through it. Taking the idea one
step further into possibly magic, I wonder if
heat rising from a forest fire would disrupt the signal? If it did
then we could create an early warning system for
fires and get rid of all of the fire towers out there (here in the US at
least).
286. Mall Parking Gadget -
Spotting the spot.
As I was walking back to my car tonight in a very cold parking lot I clicked
the clicker to unlock the doors. This
made me wonder if it would be possible to create another gadget that could
display where these clicks were taking
place. That way I'd know which way to head when I was looking for a spot.
(It would have to be able to ignore
the clicks that came from people locking their doors.)
287. Airplane Drink Carts -
Speed up the process.
While I was watching the stewardess ask each passenger what they wanted
to drink last night and then stop to pop
open a can based on their choice it occurred to me that it would be much
faster if the cart had cannisters in it so
drinks could be filled similar to the way they are at fast food restaurants.
The cannisters would have to be smaller of
course but that doesn't seem like it would be a huge obstacle.
288. Crossbow Kite -
An extension of the crossbow fishing pole idea.
For days when you can't get a kite aloft because the ground level wind
isn't strong enough, or you just don't feel like
running around trying to get it to take flight, the Crossbow Kite would
make life easier. At rest it would be folded like
an umbrella. When you shot it into the air it would stay folded until the
end of the line was reached, at which point the
sudden stop would snap it open. Then you could hand it to your child
and let them play with it while you just laid down
in the grass and watched.
289. Watch Yourself Die -
For terminal cases only.
After watching someone die in a hospital awhile back it occurred to me
that rather than being given higher and higher
doses of pain medication I'd prefer to be given the highest possible non-lethal
dose of something like ketamine. Since
it's known to disassociate perception from sensation and provide something
akin to an out-of-body experience I'd be
able to watch myself die in comfort. (Presuming the out-of-body effect
was real, I'd also be able to see who was really
sad to see me go and who was just showing up to be politically-correct.)
The idea then is to add this as an option on a
living will.
Just
so you'll know the field isn't entirely populated by wackos
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