Things to think about.

The Top Five Tax Myths to Watch Out for this Election Season

2012-01-11T13:44:00.000-08:00

Link As the presidential campaigns rev up, taxes are emerging as the defining issue of the election. Unfortunately, a lot of misinformation and myths about taxes are spreading as candidates and commentator...

A swing an a miss

2012-01-11T13:18:00.000-08:00

A swing an a miss from Paizo:

Seriously, 20 bucks for one frost giant? 7-8 bucks? sure. Even if that's a base model of a giant hold his fist up, and other models, or 'special' cost more.
Hell, 7 buck a pop in packages of 4 would be better.
at 20 bucks I need to drop 100 dollars if I want enough minis for encounter in the revenge of the giants adventure.

Bad science and Bad thinking in the military:

2012-01-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

Bad science and Bad thinking in the military:

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/acupuncture-the-navy-and-faulty-thinking/#more-18633Science-Based Medicine » Acupuncture, the Navy, and Faulty ThinkingA Navy neurologist, Capt. Elwood Hopkins, has posted a 3-part article on “The Power of Acupuncture” on Navy Medicine Live, the official blog of Navy and...

George is still awesome

2012-01-06T16:32:00.000-08:00

George is still awesome:
http://youtu.be/mvTCr5Z-0lAEditGeorge Takei is the Broker of Star Peace

Why we need clinical trials.

2012-01-06T09:45:00.000-08:00

Why we need clinical trials:

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/why-do-we-really-need-clinical-trials/#more-18619Science-Based Medicine » Why Do We Really Need Clinical Trials?A point I make over and over again when talking about new or alternative therapies that are not supported by good clinical trial evidence is that lower-level...

Con artist gotta con

2011-12-29T08:21:00.000-08:00

There are two groups of people. One is educated medical people working with science and is regulated. Another group use magical thinking and nonsense to 'treat' people. Both have access to 10,000 dollars for treatment. Care you guess which group uses the most of the pot?

Booster Gold

2011-11-22T16:12:00.000-08:00

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/syfy-booster-gold-greg-berlanti-261801
Syfy Orders Script Based on DC ComicsThe project, which will be penned by Fringe's Andrew Kreisberg, hails from Greg Berlanti's production company.

Opinions

2011-11-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

Opinions have caused more ills than the plague or earthquakes on this little globe of ours. - Voltaire.

This:

2011-10-25T13:30:00.000-07:00

This.

Robots that can self assembly to fit a need, at the moment. Using foam was genius.http://news.discovery.com/tech/robot-builds-itself-with-foam-111020.htmlRobot Builds Itself With Foam : Discovery NewsResearchers have built a robot that self-assembles and can do a variety of tasks.

2011-10-21T08:45:00.000-07:00

Robots that can self assembly to fit a need, at the moment. Using foam was genius.

http://news.discovery.com/tech/robot-builds-itself-with-foam-111020.htmlRobot Builds Itself With Foam : Discovery NewsResearchers have built a robot that self-assembles and can do a variety of tasks.

more Tim Minchin

2011-10-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

If You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out (Take My Wife) by Tim Minchin

More Cow b^H^H^H^H^H Tim MinchinEditIf You Open Your Mind Too Much Your Brain Will Fall Out (Take My Wife) by Tim Minchin

Vitamins and proer use

2011-10-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

Steve Novella on Vitamins.:
http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/vitamins-and-mortality/#more-16540

tl;dr
Recommendations should be based upon specific health conditions and blood tests to measure levels of vitamins, so that specific deficiencies can be appropriately targeted.Science-Based Medicine » Vitamins and MortalityThe discovery of various vitamins - essential micronutrients that cause disease when deficient - was one of the great advances of modern scientific medicine...

Home 3d printing

2011-10-13T10:04:00.000-07:00

Home 3d printing getting closer:
http://singularityhub.com/2011/10/12/origos-3d-printer-could-be-the-last-toy-your-ten-year-old-will-ever-need/Origo’s 3D Printer Could Be The Last Toy Your Ten Year Old Will Ever Need

Goodbye, Dennis!

2011-10-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

#include <stdio.h>
int main(void)
{
printf("Goodbye, Dennis!");
exit(0);
}

Too Soon?

2011-10-11T17:08:00.000-07:00

Well, the iPhone 4S sales are up due to an increase in hipster desire. You know, because Steve Jobs is so underground.

unemployment

2011-10-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

Because I have ran into, twice today, people that seem to think the unemployment was cause by Obama, here is this:

As a side note, look at the highest point, in 1982..who was president then, I can't recall.

RIP Steve Jobs.

2011-10-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

RIP Steve Jobs.

Lofgren, retired pub staffer

2011-10-05T16:32:00.000-07:00

An article from Mike Lofgren, a recently retired staff member on the Republican side of both the House and Senate Budget Committees.
It's a long, but good article that sums up how much lunacy is going in in the republican party. http://www.truth-out.org/goodbye-all-reflections-gop-operative-who-left-cult/1314907779Goodbye to All That: Reflections of a GOP Operative Who Left the Cult | TruthoutSkip to Main Content Area. Home. Wednesday, 05 October 2011 / TRUTH-OUT.ORG. ARCHIVE | LOGIN | JOIN TRUTHOUT | SEARCH. CIA: Zubaydah's Torture Drawings, "Should They Exist," to Remain To...

I had to reshare this

2011-10-05T09:20:00.000-07:00

I had to reshare this....great commercial.C.C. Chapman originally shared this post:Quite possibly THE best video game commercial ever.

