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ideas I'll never pursue

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Jun 1 / 6:49pm

Space Elevator - one of those ideas I used to think was originally mine.

Media_http24mediatumb_dongo

The idea of a Space Elevator is one that dates back to the first rocket scientists.  It’s a reasonably simple idea, you set off a huge cable into orbit at the same rate as the spin of the Earth.  You can then send things up the cable, just like an elevator.  This would allow masses to be sent up to space without the huge burst of energy a rocket uses.  The reason it cannot be done at the moment is that the cable would need to be both extremely light and strong to endure the tension forces.  One of the most promising ideas is to use nanotechnology, to use super elastic carbon nanotubes. 1 gram of these can stretch 18 miles! [more] 
via itsfullofstars.tumblr.com

Filed under  //  ideas I'll never pursue   science   space  
 
Apr 28 / 5:03pm

New Company Promises to Give You a Pretend Facebook Girlfriend

Again, I swear I had this idea two years ago.

Media_httpoaolcdncomp_sqhba
The new service allows users to create the perfect girlfriend who will write on your Facebook wall and otherwise make her ghostly presence known through social media.
via aolnews.com

 

 

Filed under  //  funny   ideas I'll never pursue   social media  
 
Dec 9 / 8:40am

Why not print asymmetric keys on big bills to fight counterfeiting?

Media_httpsfcitizenco_gvjql

OK I know zip about cryptography, but I was thinking: to fight counterfeiting, why not just print on larger bills a small data matrix (one of those square barcodes you're starting to see everywhere) containing an asymmetric key generated for that bill?

Then, instead of holding the bill up to look for the security ribbon or watermark, you just pass it under a scanner to confirm that it's a valid key?

I'm sure there are a million problems with the idea, probably starting with the computational and networking requirements.  Still, just seemed like an interesting idea...

Filed under  //  ideas I'll never pursue  
 
Oct 21 / 11:58am

Aerial bombardment to reforest the earth | The Guardian

Geez I swear I though this up a few years back too!

 

Forests are to be created by dropping millions of trees out of aircraft. Equipment installed in the huge C-130 transport aircraft used by the military for laying carpets of landmines across combat zones has been adapted to deposit the trees in remote areas including parts of Scotland.

...

"The possibilities are amazing. We can fly at 1,000ft at 130 knots planting more than 3,000 cones a minute in a pattern across the landscape - just as we did with landmines, but in this case each cone contains a sapling. That's 125,000 trees for each sortie and 900,000 trees in a day."

The tree cones are pointed and designed to bury themselves in the ground at the same depth as if they had been planted by hand. They contain fertilizer and a material that soaks up surrounding moisture, watering the roots of the tree.

via guardian.co.uk

Filed under  //  green   ideas I'll never pursue  
 
Oct 16 / 6:39am

Yet another brilliant idea I never pursued: groupme.com

Screen_shot_2010-10-16_at_6

(*&^%&^$%#!!!  ...yet another idea I swear I had a year ago and didn't pursue but could have made gazillions on!  I was going to set this up for pick-up soccer games because these guys can never get their #*&*^! acts together and find a suitable field until 5 minutes before kick-off.

GroupMe lets you effortlessly group text with the people in your life that are important to you. It's your real-life network, in your pocket. It's totally free and works on every phone.
via groupme.com
Filed under  //  ideas I'll never pursue   tools  
 
Oct 1 / 3:09pm

You've heard of Gov 2.0... What about Representation 2.0?

You've heard of Gov 2.0.  But I've been wondering lately whether we shouldn't also be developing a new model of representation based, like Gov 2.0, on transparency, crowd-sourcing, etc.

What would it look like?

Well I'm imagining a candidate running on the platform that she will simply vote on everything exactly as directed by her constituency:

She sets up a secure website, and every morning her constituents log in or email a special address to express support or opposition on every decision she is scheduled to make that day.

The website might additionally contain a Wiki, in which she and her constituents could collaboratively author research on the issues behind the votes (links, videos, infographics, etc.).

The voting data would then be completely open, making her constituents directly accountable for their group decisions.

The code would even be Open Sourced back to the "Civic Stack" at http://civiccommons.com/, http://codeforamerica.org/ or http://www.trustthevote.org/.

"Good morning friends," I can imagine her morning blog post reading.  "I have to vote today on whether to extend President Bush's Tax Cuts for the Top 1%.  Take a look at this chart and let me know how you'd like me to vote."

2010

...I mentioned this idea of Representation 2.0 to a friend, who suggested such a model might be too vulnerable to "groupthink."  But with half the nation zombified by Fox News, I'm wondering how much worse it can really get.

Besides, if an elected official were directly acting on behalf of her constituents, wouldn't that incline the lobbyists on K Street to address their services towards the public?  I do understand that lobbyists supply the government with a lot of much-needed research and guidance on complex issues, and so perhaps our elected official would have to retain enough independence to continue attracting some of their attention.  But I think everyone agrees the current system is broken:

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...Anyway I have zero background in Political Science and am guessing folks out there can give me some very good reasons why Representation 2.0 would NOT work?

Filed under  //  Open Source   iDemocracy / Representation 2.0 / EDD   ideas I'll never pursue   open government / transparency