Joelith's Journal

Okay, not I'm really struggling. Trying to come up with a new idea every week really does test the grey matter! I've been flat out with ACS and really haven't come up with a good idea so here goes.

I was at a party on the weekend and we were discussing an idea for a new kind of toaster. This friend of mine always complained that he hated that butter was always to hard for his toast. It comes from the fridge so it's harder then it should be. Now I realise there is soft spread butter, but who ever let reality ruin a perfectly over-engineered idea.

So we have one of those conveyer belt toasters and right at the end it adds the butter (and possibly jam) to the toast for you. This would be achieved by heating some butter from the heat of the toaster whilst the bread is toasting and then either spraying it on though a nozzle or some how spreading it right onto the bread. The jam would act in a similar matter.

Of the ideas I've presented so far this is one that I would actually buy. I'm lazy and I know it, so if I could save a few minutes every morning with my toast then I'd be happy. And why not? Isn't that the point of technology - to save me a few minutes every day. In those few minutes I could be thinking about better ideas (maybe for realmtech!) or working out problems with what I'm doing at work.

Okay, hopefully I'll have a better idea next week!

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Okay continuing my weekly idea posts is an idea to compliment ACTION buses service. I say service in the loosest sense of the word as buses in Canberra are horrible. The problem I see is that Buses are inconvenient because 1) you have to walk to the bus stop, which may be nowhere near your house 2) you have to walk to your office anyway since the bus doesn't stop nearby and 3) slow as they have to past bus stops where they don't pick anyone up.

So my idea is this -
1. Users log on to my service and register their ideal bus route. This is a route that they will take 10 times a week (return), typically to their office and home.
2. Other users do the same
3. Then the computer works out the ideal bus routes for the registered users.

We use some of those mini-buses ACTION has and work out the minimum number of people we will need to run this service. It shouldn't be too hard to programme as there is only a few routes in Canberra corresponding to the city centres (Woden, Tuggers, City, Belco, Gunners etc). It's like the Nightrider service but more regular and automatic (and hopefully cheaper)

The benefit of this system is that the Bus can pick you up from your house and drop you at your office. It's convenient and it minimises the cost to ACTION. They only need to run services where people have registered.

The problems are an issue or marketing. As usual technology is easy, it's getting users to use it that's the problem. We have to have enough people register for the service in a particular area that want to go to the same rough area. Unless the critical mass is achieved this service will fail

But then anything is better then cutting $6 million from the ACTION budget.

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I've been able to catch up on some TV recently and I've seen these ads to 'Free West Papua'. I'm not commenting on the validity of their case, but have you seen the website address they flash at the end: www.opticalsuperstore.com.au/freewestpapua What a stupidly long address. Particularly since this is only on the screen for a second. So why not have their own proper web site address? Well they do! If you follow that address you end up at www.freewestpapua.com.au a far easier address to remember.

So is the owner of opticalsuperstore.com.au providing hosting and this is part of the deal? Isn't that against the law, or the spirit of this advertisement. Doesn't really matter, except that no one will follow the link as it's too long.

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Okay, bare with me, I'm recovering from a flu that's kept me home since Friday, so this idea may...okay isn't the best. You have an umbrella with a heater in it. Then you have a large see through plastic that goes from the bottom of the umbrella to your feet (I've already seen this somewhere). This plastic keeps you inside the umbrella and thus keeps the warmth in.

So how do you power it? Let's think like an environmentalist and go with Solar. But umbrella's only come out in the cold so no sun. We could use wind power, but then a large blade on top of an umbrella could be dangerous. That count's out the green approach.

What about Nuclear? But then a nuclear powered umbrella sounds more like a plot device in an action movie (now there's an idea!). We need an energy device that can power a heater for a half hour period (say) and is rechargeable. Are batteries powerful enough for that now days? They can run computers for several hours so they should be able to run my umbrella. You'd put the battery in the handle

The problem with this device (among many problems) would be weight. But maybe one day we'll all be holding one of my Heatbrella's (hey, I have a flu!)

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