Thanks to +J.C. Hutchins and +Steve Coulson for putting this on my radar. SO well done if you are gamer."Michael" -- PS3 Long Live Play

Another test/Garrett Moffitt originally shared this post:Testing cross posting

2011-10-05T08:34:00.000-07:00

Another test/Garrett Moffitt originally shared this post:Testing cross posting

Share from G+Garrett Moffitt originally shared this post:Interesting old Krugman article from the Bush era:http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/warfore.htmlwarforeCLASS WARFORE? This note is by way of background to my recent op-eds, which have been very tough on George W. Bush. Here's why Bush's plans have me upset: our current situation is one in which...

2011-10-05T08:32:00.000-07:00

Share from G+Garrett Moffitt originally shared this post:Interesting old Krugman article from the Bush era:
http://web.mit.edu/krugman/www/warfore.htmlwarforeCLASS WARFORE? This note is by way of background to my recent op-eds, which have been very tough on George W. Bush. Here's why Bush's plans have me upset: our current situation is one in which...

To the Moon

2011-08-09T12:13:00.001-07:00

I wonder what it would cost to put something on the moon. Nothing that needs to return, just literal dropping stuff on the moon. How Would I find out that cost?

d6

2011-08-09T11:14:00.000-07:00

Found this song. Another piece of nerd music:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54VJWHL2K3I

Harry Potter

2011-01-19T19:47:00.000-08:00

I just found out Rowling won't release her books in ebook format.

hahaha. What a maroon.

A good story is a good story. Is King Lear less of a story when reading it off a printing press instead of scribed? Is music only good live?

Paper books are a wast for a great many reasons. They need to be phased out. Of course she is deluding herself. In 10 years when most person books are in electronic format, she will have a sudden change of heart. Probably along the lines that she doesn't want to deprive the current generation of her works.

There are people who love books, and there are people who love good stories. They are not necessarily the same person. You can tell the difference by how the describe their reading habits. If they mention the sheer number of books in their collect, reading is just an excuse for them to collect books.

Of course, the other side of this ugly coin is copyright lengths; which are far too long for a healthy and vibrant culture.

Penguin Publishing cc: Jim Butcher

2011-01-19T19:32:00.001-08:00

Dear Penguin Publishing,

You are failing to learn the lessons of previous industry impacted by the new digital life.

People want to pay less, not more then the non digital equivalent.

I can get a song for 99 cents and listen to it with equal enjoyment many, many time. Almost all books don't warrant a separate reading.

A book is often a bigger endeavor, so I will pay up to 5 dollars for an eBook. In my case it's the kindle but that applies to future readers as well.

Five Dollars, Max.

Don't forget who you are competing with. It's not eBooks v paper books. It's you're current business model vs Used books, libraries and, yes, copyright infringer.

Feed issues

2010-06-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

I think I got the feed set up, however it's grabbing older post. Why would it grab old posts by default?

I am hoping to figure out how to get it to go from facebook to my blog instead of the other way around.

Feed changes

2010-06-30T09:12:00.000-07:00

Trying to figure out how to get facebook posts to also post here.

Expect an increase in test posts

Template Change

2010-06-30T08:54:00.001-07:00

I decided to change my template. The old one had issues when trying to make the body wider, and bloggers new template designer doesn't adjust that template. grr.

Since I was changing templates, I decided on a radical departure from brown and boring.

Philosophy

2010-06-30T08:22:00.001-07:00

Philosophy as it's own study has been brutally, and gleefully, murdered by science.

Google dumps MS.

2010-06-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

Google has made it their policy to dump windows and move to Linux. I would wager to speculate they are setting the stage to move to Chrome OS.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/d2f3f04e-6ccf-11df-91c8-00144feab49a.html

This should sound some serious alarms at major corporation and MS weak security architecture and implementation.

Cool link of the day:

2010-05-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

Watch a stadium come down from the inside:

http://www.dallascowboys.com/farewell/Texas_Stadium_Implosion.cfm

How to lose at Portal

2010-05-12T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is the first room. Notice where the cube is?

Public Service

2010-05-11T08:33:00.000-07:00

The Prince of Persia movie is coming out soon. As a public service I present this in order to lower your expectations and thus, make the movie better for you.

Geo-Engineering

2010-05-11T08:14:00.001-07:00

More and more often the topic of geo-engineering comes up as a method t deal with climate change.

One of the most recent one is this one the Bill Gates has reportedly dropped some cash into. What they fail to talk about is with less light. what will be the impact to crop yields? How long will it take to stop the effects of shooting seawater into the air should it turn out the raining salty water on everyone is a bad idea?

The last onie is the critical one to my mind, and should be boiled down to one question that should be answered about all these efforts:

"If we realize that is a bad idea, how long would it take to stop?"

Anything that's long then a week should just be scrapped.

The solution I would like to see researched would be to put giant sheets of material in orbit. Several squares that we can send up a piece at a time and have it automatically attached to another piece. So we are building it as needed. We could also decommission it a piece at a time. Or if it become s critical mistake, do commission it from orbit immediately. Or push it closer to the sun so it has less of an effect. You could even put up a material that only blocks specific frequency of light.

Also, we should be in a global effort to plan relocation of people and crops. This will take a long time, so make a plan and be ready.

I found the as captivating

2010-04-29T15:39:00.000-07:00

Views on BP aside, I really enjoyed this ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVsPT6ePKPw

Awesome, funny, bold.

Are they coming for you?

