Yo, Flipper, how's it goin', mammal?

I wonder if the name Flipper for a dolphin is like Rover for a dog. Cliche.

Anyhow, fun article by Alexis Madrigal in Next Gov magazine, Nov 21, 2013.

Apparently there is a rumor going around that Google is working on man-dolphin communication (I assume to get more users).

She says interest in this waxes and wanes.

A guy named Doug Michels lobbied for years to build a dolphin embassy under the sea to communicate with sea mammals. That's an artist's rendition in the picture. Never built.

There was also a push for a water-filled space station with a supercomputer and a dolphin crew.

Never built. And the guy was asked to step away from the vodka very slowly.

Now the Google X-dolphin thing. In a New Yorker story on Google's research arm, Google X, reference was made to cybernetic dolphins.

The author of the Next Gov piece wrote to Google, but some buzzkill there said sarcastically that she hadn't seen any dolphin tanks out back.

Well, there is a Google Glass guy from Georgia Tech who is working on some communication deal with dolphins. Apparently a diver outfitted with a complete acoustic system and a keypad on his forearm tries to see if dolphins are using "words" they taught them.

The dolphins probably think it's a giggle not a Google.

Invisibility cloak becoming a reality

When you were a child, did you ever wish you were invisible and could sneak around and spy on people?

Well, two researchers at the Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto have demonstrated an invisibility cloak that's thin and scalable.

Professor George Eleftheriades and PdD student Michael Selvanayagam found a way to surround an object with small antennas that radiate an electromagnetic field that cancels any waves scattering off the cloaked object. (Nov 12, 2013 Physical Review X).

Light and radio waves get bounced away--voila, no way to "see" the object.

At present the antennas, which can be printed flat like a blanket or skin (or say a cloak), must be tuned to the frequency they are trying to cancel--but this can be corrected, the scientists say.

OK--we are now above my pay grade.

They say this can be used to "hide" bases or military hardware--but what about little kids wanting to sneak in their siblings' rooms?

Gates v Zuckerberg: The battle of the bigs

 There was an interesting skirmish in the headlines (the small ones on inner pages of the endangered papers) last week. Apparently, Mark Zuckerberg said connectivity was a human right--internet for all, world saved, yay!

Gates said interconnectivity as a world savior was "a joke."

Apparently some unnamed entrepreneur echoed the latter in The New Yorker, saying that thinking Facebook was a panacea for the world's problems isn't cynicism, but arrogance and ignorance.

Gates, who is well known for, along with his wife, Melinda, for spending billions on eradicating malaria and polio, said, "What is more important, connectivity or malaria vaccine?"

He went on to say that he loved IT, but when you want to improve lives you need to deal with basics like keeping kids alive and feeding them.

I read one story where the writer went on to say that everything Zuckerberg put into FB, he could have dedicated to curing TB.

Does expanding connectivity get Zuckerberg more FB users? Sure. But so would keeping more people alive.

I guess it comes down to your priorities. Theirs differ. And if more people use the internet, I am sure Gates get some of that, too.

So what do you think?

Or do you feel antsy when moguls fight?

Boo!

This Old House--the home improvement show--did a pumpkin carving contest. The one pictured was done by a woman in Minnesota--lots of hidden talent in the Middle West. (Would you date her?)

She used a kitchen knife, tempera paint, and stamp pad ink.

People love to whack up orange gourds, as the site pointed out.

Everyone needs some fun sometime--to get their creative freak on.

In DC, they used to feed pumpkins to the elephants at the zoo--they had a good time, too.

For more great gourd savaging, go to: http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/photos/0,,20750271_30044220,00.html

May not be up long--this fun comes but once a year.

Roominations

That David Kelley guy of IDEO, the self-professed supercoolest creativity company EVAH, says he dislikes people in a room brainstorming--or braindrizzling--or whatever they kids call it these days. Too confined to idea people, I take it--you need to get out and see what "real" people need, want, and like.

Personally, I don't like "bundling" where on say, your phone service, you pay more to get rid of features. Clever on their part, irritating as fleas on meth on my part. And why can't we pay 50 cents a month for each cable channel we actually watch, including the movie ones?

No one asked me, nor as far as I can tell, anyone else.

So maybe Kelley--who is a little twee for my tastes--is on to something here. (I am not sure what "twee" means, I just like it.)

I want new colors--yes, there are 200 shades of red--but they are all red. OK--we are limited by the light spectrum. I hate that! New colors, I say! Like murk, maybe, or dazz.

Gravity is so handy for setting things down and expecting them to stay there. But not so great for human flesh. Not sure what we can do about that.

I am sick of the lightbulb as the symbol of creativity. And that box! We should lose that baby. Maybe a basket or muffin tin?

As for cliches--clams are not ecstatic that I can see (of course, I usually meet them in their chowder form). And "kick the can down the road"--let's can that kick until further notice.

Innovation--Nurtured or taught?

Can wacky genius be taught? Well, she said modestly, I think we have answer when it comes to this blog--who could do this--or would?

But, apparently, people do want to read high tech snark--we are up to 11K hits since Jan.

Kidding aside, Melissa Korn took this up in the WSJ October 9, 2013, when she talked about new approaches to teaching innovation at the university level.

Out are the blah-blah lectures and in are the hands-on innovating opportunities.

Item: Luke Williams' course at New York University's Stern School of Business. This will be two days, cost $2,800, and will offer step-by-step plans for innovation by individuals and teams.

One exercise--if a cell phone doesn't work, instead of thinking the battery has run out, think why cell phones even need batteries.

Item: Columbia Business school has two new courses, one of which called Reinventing Innovation.

Whoa--pretty existential! Oh, OK--applicants have to measure their tolerance for ambiguity first. Whew.

Item: Dartmouth School of Biz--Leading Innovation from Idea to Execution. Pretty linear there. But it does try to rein in wild-eyed innovators with a lot of practical financial thinking.

There are also some innovation courses online. Check out the Haas School of Business at the University of California.

What do you think? Can this crazy stuff be taught--or should anyone with a bent be given a million bucks and a year off to do their worst? Kind of like those designers on Project Runway.

How to make money from an idea, without the risk

You know my great idea for aging people--drive-through kitty litter stores--no getting out to heave around 20 lb bags? Well, I am too broke and not commercially oriented to do it, but what if I could sell the idea?

You see where I am going here.

According to the WSJ of Sept 30, 2013 (you need to get it, I am just hitting the high spots), 43.5% of Americans saw a business opportunity last year, way up from previous years.

But only 55.9% of Americans, the same as in past years, think they are capable of launching a business.

The percent of Americans who didn't launch because they feared failure is way up, too.

Here's a secret: The next step after an idea is not necessarily launching a startup. Sssh--don't tell.

But--before doing anything--inventors should protect the idea, usually meaning get a patent.

You might also want to do a prototype. Or do a survey--who would want it?

Then see what companies have gone into products or ideas like yours.

You may wish to approach companies one at a time--some want exclusivity.

Or you might want to license--say it's an item that won't be replaced soon--you want part of every sale.

Or if it would help all mankind--maybe give your idea away.

I guess I already gave away drive-through kitty litter. And, of course, it would help mankind. Maybe I could make money naming it--come on, entrepreneurs, be a sport.

Let's see, Kitty Gurney...no...wait, give me a minute. Something with Toonces--the Cat Who Can Drive a Car.