“Hello, Peter and Anne can’t come to phone right now, but if you have a question, just ask.” Well, where the heck are they? And you wouldn’t have a cellphone number I could try, would you? “Actually, they are home but they’re just too lazy and/or rude to answer the phone. So it wouldn’t do any Read More …
Build into each club a device that (a) senses where the flag is, (b) calculates where the clubface is actually aiming, (c) and tells aloud how much the trajectory is off. Super-deluxe version also (d) inertially monitors the swing, (e) tells you why you hooked or sliced, (f) is made of an indestructible material because, well, you know why, Read More …
Let it be resolved: If anyone develops a sure-fire lie detector, whether an externally attached device, a drug, a form of hypnosis, a remote mind-reading scan, or a brain implant, no politician may vote to authorize its use on American citizens without first having submitted to such a lie detector and spilled every ounce of truth out of Read More …
Or maybe it’s sonar. But if they ever develop tech for telling where underground mines are, maybe it can be applied to more suburban tasks, too, like detecting tree roots or gas lines or the former owner’s buried bullions.
Someday, just as computers have virus and spyware scans, maybe neural-computer hookups will be able to scan your brain for fallacies. Find that one stupid assumption that’s been screwing up your life. Be nice if this kind of hunt didn’t take a guy 35 years. Of course, the fear is futurist brain hookups will download more fallacies (thanks to Big Brother) Read More …
Say an upscale mall wants to distinguish itself, attract visitors lost to megamarts and the Internet. Provide a way for shoppers to try and use Segways for free. Maybe there’s a track or strip just for Segways. Maybe it goes out to parking as well as inside. Read an interesting post about this at segwaychat.com that Read More …
Instead of making flat scenes like movies seem three-dimensional, these 2-D glasses would make real things look flat. Would help artists, perhaps, put things into better perspective. Whoa, what if you then looked at a painting or photograph … would it look 1-D? Wouldn’t that be like a dot or invisible? (Hey, isn’t that quip better than making the obligatory Read More …
Ever want to interact with your TV? Like hit it with a shoe when your football team chokes? What if you could hit it with a virtual shoe? Or toss a virtual pie or water balloon at a crook or despicable politician? Maybe you could project a cartoon balloon, to put words in the mouths of show characters Read More …
Put on a shirt from my suitcase and it was wrinkled. Why not an iron that would work while you’re wearing clothes? Shape it like giant tweezers. The space-age insulated heatproof shield size goes under the shirt. The steamy / ultrasound size goes on the outside. Move it around and wrinkles disappear. OK, no way Read More …
Think of it like a mini-scoreboard on the back of a car. You can use it to (a) display messages to tailgaters to back off, (b) speed in front of a hot babe and ask her out, (c) politely ask if someone would let you into line, (d) share jokes and political comments, (e) share Read More …
Today’s airplane bombing plot, supposedly involving mixing chemicals on board a plane, resulted in the banning of all sorts of liquids and semi-liquid substances in carry-on bags. If this possibility is real, the threat could last. So what’s the permanently mandated security measure? No carry-ons? No bottles of shampoo or soda or perfume, no tubes of hair gel or toothpaste, no Read More …
If they can put talking or singing chips in birthday cards, you know it’s gotta happen with food. Probably a no-brainer figuring out how to add this feature to parts we don’t eat, like lollipop or popsicle sticks or cups or lids or bags or wrappers. But why? Contests (“You’re a winner!”). Advertising. Product identity. Read More …
Going to have to post a drawing soon, but until then a description will have to do. Imagine a dome made of a clear semi-flexible plastic. Now curl the bottom edges inside to create an inner trough. If you floated this plastic hemi-bubble on a body of water out in the sun, evaporation and condensation Read More …
In the movie Armageddon, Bruce Willis saves the world by planting a nuke on an Earthbound asteroid. Such a strategy is unlikely to work, however, because asteroids are aggregates of rubble whose bits would absorb the blast, a report concluded a few years ago. Hmm. How about this idea: Don’t wait until it’s almost too Read More …
Remember the movie Big starring Tom Hanks? In it, he hops on a giant musical keyboard, stomping out a tune. Typing on a regular keyboard may exercise the brain, but it can almost atrophy the body. So why not have a workout workstation, where the keys are clicked with your feet? Depending on the design, Read More …