2010-04-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

THEY CAME FIRST for the people who compute trajectories,

and I didn't speak up because I don't compute trajectories,

THEN THEY CAME for the analog watches

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an analog watch,

THEN THEY CAME for the auto factory workers,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't auto factory worker

THEN THEY CAME for me,

and I didn't speak up because I wasn't John Conner

And now, some humor

2010-04-23T08:33:00.000-07:00

I stumbled upon this video.

Very funny.

This just in...

2010-04-16T14:08:00.000-07:00

Using less of a drug means the drug will not be as strong.

Shocking..a revolutionary idea that will cause a paradigm shift in out quantum understanding~

Homeopathy still does not work. Never has, never can. Please stop wasting your money. Stop endangering the lives of others, and take some critical thinking course.

Seriously, using less of a substance can not produce more of an effect. Nothing in anything man has ever found about the universe supports that, nothing ever tested supports that, it is literally nonsense.

Here is a nice write up:

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/?p=4750

Some humor:

http://dilbert.com/2010-04-16/

Finally a quote from Michael Specter:

“When you start down the road where belief in magic replaces evidence and science, you end up in a place where you don’t want to be.”

iPad

2010-04-16T13:54:00.000-07:00

I finally went to look at the iPad. It was very...meh.

Nothing really new there. I had high hopes, but it pretty much does what the Touch does, only bigger.

Moving through a book as slow, and as an eBook reading I would place it write in the "It's OK" status. The kindle is a lot easier on the eyes.

At no point would I have used the word 'Magical'. It's known tech.

Not to say it doesn't have an use, or wouldn't be interesting to have, just that nothing about it makes me want to jump right out and get one.

The only reason I wouldn't want to ge one is Apple's obsession with control on their appliances.

What I can read, what I can put on it, and planned obsolesce is all a little much for me.

It's always a trade off. If it was substantial cheaper, then the trade off would be worth the risk. If it did something mind blowing, maybe it would be worth the risk of not being able to do what I want with it.

As it stand, meh.

To put technology that's being used in perspective:

http://xkcd.com/728/

Not so magical now, is it?

People are going way too nuts over this thing.I understood the iPod. It was a revolutionary mp3 player. The iPhone was pretty nice.

I can only think the people who call it 'magical' are either getting paid my Apple to use the as a buzzword, using it to justify not actual having a reason to spend that money, or have been brought here from 1989.

WePad

2010-04-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

The tablet/eReader I am looking forward to is the WePad.

It has what Apple lacks. Open platform, a web cam, and a better sized screen.

Open Platform:

There is plenty of talk about how Apple likes to be the dictator of what you can do with the device you buy, so I'm not going to rehash that here. I will say that it looks like the WePad doesn't suffer from one person delusions of grandeur. It will run anything that runs on Android; which is a significant number of Apps.

Web Cam:

I mean, come on Apple, how could you leave this out? You could have grabbed the book market and the video phone market. I suspect it will be in future releases. I also suspect their will be a mad rush of people selling their 1st Gen iPad for a newer one. At this point they will all suddenly agree that it should have had a web cam to begin with.

Screen Size:

Its a bigger screen that looks more comfortable to use for media and browsing. This is actually a minor detail, but when I was looking at an iPad, it just didn't 'feel' quite the correct size.

WePad Cons:

It has less battery life. This is to be expected; however I am still waiting for some battery life numbers to come in from the iPad after it's been out for a moth or so.

It's not out yet, so the fact sheet could be wrong. According to the site, on 4/26 a WePad will be put into the hands of critics.

The WePad's price is listed as 449 Euros. I don't know how that will translate to US dollars at the time of release.

The biggest downside is that its initial mass release will be in German this August.

Still if it does what it's claimed to do, then it will be worth the wait.

My advice to everyone is to hold off on buying the iPad.

Authors

2010-04-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

This was in my previous post, but decided it need it's own posting.

Would you rather make 1000 dollars by selling a thousand books at a dollar a pop, or sell 2,000 books, make 2000 dollars even if it means another 100 people don't pay for it?

We have seen this is the music industry where the artist put their product online, and even though a lot of peopel pay nothing, the band still makes more money then if they went through tradition means.

That doesn't surprise a lot of us who realized that most people who download a song from someplace that doesn't have authorization to distribute it, would never buy it anyways. I'm not saying it's right, just that is just how it is.

eBooks and whatnot

2010-04-13T10:40:00.000-07:00

eBooks have come under some heat lately, mostly because publishers are craving to make the same mistakes the music industry did. They could jump up and make a lot of money and adapt to a new market just by following what Apple did with iTunes. A central place to get and manage music.

The publisher could make a consortium and create similar software for books. Nothing about it would really be technically new or really challenging. It WOULD require them to think about future contracts, and how to charge. You will be a lot more successfully with eBooks if you charge less. The digital price point is different. By different I mean lower.

There is still billions of dollars to be made with eBooks, different strategies to getting people published and effectively infinite shelf space.

This is only a problem because publishers are loosing their monopoly on who gets published. They need to realize this is going to happen, and figure out how to be the company people buy their eBooks from. They also need to stop penalizing the consumer when the person selling a book does something wrong.

I am waiting for some established writers to say good buy to the publishing house and just sell their book online. IN fact, I can see an editing industry popping up where authors pay to have their book edited and prepared for eBook distribution. A company completely separated from publishers. Authors just put their book online through any of the new emerging channels.

The 'Butcher fiasco' should be sending a clear message to all parties involved: "Digital books are hear, and you need to stop assuming everyone is ripping you off."

Or they can just let Apple become such a power house they have to do separate negotiations for eBook with them, Just like the music companies did.

