Ideas to ponder

So I have been feeling a distinct lack of time in which to do creative things recently.
The problem is that life keeps getting in the way and a week will pass by and I won't have been able to find time to do anything.

Another problem I have noticed is that when I do have time I can't think of what I want to work on next. So what I am going to do is lost some of the ideas I have floating in my head.

Software ideas:

1) I think its time to revisit the USB bridge. This was an idea I originally had when I was working as a research assistent at York university. At the time I found myself frequently moving from computer to computer all while lugging my personal laptop to stay connected to my supervisor on MSN. So the idea came to me to try and link my laptop to the desktop so I wouldn't have to always be switching between the keyboard on the desktop and the one on the laptop. If I could connect the machines using a sills USB cable I could forward any mouse movements and key strokes from one computer to the other computer. I actually found an application that does this but through a network cable instead of a USB cable. I tried it for a while but I found it was a problem because all the computers weren't always on the same subnet. There was also the issue of network delays and security.
One of the main advantages of using a USB cable is that all computers I know of have more than 1 USB port but only a single Ethernet port. Now you can use wireless networks which most laptops have but there is a concern with security and key logger viruses that could be sitting on any computer connected to the same network. Also, it is conceivable that someone could take over your computer with a network based version but with a USB version they would have to physically connect a cable to your computer.
Extensions can also be added to the USB version where other devices besides the keyboard and mouse are shared; like scanners or printers.

2) graphics on the Android. Mostly this is to practice my android experience and possibly make some advertising money.

3) what about an android app that teaches you to program android apps? That's an idea I had this morning on the way to work.


Micro energy production:
Anyone that knows me knows that I and an environmentalist. I think that radical ideas are needed to change how the world operates. So with that in mind I have been thinking of ways in which to generate power in a more sustainable way. Now please remember that I am in now way an electrical engineer or anything like that so many if not all of these ideas could be completely impossible.

1)wind peer on a micro scale? There has been a lot of noise in the media over wind power and people arguing over whether it is a potential power source for us. This combined with the annoying kids who live 1 floor above us gave me the idea. Every time its windy the kids tie a bag to a string and watch it fly around in the wind. Also, several times the wind coming up the side of the building has been strong enough to lift sticks. So I had the idea to put fans on the side of buildings to generate power. Not a lot and not large fans. Just small ones. I was also thinking about some of the streets down town where the buildings act as wind tunnels. An addition to this idea would be to put micro wind turbines in the subway tunnels, but only at the entrance to each station where the trains would be slowing down anyway. That way the train generates power, the fans increase resistance and help brake the train, and everyone benefits

2) Sound power generation. I had this idea a long time ago when I was downtown and the noise of the streets was really getting to me. I started thinking about all the energy that goes into making all the noise (car horns, construction machines, thousands of people talking) and I wondered if it would be possible to collect that energy. In theory a microphone pics up sound vibrations and then turns it into a current in some cables. so what if we had hundreds of small microphones all hooked up to a single source. The down town core could be covered in them and possibly dampen all the noise.

3) Lightning induced current. I remember several years back watching an episode of myth busters about perpetual motion or free energy or something and I remember them creating a solenoid and hoisting it up by some power lines and actually being able to induce a current in the solenoid. I also was thinking about lightning a couple weeks ago when we had a really heavy thunderstorm and thinking to myself that if we could only collect the energy from a couple of lightning strikes a year we could probably power a major portion of the city with it. The problem has always been storing that much electricity without burning out your batteries. Its just not possible. But what if you were to create a building that was basically a big solenoid attached to a lightning rod at the top. If a second solenoid was positioned inside the first solenoid it may be possible to induce an electric current (far less powerful) in the inner solenoid as the lighting energy wound its way from the tip of the building down to the ground. Would it be possible to collect even some of the energy from the lightning?

well those are just some of the random thoughts I have been thinking. Hopefully I will get a chance to work on some of them in my life :)

~(' ')~