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World's First Encyclopedia of Future Inventions
Deb Hellman writes "WIRED Magazine Writers, Cory Doctorow and Wil McCarthy, have joined VC Rick Patch and 2 futurists to judge the Immortalizer Technologies Project - a project designed to uncover a comprehensive list of future inventions. The project is being spearheaded by a futurist think-tank, the DaVinci Institute. The goal of the project is to create a compendium of future inventions, a roadmap of sorts for innovators. They probably won't get it right in the first edition, but I like how Tom Frey is thinking on this one. People can submit their ideas and have a future invention named after themselves. Deadline for submissions is April 30th."
Hey look! Prior art!
Luckily I've not had to enforce my patent yet, since every invention since 1998 (including patented ones but excluding mine) are ideas blatantly stolen from prehistoric (pre-1996) times.
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So basically these are people that came up with cool ideas but were too lazy or too poor a writer to write a Sci-Fi story about them.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
It's one thing to say "gosh, I wish there was a device that did such-and-such, I could really use something like that." It's another to say "In 10 years, we will have this and that invention." and it being dead wrong 95 percent (or more) of the time.
Chick Magnet
Best Windows Freeware
Want it to bear your name even if it goes undone until someone else does it after you die?
Even if it's impossible?
My submission: Zero-Point Energy source /w built-in UPS, Line Conditioner and Drink Mixer.
You are not the customer.
"Controlling the Weather - Since the beginning of time, man has been fighting the forces of nature. Clothing protects us from the weather in a small way. Buildings protect us in a much larger way. But wouldn't it be nice to spot a hurricane when it first starts to develop, shoot a special wave into it, and just put it out."
Better invention: How about clothing and buildings that are strong enough to withstand any weather? Why disrupt the natural world when we can adapt to it?
"Instant Sleep - People who need to finish an important project, but are beginning to get exhausted can just walk into the instant sleep chamber. In just a few seconds they can walk back out totally rejuvenated, ready to tackle their rest of their work."
Better invention: lets come up with an economy and lifestyle where we get a nice eight-hour sleep at night. I like sleeping. No more sleep, so that my employer can enjoy my improved productivity? This is progress?
In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane. -Oscar Wilde
This is not for yucks; just a list of way-cool things I've seen in science fiction over the years.
10. The Dream Recorder
9. Impervious material (like Adamantium, General Products Hulls, Mithril)
8. Teleportation booth/transporter
7. Time machine
6. Intelligent, walking robot (I'm thinking more Asimov than Star Wars). Something that can balance, walk and think. Hondo "ASIMO" is a mere toddler.
5. FTL space drive
4. Stasis Field (see Larry Niven....who needa a fridge when you have one of these?)
3. Antigravity
2. Fully creative genetic engineering. Yes, we need Moties and dragons in our world.
1. Brain wave reader machine that makes telepathy a reality.
Bastards! I came up with this idea next week!
My dad invented the automatic lawn mower. The project was concieved on a rainy night in 1978. It had voice recognition, anger avoidance, and would even refill the gas tank! It took a little over 10 years to develop, but once perfected I got paid $10 every two weeks to keep the lawn trimmed.
"Derp de derp."
"My dad invented the automatic lawn mower.... I got paid $10 every two weeks to keep the lawn trimmed."
My dad invented the self healing computer. Only I got paid in porn bookmarks.
Is Duke Nukem Forever on the list ?
a safe, handy tool for disposing of whatever sadistic bastard came up with the molded-plastic clamshell packaging that too many smallish products come in?
Bonus points if it also opens the stupid %$#@ packages themselves, without leaving finger-cutting edges, and double bonus if it leaves the package in a state where the thing can be returned to the store if unsatisfactory.
timothy
jrnl: http://tinyurl.com/c2l8yr / foes: http://tinyurl.com/ckjno5
People had the idea of flying machines long before the Wright brothers came along and invented one - and you know what? it didn't involve feathers or an archimedes screw. And people had the idea of mechanical musical instruments long before any were invented, but they were often imagined to be similar to mechanical musicians playing existing or modified instruments rather than, say, an electronic synthesizer.
The point is, having the general idea doesn't in any way diminish the innovation of the actual workable implementation; the ancients who imagined themselves flying like birds using some aparatus doesn't at all take away from the Wright brothers.
must... stay... awake...
I've read a few references about a fairly new drug that's been given to narcoleptics and been adopted by others that really seems to be a stay-awake drug that has few known side effects. Unlike stimulants that crank you up, this new drug simply keeps you from getting sleepy.
Non-narcoleptic users reported being able to stay awake for 4-5 days straight without any sleep. When they stop taking the drug, they get tired as per normal and sleep a normal 8 hours and wake up rested and "normal."
I think this is pretty revolutionary -- we talk about free time as being important, but what would it be like to get 10 additional hours a day? Feel like watching that 3 hour DVD, but its 11 PM and you know you'll be shot the next day if you do? What if the bigger worry was whether you had enough DVDs to occupy your time between 2 and 6 AM?
They don't know what the long term psychological impact of sleep deprivation like this would be, but there's no apparent physical problems reported by people who have been up 3-5 days. None of the paranoia and other psychotic behavior typically associated with long-term stimulant use and other sleep deprivation.
The amount of extra free time would be truly amazing, even if you only stayed "up" 2-3 nights a week, you could be gaining the equivilent of 50 days free time a year.
The problem is, that knowledge is quite seperate from experience. And experience not only influences what we know, but what we do with our knowledge, and how we grow. If we copied actual memories, then we're left with a bunch of clones with less personal development.
Think about when Einstein's theories led to the creation of atomic energy sources. Think about what others did with it (nukes). Einstein lacked the comprehension of the sheer evil this knowledge could impart, while others lacked the caution of experience and upbringing.
How about giving a 12-year-old knowledge which would let him build a death-ray? How about giving a 6-year-old knowledge of sex? Even with useful things, like math/english/physics, knowledge would be more useful to some than others.
Seriously. How many of us could read a book, understand the concepts, but completely screw up on the implentation? Knowledge is one thing: skill, ability, and experience are completely different.