HDMI Cables

2010-04-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

Because this topic seems to rear it's ugly head every now and again, I thought I would link to some articles showing the differences in cables:

and here:

http://www.audioholics.com/education/cables/long-hdmi-cable-bench-tests/hdmi-cable-testing-results

the short answer? it doesn't matter.

I paid 5 cents + 2.95 shipping and handling for my cable, and it pushes 1080p just fine.

I got it from an Amazon seller.

For home use systems, what you should look at is where the cable meets the connector. It should not seem flimsy. This is you most likely place for failure. Bear in mind most people don't touch the cable for years after it is set up., so it doesn't need to be a heavy duty connection. Obviously if you are using equipment you move around, you want a heavier duty cable that can take being pulled out and tossed around. It will probably cost more then my nickel cable, but it should costs 100 dollars.

For industrial grade use, you will need an expensive cable that is thick, shielded and designed to be handled by people who might not care.

Finally, check to be sure it's rated for your system. Most of the time this wont matter, but it doesn't hurt. Rated for HDMI 1.3 should do it for almost ever system. For the true home theater set up, at this point 1.4 is what you are looking for. Again, Many 1.3 cable will do 1.4, but there isn't a guarantee. In the Amazon link above, on page 3 there are 1.4 HDMI cables for 12.99.

Save you money for a nice Blu-ray player the supports streaming.

Tiger Woods

2010-04-09T07:50:00.000-07:00

Alert - Tiger woods is a human who plays golf. Nothing more. What he does in his own life is his business, what he does while golfing is public business.

And then this:

“It is not simply the degree of his conduct that is so egregious here,“It’s the fact that he disappointed all of us, and more importantly, our kids and our grandkids. Our hero did not live up to the expectations of the role model we sought for our children.” Billy Payne

Listen Bill, If a golfer has become a hero and role model to your children, you have failed as a parent. Plus his attitude and tone was so condescending I expected the word 'Boy' to exit his mouth.

Where are his harsh words for Mickelson? Oh yeah, Mickelson is white so he doesn't care.

I don't even watch the game, and I am sick of this.

What the Hell

2010-02-10T07:28:00.001-08:00

I watched th Daily show. Newt was on it, and he basically called all Americans cowards and stupid. Well done Newt~

Americans don't want Terorist tried in New York? really? Another out of touch wind bag.

"When you poor money into the federal bureaucracy, it doesn't come out,"

Really? I see a lot of money coming out in the way of private sector contracts, military, federal employees. In fact sometimes too much comes out.

Why do people think the federal government is a vacuum? all that money, every single penny, ends up beck into the economy. We can discuss who that money gets back into the economy, but to act as if it doesn't is incorrect. Either Newt is stupid(he is not), or he is spreading FUD. Hint: He is spreading FUD.

He then goes on to include TARP as part of the discretionary budget, claiming it's 1.4 trillion and doesn't account for the money the financial institution has paid BACK to the feds. Oh yes, they don't like to bring up the fact that most, if not all, returns to the feds.

I love how is uses a few abuses of Medicare to claim that's why it's cheaper. I would argue if it costs you most to look out for abuse then the abuse costs you shouldn't worry about the abuse.

Some change

2009-12-23T11:09:00.001-08:00

The initial point of the blog was just a vent for ideas that pop in my head. I am going to morph this into a skeptic Blog.

Regarding new punctuation I proposed

2009-12-02T10:00:00.000-08:00

I just found out that author Ambrose Bierce wrote his essay "For Brevity and Clarity" and proposed a new type of punctuation mark to convey jest, which he knew would make the satire a little more clear in typewritten correspondence.

So I'm not some sole loon to think that snarky or jest deserve to be its own sentence type.

The Garrett update

2009-05-28T15:25:00.000-07:00

The Garrett has been changed from 'Sarcasm' to 'Snarky'
This is a more accurate reflection of what I am trying to do. Make a punctuation that adds a level of clarity to online conversations.

Warm beds

2009-05-20T16:25:00.000-07:00

Imagine a cap over a heating vent in the home. A plastic tube comes out of the cap and attaches to your bed.
Now hot air is blown into your bed or box spring whenever the heat comes on, or A/C I suppose.

Swine Flu

2009-05-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

How come there hasn't been any stories of news people looking into the illegal alien culture to see if people are getting sick but are to afraid to report it?
Maybe someone has and there isn't a story, but still I would ahte for there to be an underground spike in swine flu that suddenly blossoms into the main stream media without warning.
Not that I think this is the end of the world, just to be prudent.

Spiral Solar Thermal

2009-05-05T11:09:00.000-07:00

Traditionally Solar Thermal is trough about 100 yards long with a Fresnel lens focusing light to super heat a liquid. This heated liquid is stored and then used to heat water, creating stem and turning a generator to produce electricity.
The holding take holds the liquad through the night providing 24/7 power. There are also concentrated mirror types.

No imagine the top 10 floors of a high rise dedicated to solar thermal. Use a spiral design, the windows would be your lenses. Put the steam generator in the middle, even without an holding tank it would go a long way to offset energy costs.

Actually with the much smaller foot print, they could be used anywhere there is a little open space.

Vista twittter cloud

2009-04-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

I would like to see a dynamic twitter cloud background for Vista. I would also like there to become a new name to replace 'cloud' when used in this regard. With Google over ten years old, when something new comes out, there needs to be an attempt to give it a unique original name.

Maybe 'Cl00d5', or 'Dynamic Twits', or whatever.

All Digital content exist on all harddrives.

2009-04-10T07:54:00.000-07:00

Let's say you have a terabyte hard drive. That means any digital content that exists, will exist and might exist up to a terabyte exists on your hard drive. You just need to organize the bits.

