Random Ideas

Smart shopping cart

Michael — Sun, 20 May 2012 01:42:16 +0000

A cart with an LCD display which uses NFC or RFID to sense which items are placed in it and automatically displays a running total. Checking out is as simple as swiping a credit card. No need for cashiers.

Motorola’s Email App and SMTP encryption.

Michael — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:00:30 +0000

If you run into a problem with sending encrypted email via the Motorola Droid Bionic, you are probably running into an issue with Motorola’s replacement for the default mail app: it does not support STARTTLS, only SSL/TLS connections which are encrypted from the beginning. The solution if you own the server is to enable an additional port in master.cf with the smtpd_tls_wrappermode option set.

Or grab K-9 mail.

Nickelodeon-style political debating

Michael — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 04:40:54 +0000

We need Nickelodeon-style political debates: every time the politicians say something fallacious or logically inconsistent, they get slimed.

“The Recession”

Michael — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 16:00:04 +0000

Note that people are still referring to “The Recession” to push their agendas. This recession began in 2008. If it is still ongoing, it is more accurately a depression. At some point people will need to accept the fact that we are in one.

Computer-Assisted Diagnosis is a bit strange

Michael — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 23:10:37 +0000

In that we are taking techniques which were developed to accommodate our human desire to deal with problems by looking at them, then trying to train computers, which have no innate sense of vision and which could be using any type of sensor imaginable, to understand visual data designed for human use.

…Just a thought.

If my diagnostic company succeeds, I do plan to pursue research into new non-visual sensing technology which is more appropriate for computerized detection. The future of diagnostics is digital.

Cold season actually begins in August

Michael — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 01:04:44 +0000

Anecdotal, but this is something I’ve seen for years. As an added piece of totally non-rigorous evidence (especially because including Australia throws all of my northern hemisphere seasonal biases off), Google seems to agree:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=%22runny+nose%22+%22sore+throat%22&ctab=0&geo=all&date=2010&sort=0

Diaphragm FES for ALS

Michael — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 00:20:38 +0000

Though restoring control of every muscle in the body to patients with ALS is far too invasive for current technology to suffice, electrodes on the motor strip and pons, connected to receivers in the lungs and diaphragm seem like they would suffice to prevent further deaths from the disease. And perhaps even tracheotomies.

Is there some reason I’m missing that this wouldn’t work? Because if I can’t find one, I may very well partner with a neurologist and pursue it. I certainly have the neuroinformatics and signal processing backgrounds; I know that this scope and granularity of FES is currently well within the range of what is technologically possible.

Piezoelectric Keyboard

Michael — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 23:33:49 +0000

You can actually make a keyboard which returns power to the computer when a key is hit, making it a generator rather than consumer of electricity. Wired only.

Locus of Value

Michael — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 01:17:13 +0000

There is an analogue of the locus of control applicable to morality: there are some who look externally for their values, seeking them in shared communal experiences, culture, economics, politics, or religion. There are others who seek to develop their values internally, through integration of their senses, individual experiences, thoughts, and feelings. The different characteristics of these sources of morality lead to different behaviors, life priorities, social associations (and identities), and leisure activities. Externally derived morality concerns itself with collecting and integrating social perspectives, while internally derived morality emphasizes introspection and expression of the self.

Warning: Self-actualization may lead to pwnage.

Michael — Sat, 21 May 2011 05:10:24 +0000

There is a trait which must be coupled to self-actualization: self-*realization*. It is not enough to see what one’s full potential is – one must also find an effective means of expression and self-transformation to see that potential accomplished. This is very hard, and is probably necessary for an actualized state to remain stable.

…Because otherwise the world will pwn you