alternate tent idea

i have found traditional tents to be clammy, and inconvenient to both set up and occupy. here is an idea for an alternate tent designed to be drier, lighter, and with a little bit of training easier to set up. (diagram needed).

first is the roof portion. this is a single piece very opaque rectangle of waterproof material. it is essentailly a tarp, but lighter and easier to manage. it is suspended across a line that is set into the ground by two solid tripods (staked down), or tied between two trees. if comfortable with a low roof level, big stakes could be used instead. the the line is fed through loops or grommets to hold it in place. the corners of the roof are staked down all stakes used are of a special design with a small stake within the larger one so that when hammered into the ground, the top of the stake is turned to set the small one perpendicular in the ground, much like an anchor in the water.

to keep dry in the tent area, there is a roll up barrier that is made of plastic and set a couple inches into the dirt to encourage drainage water from uphill to flow around the barrier. properly set up, people's heads are on the uphill side of the camp area, and feet at the downhil section.

the end result of this is a disconnected low roof and wall set that keeps out the elements, is lightweight, and very breathable.

Self-Marketing Idea

Ok so thinking about jobs now - there is so much great creative and idea work that can be done when you are part of a larger whole, and you can work in an area you enjoy. Everything doesn't always have to be completely independent.

Anyway, in getting a job, or even work as a consultant, I had an idea for an interesting way I could market myself:

In New York City there are billboards and signs everywhere to compensate for the fact that people don't watch as much TV. Many of these take the form of maybe 2'x3' posters pasted on walls or the plywood barriers outside construction sites. here's the kicker...
I advertise myself on them. 3-5 different photos of me, with my name, a tagline (possibly "for creative business success"), and a website that leads to a portfolio page of my projects, or simply a resume. It would be fun, funny, and in peoples faces. I could post them outside of leading advertising firms, to advertise back to them that I can come in there and kick ass. The photos would have variety too, one would be of me in a business suit, and depending on how far I wanted to push it, it could range to me in paint splattered clothes as an artist, or me as a rap star with a diamond toothed grill and lots of bling.

A step further would be to cut the tagline and website (or make the website name really small) so it is more of a mystery, and then I just promote myself making my name and face famous. That oughtta generate some valuable opportunities.

Sandpaper Gloves

The process of sanding wood with a piece of sandpaper can be long, laborious, and very tiring on the hands. I think that in many applications, gloves that have sandpaper surfaces would make the whole process faster, easier, more convenient, even more fun! So, it would be a set of gloves that was either sprayed with glue then sand to make the glove surface itself abrasive, or it would be gloves with areas where special sandpaper pads can be affixed. These could take the place of the electric mini sanders in many applications as well. When a job is too detailed/complex to use an electric sander, but too large to make hand sanding practical or pleasant, the abrasive gloves would really come in handy (no pun intended, though it's a good one). They would be amazing for sanding joint compound on drywall seams, given the proper abrasive surface on the gloves.

Phones in Heads

I was just thinking that it seems like people could do this right now if they wanted to. It's the next logical extension from the bluetooth headset. Get a cell phone implanted right under their skin, near their temple lets say, and using the sound transmission properties of the skull, it could speak the phone number calling you, or whatever and no one could hear it. This might be a drawback though: how would you see anything? Perhaps the cell phone is still present so you can see the numbers to dial and this is just a headset implant. The battery life could be really long, and it could be recharged through induction just like my electric toothbrush is today.

Ok so I'll admit it, this is a pretty creepy idea, bordering on the "not good" ideas that I keep from sharing (the ones that I think would be not good for the world), but also how can humanity resist something like this? Once you start getting phones in heads it borders on telepathy and people always want psychic skills, or at least they say they do. You touch your head and communicate with your friends. Do it right, and the numbers go away, replaced with voice command names. It's crazy how doable all this is now. reading a christensen book on disruptive innovations in education. This would be a disruptive innovation in communication - lots of factors that are currently valued in cell phones (nice screen, web, cool features) would have to go away, but whole new applications would be enabled.

thanksforthefavor.com

A website where people can go to give nice things to people who did nice things for them. It is a gift shop, but its not for giving our gift baskets or bottles of wine or anything like that, it's for when people do nice things, you do nice things in return.

For example, someone helps you out because they are being nice, you can go to the website, type them a message, and a handwritten note will be sent to them from you.

If they do something really nice, there will be a wizard interface that will help select something that they really might want. For example, someone lets you use their parking space for a couple weeks because your car is having issues. You want to get this person something they will really like. The interface will ask: "what does this person like", with responses like their car (and they can select specific types), their home, their kids, various hobbies, movies and celebrities, etc. The site has an automatic link that allows the users to buy from established sites like Amazon.com, and gives additional personalization options. Since the person who lent their parking spot loves Porche cars, you get them a sweet picture book about Porche.

boring idea

boring the movie... excerpts of the most boring parts of the most boring movies ever. billed properly this could get some funny reverse psychology market interest.

solar laptop

there must be something like this now but if not, it needs to be done: a skin that is a that goes on the back cover of a laptop. some kind of adapter would be needed for sure but this could be simple and great. credit to Teresa O'brien.