I am creating something that you feed a hex number, it is save as a .zip, and then an attempt is made to unzip it.
If it fails to unzip go to the next one and so on. If it opens, write that to a log and then take a look. Yes, this will produce a lot of garbage but the hits will be interesting.
Now imagine google dedicating a cluster to something like that, it would be awesome.

I wish I acted on this when I first thought of it; a 10Mb hard drive is easier to get ones mind around.

Criminal trial experiments

2009-03-18T08:36:00.000-07:00

For year I have wondered what the outcome would be if a group of 12 people decide a case by only reading the transcript of the case, with all mention of anything 'stricken' from the record removed. really all non pertinent information. Remove gender, race, and anything that was strictly supposed to be what the Jury rules on.

If this was done in a thousand random cases, would the outcome be significantly different then what the actual jury had decided?

I have not studied law, so I have no idea if this has been done. If it has, please post a comment with a link.

USB Key NAS

2009-03-10T13:18:00.000-07:00

How about a Hub you can plug USB keys into that the computer see's as a Network Attached Storage Device?

The hub connects into your LAN, and can be powered from a wall plug or from the USB port you can plug in? Or better, A USB wall plug.
Got an old 1G USB key? plug it in and now you have a bigger NAS. Log intot he web interface and create mirrors of other keys in the storage Device.

Are Wii developers intentionally missing the boat?

2009-01-24T11:33:00.001-08:00

once again another game comes out for a console besides the Wii first. I wonder if this due to the average age of new game developers? Developers looking at whats cool to their recently departed teen years and using that to drive their business decisions instead of just looking at who is selling the most consoles. People can discussed it's graphics, but the market seems to be wanting Fun before Looks. And Wii games are fun.

What I really like about Nintendo is the number of games they have for young kids. As a parent and a gamer I want to enjoy gaming with my kids.

Help the home owners, NOW.

2008-12-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

We need to stop giving money to these financial institutions, and give money to the home owners. IN a much earlier post I talked about why the 700Billion dollar giveaway was wrong. I am going to elaborate on that a little here. Funny how it took, what 2 weeks for a bill to pass, but it is taking forever to get any real help to the citizen.

A) It turns out banks lied an several fronts.

B) Lenders took advantage of new borrowers who didn't understand the fine intricacy of the finance system

C) Banks were aware of what was coming, and kept lending.

D) Helping the home owner in default gets the economy moving faster then giving it to banks.
Maybe, Maybe if there was a sound plan when they wanted to give the money to these financial institutions it might work. It worked in englans during their crisis.

No, I'm not going to remove blame from the home owner. That's not what this is about, it's about helping the economy as a whole.

Personally I would do the following:
1) Foreclosure get's put off 90 days. If payment can restart at that point, it starts as per normal. No foreclosure penalties.

2) If it can't then restructure the loan to see if that helps.

3) Drop the interest rate to 4.5. If people still can't make payments, guarantee 4.5 to the next qualified buyer. This is to entice some to get into the home.

Now, I am having a hard time telling how bad it really is, reports are all across the board. Usually that means it's worse, but it's not a sure thing.

If it is extremely bad add the following.

Walk away. Someone can opt to walk away from the home, no credit hit.
Yes, the banks take it in the shorts on this one. But it will cause an immediate adjustment to the actual current value, and gets someone in the house.

This would all have to be passed by congress to force this issue becasue of Collateralized loans. where many people own a loan.

The banks have lent way too much, and the reaper as came to collect it's toll.

PSA

2008-10-28T09:26:00.001-07:00

Instead of using PSA to tell me to read to my children(something I don't need to be told) How about useful ones that actually help society in more practical manners.

Example:
"Hi, this is [Insert sports star name] here to remind you that there is about 1.6 Kilometers, or 'clicks' to a mile."

"Hi, This is [Insert teacher name] just reminding you that there are 2.2 pound in a Kilogram."

"This is [Car driver] just reminding you that properly inflated tires saves lives and gas."

"Id like to take a moment that putting non violent criminal in jail costs you 50 thousand dollars a year plus health benefits, per criminal."

"Hello, this is Inigo Montoya reminding you that you killed my father, prepare to die."

"This is Garrett Moffitt reminding you that LIVE FROM NEW YORK IT'S SATURDAY NIGHT!"

I've always wanted to do that, and I doubt I'll ever get the chance to actually do it on Saturday Night Live. For the record I would be AWESOME at it. Second only to John Belushi trying to hold the show up and demanding Frasier / Ali tickets to say it.

Wireless Pay booths

2008-10-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

There could be a wireless pay machine. You put in a quarter and it's spits out a number that lets you connect to it's wi-fi point, for say 5 minutes.
For those people that needs a quick connection to check email, or get a map.

Even better would be wi-max points run and maintained by the local government. Not having easy access/free wi-fi on a major city is quickly going to be like not have paved roads in a major city.

Teachers

2008-09-14T10:18:00.000-07:00

Teachers should follow a class of kids from K-5. This would allow the class and the teacher to know each other very well, kids would become more comfortable with the teacher, and the teacher would know how different kids learn and are motivated.

Pop up side for wheel barrels

2008-08-19T19:38:00.000-07:00

Back from vacation! Camping for a week with my son..and 100 other 10 year olds. It was a blast.

While watching people load stuff onto a wheel barrel, and then watching it fall out, I realized a wheel barrel with sides that could be raised would be nifty. Possibly collapsible extenders for the side.
Some clamps to attach it to the wheel barrel, a frame work that extends up 18 inches, with nylon acting as the sides.
You wouldn't want a wheel barrel that top heavy full of dirt or rocks, but a bunch of sleeping bags or other bulky but light items it would work great.

