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That reminds me... They should add insult tennis as a possible competitive event.

Wouldn't you prefer a game of Questions?

That reminds me... They should add insult tennis as a possible competitive event. I happened to witness this a couple of years ago, ironically, at a Renaissance festival -- a place other than a comicon or Star Trek convention where you'll find a large gathering of nerds.

The article mentions that this device uses an electromagnetic pump to move the heat around. In my naivete, I suggested a similar thing, without a pump. I imagined a sort of metal lava-lamp, where at the base, next to the CPU, blobs of molten metal would rise up towards the top of the heat sink. As they rose, they would cool off ( with the help of the fan) , and then sink again to collect more heat. So, the outside of the heat sink would be copper or aluminum or something, and the inside would be some low-temperature metal like tin. Traditional fin architecture would assist in dispersing the heat.

Here's some speculative science that might be worthy of modeling: Ionic Kinetic Energy Conversion Effect
Are there limits to the fact that when a charged particle is accelerated, it emits a photon? I was once told that below a certain point, the charge does not emit a photon. Really? Why? A possibly useful phenomenon needs relevant data! Thanks!

Here: Orbiting Mirror Ribbon

It was done long ago during the twilight of CD only drive...

See...

http://everything2.com/e2node/TrueX
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CD-ROM#Transfer_rates
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Multiheaded_20CD-ROM

I believe the main issues were reliability, cost and lack of noticeable speed gains when using the CD-ROM in common tasks. Although there isn't much to be found (or said) about them anymore. It would seem the increased density of today's optical media put a damper on the need for increased spindle speeds making multiple lasers an unattractive way to boost speeds.

Also if I remember correctly they were entering a market at a time when CD-R/RW drives were becoming more cost competitive.

This was "invented" decades ago. Prior art is the Anopticon described by Isaac Asimov. See http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/enhanced_20non_20optic_20camera

(you have to go all the way down to the bottom to see the reference. And thank you Disney that Marooned Off Vesta isn't in the public domain now.)

Here's an idea I posted to halfbakery.com a while back that I think will fit in nicely with your plans:

http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Binary_20birthday_20candles#1031936400

A site exists for just such a concept. It's called the Halfbakery.

Indeed. What's the date on that project? I didn't see one on the website. Me, I had posted a similar idea on the Halfbakery years ago: Here it is. I guess this is an idea lots of people come up with?

The novel part here, I'd say, is micromachining the thing on the die.

Don't run it on gas, run them on microwave power from balloon relays.
In that scenario you only need enough locally stored energy to land safely. Heck, assuming a small amount of local energy storage for takeoff and landing, beam power needs to be only slightly more than the average cruising power usage.
My bet is still on the flying car first.

Oh, and microwaves would work wonderfully with steam balloons.

Steam Balloon links:
http://www.ilr.tu-berlin.de/LB/heidas/HeiDAS_AIAA20032.pdf
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Steam_20balloon
http://www.flyingkettle.com/

Don't forget the internet/radio/tv relay capabilities of a stationary balloon (more like dirigible though).

There's a pointless product if ever there was one! You should go post it in the Half Bakery ;)

I predicted this more than three years ago, at the HalfBakery. I confess I didn't think it would take this long to get some decent quantity measurements.

http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Vertigible#1154238348
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Balloon_20Notions#1154531591

http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Vertigible#1154238348
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Balloon_20Notions#1154531591

Seems like an idea I came up with in May 2005: http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Rorschach_27s_20Password I accept checks, Microsoft.

http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Shake_20N_20Bake_20Cryptophone

Sorry, couldn't resist ... :(

Who knew Japanese engineers were reading Halfbakery, let alone getting ideas from it?

http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Road_20tunes

Here's a related idea, needing implementation/testing.

Just don't subject to severe shock.

http://halfbakery.com/

Submit it here: halfbakery.com

The story is basically describing http://www.halfbakery.com
Warning: One can waste whole hours of one's life at a time on that site.

[not trying to pick a fight here, but I can't think of a better way to explain this than hopping up on a soapbox] ... and that's an example of why roadways aren't safer. I've seen some of the kindest, calmest people turn into short-fuesd freaks as soon as they get behind the wheel.

