Brain Snacks - Some vague ideas

Smart Streetlights

So I'm wondering what our mental issue is when it comes to electricity?!? In Toronto every summer we have these 'rolling brown-outs' because (so we're told) when everyone comes home from work and flips on their AC it puts this big load on the electrical grid....

What I can't fathom though is WHY is electricity such an issue when the sun provides more then enough for everyone, and when I see all the light pollution that we generate every night I just don't get it... Why are our streetlights on all night? Why aren't they a) solar powered, and b) attached to motion sensors, and c) controlled by dimmer switches? ... is this just to simple a solution for our brilliant engineers and city planners to grasp?

My line of thinking is we detach all the streetlights from the grid. Make them ALL solar powered LED lights (less energy, last longer, brighter, etc...) Add in motion sensors and dimmers ... if there is no traffic, the lights can go dim and conserve electricity while reducing the light pollution. if there is motion, they can brighten up and provide light for people walking, racoons getting into the trash, cars driving down the street, etc...

Hell, i would think that it would provide an extra level of awareness for drivers and pedestrians, you would see that the lights two blocks in front of you are lit up (there must be joggers or raccoons, or children up there... better pay attention!!!)

Any additional electricity generated but not used by this system could potentially be sold back to the grid and additional systems could be implemented with monies earned (make the world a better place for everyone).

Because I want to share this information and allow everyone else to share it, while still remaining the copyright holder… this posts (Smart Streetlights) is released under a creative commons license.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Licence.
Smart Streetlights by Robert French is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Canada License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting me

 

Community Support

This is another re-occuring idea... a type of community supporting shop or cafe. I had the privlidge of getting in contact with an old aqquaintence today, Robin. She has spent the last 10 years of her life helping the youth in her community. She is educated in child services, and is a loving mother of 3. Re-connecting with her reminded me of just how selfless some people can be, even if it sets them back in life, her care for her family and fellow human is inspiring, and I give her huge kudos.

eLixir has been an idea that Lyndsay Childs and I have been bouncing around for a few years now, we have a draft business plan for it and what Robin said to me today, made me think about it. In many ways, I think she would be a perfect fit for this opportunity. Will have to talk to Lybedo (Lyndsay) about it.

Breif
eLixir is a modern hub for the community, healthy living, in all aspects of life. A place that you can get a real healthy organic lunch, learn about meditation, yoga, get life hacking tips and suggestions, enjoy an herbal tea, a good cup of coffee, or get computer and/or technical support, tempoary office space, Internet access, long distance phone access, FAX/Photocopying services, all in a modern, comfortible, clean environment.

 

Sleep Logging

Steve Pavlina (StevePavlina.com) has a great site on personal development, I find that his overall vibe is in better alignment with my own views on the overall scheme of this existance and how to go about things then any other 'personal' development views I have encountered before.

Steve's article(s) on Polyphasic Sleep are what got me on his site in the first place I am very intriguied with this sleeping pattern, have decided to try it myself, and I want to document my attempt online like Steve did... Being me, this spawend the idea of a dream logging method.

This then evolved quickly into the thought of a Facebook app, because that ties together two things on my list of 'to check out' ... The initial sketch in my head is somewhere to record basic sleep data. (1st iteration).

Initially just a simple location to record start time, stop time and details. Start and Stop times are dates, so the duration can be calculated and tracked, and the Details is a blob fit any dream notes or notible impressions of the sleep. (1st iteration scope)

Perhaps the ability to share spicific dreams with specific friends will make it viral in adoption. Taging another person sends out the request to add the app (2nd iteration)

The design of an interpreter (based on the common dream interpretation(s) / or self created) would allow the recorder to analyize over time the meaning of the dreams, or maybe it will help others recoginize one of the best links we have to the subjective state and how that impacts our life. (a post-sleep feild for retro-spective notes) - Limit the time in which the Details blob itself can be written to / edited, after a cirtain ammount of time the Details or only on sleep log creation, afterwards only a retrospective feild blob will be availible (should also be timestamped). ... (later iterations)

It just seems to make sense that I will start out here in my blog while I get the design for this app flushed out, and that gives the site some additional content, so it's a win-win-win idea, and I like win-win-win ideas. :-)

UPDATE - April 13 2008
Irony... just when I discover somthing that I totaly think will be great for me, life hands me something that prevents me from being able to check it out. The next opportinity I have for a 4 day weekend, I'll try the switch (again).

 

Prospecting

Another idea I had for a Facebook App is to leverage the social networking for the Network Marketing companies. Currently, most (if not all) of the apps on facebook are designed to share with your friends, to give them somthing, or share somthing about you.

What about prospecting them? I mean, aren't your friends your network of people? The reason this comes up is because I know that in my Primerica business, recruiting clients and team members is what the business model is about. You aim for the recruit and that increases the business because in a worst case scnerio, you will stil end up doing business with that person.

The model is reverse to what most people think about in a 'job' mentality (Just Over Broke)... In the Primerica model, I don't work for my upline, sure they get an override on the business I do, but I don't work for them, they are not my Boss ... They work for me, they are there to make my business work. In the same manner, the people I bring into the business and put on my team are the people I work for.

So why not leverage the process wiht an application? Currently if I have a friend that I think would be good in the business, or as a client (just about everyone) I can send my upline a message (on facebook, because they are also a friend) and tell them who my firend is, a bit about them and my upline will send off a communication ... hey, i don;t know you, you don't know me, but ... An app seems like the perfect solution.

So, a draft spec for a first interation would be the ability to select my upline, and send off a confirmation to them, once confirmed the upline see's me as a downline, I see them as an upline. The ability to select my prospects, by name and have that expand to include information such as how I know them, what they do for a living, and weather or not I have already talked to them about the business... That gest sent to my upline and they see my prospects under me (as a prospective team)

The ability to send 'canned' messages to these prospects and track the communication (like flirtible does?) is a requirement, and perhaps the ability to book appointments with trainers .. another level of a roll. (Irealize this is all kinda abstract still... I;ll see what I can hash out in the next littel bit.

 

Cell to Landline

About 9 years ago I came up with an idea for using cell phones in your home, I wanted to see a little box in your home thats essentially a miniture cell tower. So if you were at home and used your cell phone, it would connect to the local box, which in turn could flip your cell call to a land line call and you could talk for free.

Keep in mind that this idea occured to me before VoIP had made its way into the common world, I was still working @ CDI College of Business and Technology when I came up with this... I told just about anyone that would listen to me about this, and encouraged them to 'run with it' ... 9 years later, I guess someone did, see the announcment here.

Breif
Canadian Rogers Communications Inc. today announced a new service today that will allow its customers to have a hybrid cell/landline phone. Rogers Wireless, Rogers Communications cell phone division, announced that it will be rolling out a "unlicensed mobile access" (UMA) which will allow customers to access unlimited calling in their homes through a connection to the Internet.