Elections and Budget

2008-08-07T22:29:00.000-07:00

Every politician is claiming th want to cut taxes, and every person says there are too much taxes.
You here this a lot, but no one recommends any thoughtful advice.
When a politician says there going to cut taxes, we need to ask "Which taxes and what service will we lose?"
People never seem to care what taxes, as long as they are cut. Of course, they they complain ab out the schools systems, parks, and other service as the dwindle.

There needs to be a website that government agencies need to put their budget information on that is laid out in a fashion that is readable by non accountants.
Not some spread sheet with a 1000 lines and 400 column pivot table. A simple pie chart.
Each section represents a high level view of the budget. When you click on a section if drill to another pie chart a level lower, and so on.
This makes it easy for a lay person to see how much money services cast verse Taxes and rates and other revenue items.
I do know the budgets are complex, especially for government bureaus. We should continue to publish a complete breakdown for people who like to dig to the penny.

This would allow citizens to have a better chance at understanding how much services cost, and how complex it is to maintain services. It allows us to say "what taxes will you cut?" And then discuss if it is really the right thing.

Reagan cut the metric system to "save taxes". Was that really the smartest thing to do? how much has not converting to metric cost us?

Over 21 Cinemas

2008-08-01T08:39:00.000-07:00

Why don't cinemas have a quite showing of movies?
No one under 21, no communication devices, and a strong reminder not to talk.
Have some Ushers standing in the Cinema, and as soon as one of these rules is broken, they escort the person out.

I'd pay an extra 25% to go there.

Now I know there are some cinemas that have drinking, but I don't want to hear some yahoo ordering a drink, or eating while I'm watching a movie.

That would be the other thing, if you leave the showing, you can't come back in.

Edit:
Changed ba to Pay, ahve to have , and here to hear. Thanks for that last one iamthewhale.

Olympic broadcasting

2008-07-27T10:26:00.000-07:00

The Olympic committee is missing the boat. A boat filled with cash.

Instead of making an agreement with one broadcaster, what they should do is run all the cameras and equipment themselves, and license the feed to who ever wants it.
Get som competition going.

You could do a whole package and ala carte. So you specialty shoow or internet cites could by the feed they are interested in.

This would allow that pretty much every event would bea vailable some where.

Oh, and don't even try to crack down on internet rebroadcasts. You can't stop it, and it will only cost you lots of money. You may not like it, but history pretty much shows that to be true. In fact, a savvy person can capitalize on that aspect.

I would gladly sell this idea to the Olympic committee for 5 million dollars.

Weed cutter

2008-07-26T23:50:00.000-07:00

There needs to be an attachment for the shop vac that allows you to cut a weed.
This was you wouldn't need to bend over.
It just needs to be a metal rectangle. One side you drag across the ground, the other attached to the shop vac.

Reality TV

2008-07-24T19:36:00.000-07:00

Kitchen Nightmares really need to have a 'year later' episode.

Even better, there should be a similar show with Click and Clank going to mechanic shops.

Personally, I'd like to see one with software developers. Where I walk in and rip the hell out of their crappy code. This is awesome because you can find fault anywhere; even in more places then a kitchen.

I could goo on with that last one. Hell I can even think how to sell it. Can anyone get me an executive to pitch it to?

Digital voice tags

2008-07-23T21:46:00.000-07:00

There need to be a setting on digital camera that allows you to add 5-10 seconds of voice when taking a picture.
You push the button half way, say a 'tag' like "Disney Haunted mansion with the family" or "Out with the girls" and it has a relationship to the picture, along with a geostamp.

We have 4 Gig memory cards, so space should be that big of a concern.

BTW

2008-07-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

All you guys who wanted on the spot 'coupons' sent to nearby consumer? the technology is now primed.

Set up a service that the companies want to send ads to people near by, charge the companies the consumer can op in on the fly.
Right now, I should be able to walk into a mall, look at my smart phone, and see a series of deals for companies I've chosen to sens me. A simple RSS feeder would do. Don't, DO Not, send adds in some banner. People will hate it.
Nation wide, this will make money.

I could set this up and get it going for 4 million and have it nation wide and in wide use in 3 years.

My email is in my profile in the About Me section on the left side.

More mobile Games

2008-07-22T23:39:00.000-07:00

I couldn't get the idea of mobile games out of my head, so I thought I'd jot down a few more.

Random rate, where you take a picture of someone, guess there score and send it to ~~a series of friends~~ your social network and see how close you get to the average.

You could use it in LARPing, but once "combat" has begun, it's all done through the computer.

You could play 'tag'. A bunch of people that are going to be in an area sign up, one person is it, when they get close to someone else, then they are it. the last person it looses, the person the computer chooses to be it needs to be tagged again. I have it on good authority, My 10 and 8 year olds, that tag backs aren't aloud.

Same thing, only with hide and sneak.

and of course, Delta Apple..but I don't need to explain that one.

Vibrating directions, and more.

2008-07-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

There needs to be an App for the iPhone where you tell it where you need to walk to and stick it in your pocket.
It vibrates one way, turn left, another turn right. So you walk down the street and seem to know where you are going. No more looking down to see where you are instead of looking at the nice people on the street.

Also, you could have one that sends a tone to your headset..or even better, says "Hot" or "Cold" as per the directions of that game.

You could have a game where once every minute you are told if you are hotter of colder to some one else, and every 90 seconds the person you are looking for is notified that that are hotter and colder.
Two people could find each other easily, or turn it into a hunter/hider game.