Why? What's the point of risking your life and everyone else's? Why does everyone seem to think that they are invulnerable?

Does anybody ever stop to think about the fact that cars are dangerous and heavy machinery that carry valuable human passengers, and that humans are much more delicate than cars? Humans have emotions, and that's another variable that enters the system, too. Road rage should be punished just as much as driving while intoxicated.

Cars are designed to be easy to drive, and for a good reason: if they were hard to drive, that would only increase the risks. When it's raining, though, it's no longer easy to operate a vehicle, and people get a little nervous. Then, they actually realize driving is risky and carries a lot of responsibility. Sometimes I think I like to drive when it's raining better than when it's dry, despite the additional hazards, simply because other drivers are actually cautious and not flying along at breakneck speed.

I think drivers aren't trained enough. When you're on the road, you're effectively entrusting your life to a crowd of people who have managed to answer most of an exam correctly and successfully demonstrate that they can change lanes and parallel park.

How about this: every driver is required to do 50 hours per year of stress testing in a virtual reality simulator. The simulator would be much like driving a real car, and would simulate bad weather, heavy traffic, and, most of all, enraged drivers on the road.

Driver's Ed. classes also don't teach many good "navigation recovery" techniques. For example, suppose you need to merge onto an interstate, cross three lanes, and exit through a weave, all within a half of a mile. If the traffic is light and the visibility is good, you'd probably be just fine, but if it isn't, you shouldn't force your way through traffic or do reckless things just to make it to that exit. Driver's Ed. classes need to teach people about what to do when they miss their exit, how to estimate how long it will take to meander through a weave area, etc. Sometimes it's smarter to deliberately pass your exit and back-track rather than do something hazardous.

People need to be less lazy and more responsible. Don't sleep until the last possible minute and race to work. Get up ten minutes earlier and drive safely. Which would you pick: losing ten minutes of sleep, or possibly losing your life?

Drivers need to be sympathetic to other drivers. Everyone gets lost sometimes, everyone accidentally cuts somebody off sometimes, and everyone ends up in the wrong lane sometimes. Bad stuff simply happens. Humans make mistakes. Maps have errors. Roadsigns get knocked over or bent in the wrong direction. Plus, it's not like we drive the exact same routes every day. People wind up in unfamiliar territory all the time, and you can't expect them to be clairvoyant, precognitive, nor descrying all loci of their intended circuit perfectly.

Some of what I've talked about is covered in defensive driving classes, but, everyone who drives a vehicle ought to have at least triple the training that you get out of several defensive driving classes.

Something that would help is an "I'm sorry" gesture. It's rare that someone actually *wants* to cut off another driver to annoy him; usually, it's unintentional. Here are some links for discussions about how to excuse yourself on the road:
http://metastatic.org/text/Concern/2007/02/19/sign aling/
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/The_20_22Sorry!_22_ 20Gesture

The HalfBakery has an idea on this: Panic PIN.

Here's one proposal. :)

I did.

That's not the only patentless anti-cancer drug. Look at this one.

only be a matter of time before we start seeing PCs that look like C64's or Atari 600XLs i.e. size of a thick keyboard with a few ports at the back.

You should be ashamed. It is:
DARPA has yet to acknowledge the project that I worked will on 3 years from now in 2010. Last week, January 14, 2012 we tested will successfully the Time Redaction Project. So, I gave myself the plans tomorrow so that I submit will them a few years ago to get will the grant money. DOD has used this to send a nuke to kill the dinosaurs. I hope it works.

Further back, "In 1992 ... so called prion knock-out mice [were created]. ... Strangely enough, mice lacking the prion gene are apparently healthy".

While other studies have found, "abnormalities in circadian rhythms and sleep" and ataxia late in life.

Proportionally, such symptoms may occur in 13 year old cattle (see halfbakery link).

So, to follow the new year's theme of predictions, I fully expect to be able to buy prion free beef by 2025.

So when are Hummers going to come standard with a Freedom Flame on top?

That novel did not describe a ring. The electromagnetic launchers in that book were both "simple" linear accelerators.
In the launch-ring article, I noticed the air-resistance problem being mentioned, during the initial acceleration phase.
I might suggest this idea as pointing out a solution to that problem. :)

Yeah, and you could just print it out on that special paper whenever you felt like it anyway.

