The Year in Ideas

Some Anonymous Dude writes "The NYTimes magazine reviews this year's great ideas including the anti-paparazzi flash, forehead billboards, scientific free-throw distraction, and why popcorn doesn't pop." From the intro: "Once we have thrown back all the innovations that don't meet our exacting standards, we find ourselves with the following alphabetical catch: 78 notions, big and small, grand and petty, serious and silly, ingenious and. . . well, whatever you call it when you tattoo an advertisement on your forehead for money."

Comments

The greatest innovation ever...

[Anonymous Coward]

BugMeNot.

Celebs

[Beuno]

You can anti-paparazzi flash be a GREAT idea.
It only applies to 0.00001% of the worlds population...

Here's my idea.

[Sheetrock]

I like peanut butter cups.

But... why not go one step further and make peanut butter and jelly cups? Strawberry goes well with peanut butter and chocolate, and if you want to go crazy with the concept so does raspberry and orange marmalade.

Additionally, those apple-cinammon creme-filled cupcakes were pretty good back in the day, but were inexplicably pulled from the market at the same time they replaced the chocolate on the chocolate cupcakes with black wax. They need to bring those back (preferably avoiding the waxy "improvement" to the frosting.)

Re:Here's my idea.

[Werkhaus]

>>Grammer tip: 'Effect' is used as a noun. 'Affect' is used as a verb.

>Spelling Tip: Its "Grammar"

Punctuation Tip: It's "It's".

Oddly Enough

[Cherita Chen]

Surprise, Surprise, the "$100 Laptop" is on the list

http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/11/14/ 2119209&from=rss

Re:Have you ever missed meals or been hungry?

[JWSmythe]

    I suppose that my comment was marked as troll, because I hit a nerve with someone.

    Myself, I did the trade school route. I took a year (two 6 month classes) on HVAC repair with a friend of mine. I never got hired, but he did. He spent the next year crawling under mobile homes, and in attics to run duct work. I had an old Apple IIe at home, that I was becoming very proficient on.

    I ended up getting a job in a WalMart ware house, making crap money and long hours. I was driving a $300 car with a leaky radiator that I couldn't afford to replace.

    I ended up going back to trade school for law enforcement. I started with corrections (i.e., prison guard), and then law enforcement, both of which I got certified in by the state. I worked for roughly 3 months there, where I found out it's a really shitty job deeply rooted in the good ol' boy system. I wasn't one of the good ol' boys, so I didn't have a chance.

    I ended up with a tech job at a crappy computer store in a bad part of town. They sold the worst hardware, and the customers were always unhappy. Last I heard, the owner was on the run for tax evasion. I learned a lot about PC hardware, and how to make absolute crap work.

    All the while, I was living in some pretty crappy places. I was very happy eating a $0.49 McDonalds hamburger and water for lunch, and maybe a bowl of rice or spaghetti for dinner.

    I knew people who lived in rusted out mobile homes, that would get some quick cash somehow, and waste it. They'd have a huge TV, newer car, or whatever, and a couple weeks later, be bitching that their welfare check didn't buy them enough food to eat.

    I ended up at an Internet company for a year, making not quite as crappy money. I think my take-home check was roughly $200.

    I kept trying, had a bit of dumb luck, and have ended up where I am now. I have nice things, and live in a nice place.

    But, money doesn't buy happiness. My girlfriend left me yesterday, because I don't take her out enough, and I don't pay enough attention to her. She doesn't like that my pager goes off at odd hours, and that I get phone calls from 9am until sometime after 1am, depending on where the clients are. She doesn't like that I work a lot, and lately have frequently been out of town for work for between a week and two months at a time.

    So, what do you do? Beats me. Right now, I'd get a tattoo on my head, if I knew it would earn me happiness. Screw the cash.

    For them, yes, go to a trade school, learn to do something. Anything. Work a hard day, get a crappy paycheck, and when the better job comes along, grab it. It's better than putting a tattoo on your forehead, grabbing the quick cash, and squandering it all.

    In my own situation, I'm being humbled. I'm going to sell virtually everything I have, move in with a friend, save every penny I have, and maybe when I come out of it, I'll have savings in the bank to keep me financially stable for the rest of my life, and still have my friends. All the nice stuff that I could possibly own (and do), and as much as I've tried to please girlfriends I've been with have done be absolutely no good. If I know I can buy a $0.49 hamburger for lunch every day, a bowl of rice every night, and be around my friends, I'll continue to be happy. I'll still have my skills, and I will continue to work until I'm too old to type or to think.