Perhaps some sort of real person city wide Chess variant could be created?
Remember the game Assassin? where you got a contract and tried to shoot someone with a dart gun? same deal, except you try to get within 10 feet of another player and the iPhone communicates a kill...make the kill based on a random roll, modified based on some parameters.

Of course, this could be done with any Smart phone, but I am hoping mentioning the iPhone will generate hits.

If anyone is thinking that I should write the App, they are correct. it is well within my software skill. Just send me an email and I will tell you where to mail the iPhone to...

Additional SmartPhone Screen

2008-07-17T17:14:00.000-07:00

I see this as the next big user feature to Smart phones. A screen that slides out from underneath another screen giving you two screens.

A good App would be one that said 'Hot' or 'Cold' over you blue tooth device as you moved closer to a destination you marked on the map.

Right lane paving

2008-07-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

People seem to want other drivers to stay ton the right to allow passing, and I agree. But how to help encourage that? simple, just apply a comfort factor.

Pave the right lane so it's smoother then the left. This will get people to us the left lane long enough
to pass.

Note: When in actual traffic, don't expect the person in front of you to get out of your way, it makes no sense.

I missed yesterday

2008-07-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

but I was in the ER, so I'll give myself a pass.what? not good enough? fine.
I'll go an extra week into August.

Value add to DnD modules

2008-07-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

Hasbro/WoTC/TSR need to have module packs.
This is a pack of 6 mini's the go with the theme of a module.
I know it would increase the cost of a modules, but you could use the Minis for other games.
Make on of the Minis a 'Boss' Mini. They don't have to be high quality. Let the people buying the modules know whats in the package.. Also sell individual mini boxes themed to the modules set. Those you can keep the standard "We're not going to tell whats in it because 1 out of every 144 boxes has something rare." theme going.

Double Roof

2008-07-13T23:57:00.000-07:00

A great, easy, and relatively cheap energy saver would be a second roof.
This is a roof built about 6-8"s above the current roof. The East/West facing sides would extend a little past the roof, and the North/South sides would be even with the current roof.
You put wire around the gap to keep critters out.

The way the second roof will reflect a lot of heat, and the heat it absorbs will be vented out the 8" high gap between roofs.

This could save a LOT of money on energy bills.

New Word: Neo-Geek

2008-07-12T00:03:00.001-07:00

Neo-Geek.

These are people who get involved with geek materials after they become mainstream. Then try to get some geek cred.

Bumber sticker holders

2008-07-10T18:57:00.000-07:00

This item would be a plastic shell you could seal bumper stickers in. So when you candidate becomes to embarrassing, you could just unsnap the side, slide out your bumper sticker and quietly go about your business.
This would attach to the bumper, or inside a window.

Simple to make, and no more scrapping bumper stickers off your bumper.

Favorite bumper sticker:
Stumper Bicker.

I figured out the issue

2008-07-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Apparently when you make a post, but only save it. When you do post the next day, it keeps the last save date and time as the post date and time.
That sucks, and personally I consider it a bug. There is the chance I am missing an option somewhere, but that would mean I was wrong and that can't be right.

Tablet glove

2008-07-08T22:42:00.000-07:00

The tablet glove would be a fabric cover the attaches to the bottom of the tables, like a fitted sheet, and has a place to slip your hand into. Like a fingerless glove.
It would attach securely so you can put your arm along side of your body, and still have the tablet glove on your hand.
It would allow you to rest your arm while doing something with your other hand. Like couting inventory, or talking to a nurse.

The same thing for clipboards.

Better mouse positioning for laptops.

2008-07-08T22:38:00.000-07:00

They need to make the mouse a little button on the bottom right of the display frame on laptops.
That way a user can rest their arm along the right side in a more natural position.
Observing the way most people use laptops, there really wouldn't be much typing speed lost except for the power typist, who should know all the hot keys anyways.
This design has the added advantage that the have can also be used to help stabilize the laptop when it's on someones lap.

Odd

2008-07-08T06:16:00.000-07:00

I missed a day. My apologies.
If it is in consolation to my loyal readers, I was working very hard that day and I am still in pain.
I'll post a second one for today to get things even.
Update:
It looks like I posted two in one day.

Cake top printer

2008-07-07T12:30:00.000-07:00

This would be a device you set a cake in, and it would spray whatever picture you put into it onto the top of the cake.

It would work like an ink jet printer, except the printing cartridge and nozzle would move.
The physical device and mechanism would be pretty trivial to build.
The only difficulty is creating an easy to clean cartridge system and nozzle.
The nozzle would have to be detachable, for easy cleaning.
You could either use a colored sugar water as the base colors.

You could either plug it into a computer or sell cartridges.
IF you are going for the razor blade scenario, obviously would would want cartridges.
I would like to make money form the device, and some supporting official images, but still let them plug the device into their computers USB2 port.

Portable Bidet

2008-07-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

Why don't the baby wipe companies make a portable Bidet; which would basically be a degradable wet wipe in a nice package.
Simple, easy, and it will keep you as clean as a baby's bottom

Gutter trap doors

2008-07-05T22:45:00.000-07:00

I know, I know Another gutter post.

Why doesn't the bottom of the gutter unhook and swing open? Just needs a rubber seal , some hinges and a latch.
Each piece is about 4 feet long. You just use a broom stick to push the latch, and the bottom of the gutter swings open. You hose it off, snap it back up, go to the next piece. No more limbing on the roof!

For the down poor parts we would put a door in that you could open to easily run a snake up or down in to get those pesky clogs.