PS: I think you'd like the halfbakery if you don't already know about it.

Try this:
http://www.halfbakery.com/

That site already exists, even more reason to be lazy! http://www.halfbakery.com/

Some of you may remember the CD pen? A green magic marker that you use to color the edges of your CDs so the laser beam wouldn't leak out the edges? Check out http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Audiophile_20Hearin g_20Test for details. Or how about the CD demagnitizer (http://www.gcaudio.com/cgi-bin/store/showProduct. cgi?id=190) to remove that annoying light-bending magnetic field from your precious collection. I could go on, but not without deviating more from the thread topic.

Notwithstanding that the average person sees/hears no difference between these "tweaks" and the normal off-the-shelf fair, companies like this are lucrative enough in that small niche market to make a profit. People with "ophile syndrome" will never be convinced that their perceptions are somehow flawed. As a former manager of an audiophile store and a technician of 30 years, I can attest to that. The more you argue, the more they will be convinced that you are unable to appreciate the finer points of whatever they are into.

Is this net card snake oil? Probably. Is it stupid to pay $279 for a network card to gain 1-2 FPS advantage? I won't buy one, but value is a matter of perception (however flawed). Yes *ophiles are a curious bunch with deep pockets. The extension to the computer market was inevitable. I'm just surprised no one thought of this marketing angle sooner.

David Darling has tons of info on spaceflight and advanced propulsion concepts. Some of them are present-day stuff, like ion thrusters and solar sails. Others are pure wild speculation, various forms of faster-than-light travel, etc. It's incredibly readable and quite broad.

Are you familar with ShouldExist and HalfBakery? They're also not sci-fi-specific, but a good place to check out ideas and post your own.

Somebody already came up with that half-baked idea!

Here. I ought to know, since I posted it back then.

Cell phones don't have to be as small as they are; the hand-set size of ancient rotary-dial phones was that size for a reason.
Well, if that size was used as a grip behind the body of the unit (with various hardware inside it, of course), then the face of the unit could be a fairly decent-sized touch-screen.
It can even be a decently low-power screen, once companies like this one and this one and this one finish their R&D in things like full-color and size-scaling.

I'd also like to mention that There was a buzz-phrase a number of years ago, "wafer scale integration", and I posted my own thoughts about it
here, in Nov 2003.
While they might not be using silicon as the substrate for this modern version of WSI, I have little doubt that something like what I described is what they are doing. Perhaps I should seek a royalty... :)

No, but the web has been doing it for ages.

There are a number of "idea banks" already on the Web such as Should Exist and Halfbakery. These sites are a bit diffrent from the approach described in the NYT article though.

I confess to have given some thought to issues like this.
"Would you like to play a game?"
Also, why use "long lasting paper", if something else can work better?

I confess to have given some thought to issues like this.
"Would you like to play a game?"
Also, why use "long lasting paper", if something else can work better?

Agreed, the 2nd law is a brutal law and it takes no prisoners. This idea is bunk and glad you debunked it!

That said, there are some other strange ideas about getting power out of the ocean. One group came to my lab in the 1990's and wanted to put some sort of energy collector in the Gulfstream. Since the density of water is about 1000 times that of air, you could in theory get that much more power out of a flow with the same speed. The Gulfstream is only about 5 knots, and power scales with the square of the flow speed. But even so, you could assume that you could get about 100 times the power out of the same sized machinery. Rotating machinery with blades are not so good for fish, so the people I was talking to were trying to build flapping foils. It had potential, kinda like wind turbines but underwater.

Here's the halfbakery link:

http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Underwater_20Windmi ll

here you go:
http://ccrma.stanford.edu/CCRMA/Courses/252/sensor s/node27.html

and more air guitar:
http://www.halfbakery.com/idea/Electronic_20Air_20 Guitar_20Simulation_20Gloves

with light beams being no longer needing fibers to travel across large distances

Maybe the poster should clarify SoIP, since TFA doesn't.

Servive over IP?
Storage over IP?

or my favorite:

Sex over IP

Doesn't matter if it means anything.

-Peter