Gutter Vac

2008-07-05T22:41:00.000-07:00

Why isn't there a shop vac attachment for cleaning gutters?
I made one myself, although admittedly it could be improved.

It's a U shap piece, and on the end is a piec about 4 inches wide 2 inches deep.
I can just turn on the shop vac, hook the end into the gutter, and just walk beneath the gutter cleaning it up.

A circular rubber piece that can go over the drain to suck debris out of it would also be nice.

Home Fireworks Auto Igniters

2008-07-04T23:34:00.000-07:00

This would be some wire with several clips attached.
Attach the clips to a series of fireworks, hook the wires to a battery. Puck a button and the fire works start ti ignite.
I'm sure there must be something like this for industrial systems, but why isn't there one for home systems? They would be cheap to make, easy to operate, and less dangerous the launching an Estes rocket.

So obvious and yet so not done

2008-07-03T23:17:00.000-07:00

We need a text book wiki.
Imagine every school having access to current and relevant texts.
Imagine the cost saving of not having to buy books.
Imagine students not needing to carry material because they could download it themselves.

This TextBook Wiki would have control content. Meaning people with the proven credentials put material on it, that material is fact checked and goes through all the normal rigors of any text book. An added bonus if you could get an expert in the field to comment on it, you don't have to worry about printing thousands of books. You just make the change, and send an email to the schools.

It would be laid out so it would be easy to print, if needed.
A teacher could get there material from it, and it will be for all grades.
The cost could be spread across all districts. The US has over 12000 districts. If everyone put in 1000 bucks, it would be enough to get set up with hardware, and get a bunch of subjects going.
If the big Universities get involved to sponsor district that can't get the money, and count Subjects added by teachers as part of the professor expected publishing regime, we could get volumes of texts in a very short time.

I would focus on Kindergarten and move upward. What I mean for this would be my goal would be the lower grades, but submission would still be taken for all grades.

It could be done for under 2 million a year after the initial set up. We would take donations, tax deductible of course and hope to get sponsors.
The ongoing costs could be spread out over Universities, 100 colleges and were talking about 20K per college. remember, we will be paying fact checkers and people to run this site.
Why the universities? because the better educated the students going into the university the better off the university will be.
There are a lot of bright kids that will have a tough time going to college just because their schools don't have proper material.

Most professor that write there own books never make money. Why not put it on TextBook Wiki for all?
I'm sorry, but it's time for dead tree text book publishers to go the way of the dinosaur, and the sooner the better.

I only wish I could get the right group of people together so we could do this ourselves. If we start now, in 5 years no 5th grade class in the US would need to buy text book material or worksheets.
In fact, that would be my first big goal. 5 by 5.
Plus, 5 by 5 is cool to say.

So, if anyone out here can get the ear of some large universities, and work contacts? I can do the technical side.

Auto Fetcher

2008-07-02T21:09:00.000-07:00

This device is a little motorized wheel that throws a ball for dogs. The great thing is the wide open top so the dog can drop the ball into themselves. Then fetch the ball.
Initially I was think if this when my elbow start hurting after hitting tennis balls for my dog.

We could make a small one that can toss a ball about 10 feet for small dogs in an Apartment.
This would be a great help for people who have difficulty throwing or getting out of their home.

We could make then light weight with wheels so people could easily set it up at a park.
With several dogs it could be a game. to get the ball and then return it to the machines hopper.

They would come with variable power, and be plug in, or battery operated.
We could also make one with air compression.
Spring loaded would be another option. Pulling back on a lever could be easier then throwing the ball, allowing greater portability.

Slot Covers

2008-07-01T19:10:00.000-07:00

This would be a soft plastic that slips over the unused slots in a mother board.
You could make them a variety of colors, glow in the dark, etc. . .
I have had this idea for years, even went so far as to try and find someone to manufacture a few prototypes. Manufacturers being wise, they wouldn't do it for a piece of possible sales. I even offers 80% just because I wanted to see if it would take off!

I figured I would charge 3 bucks a pop.
Now some people will say "Who would want that?" and to those people I suggest they look at all the money people spend on the bling of their rig.

An Idea for every day of the month!

2008-07-01T19:03:00.000-07:00

My intent was to post more frequently, and so towards that end, I will make a post with a new idea once a day, everyday throughout July.
If I fail, Ill return twice what you paid.

The Garrett

2008-04-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

The rapidity of the web, and all it's tube glory, has caused more then one person to take a statement the wrong way. I have been pushing an idea for new punctuation to solve this issue.

I have suggested using the tilde ( ~ ) for this punctuation mark. It is used to denote sarcasm. When used in this way, it is called 'The Garrett' or 'Garrett mark'. Why 'Garrett mark'? the answer is simple and obvious: "Big G's Punctuation to fame." is too wordy.

How many time have you gotten angry, or confused by a typed post because it's was being sarcastic? How many flame wars could have been ended sooner?

You would use it like so:

"My, what great weather we are having~"

I selected the tilde as a representative of the 'Garrett Mark" for a few reasons:

It's not used for much of anything else.
Won't be used to often, so it's placement on the keyboard is good.
The back tick is too small.
Easy to recognize.
Can't write sarcastic language.

A lot of what is sarcasm is verbal tone and body language. Difficult to capture in writing, especially in IMs, and blogs where the writing is immediately back and forth.

The great thing will be, grammar Nazis will have something else to complain about~

UPDATE:
I think it should be changed to snarky comment, not just sarcasm.

Intro

2008-04-17T11:36:00.000-07:00

A friend once said to me "You have more good ideas before you get off the pot in the morning then I have all week."

This post is a place for those ideas...along with other thoughts.