Really Big Ideas

[The Fool]

Ok so I have been working on an astronomy blog for a few months now and though I enjoy having it, my goal was to make money, and I have not been able to do this. I wanted to ask everyone if they have any big ideas, any interesting start-up companies that they know of, or just something that they think is going to be big in the near future.

My well of innovation has run dry, I wanted to see if we could get a think tank going of big ideas, astronomy related or not.

Thanks,

The Fool

[sarongsong]

Some insights from Tim Berners-Lee:March 12, 2008
...The semantic web is the term used by the computer and internet industry to describe the next phase of the web's development, and essentially involves building web-based connectivity into any piece of data — not just a web page — so that it can "communicate" with other information...
timesonline (http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article3532832.ece)

[mugaliens]

My well of innovation has run dry, I wanted to see if we could get a think tank going of big ideas, astronomy related or not.

Thanks,

The Fool

When it comes to ideas, I am, literally, off the charts with respect to their production.

Quality control is a separate issue.

So is payment!

What do you propose?

[mugaliens]

On another note, I do think that a Star-Trek sort of non-monetary reality might be possible, especially given the development of the Internet.

We're not there, yet, but stay tuned.

[tdvance]

Reading Penrose's "The Emperor's New Mind" recently, I came up with the idea--if one could just predict the future reliably 1 second from now, one could easily get rich.

Now...how to actually do it....that's the hard part.

oh, I know--write a science fiction story about the guy who figures out how to predict the future 1 second from now, but don't make it too easy--the more ability he has to affect that prediction, the more fuzzy the prediction is (so there's never a contradiction), and how he deals with it. Arrange for it to be a best seller, and retire!

Now, how to actually do it...that's the hard part....

[KaiYeves]

For the near future, I would say to keep your eye on Upham, New Mexico!

[peteshimmon]

I have been thinking about my very good value
digital multimeter I purchased recently. They
were 50 times more expensive 10-20 years ago.
Yet with a very simple addition they could be
much more useful to a lab. Have the readings
modulate an LED on the face of the instrument
and a ceiling mounted receiver can take the
data to a computer. A universal light data
code is needed obviously.

Already patented I'll bet!

A big idea is two level agriculture, fields
with ground level crops and on supported trays
3 foot off the ground, other crops. Easy to
gather in the supported crop. Lined east west
the light should be adequate for the ground.
And gutters on the trays can take rain to
storage bunkers for standby irrigation.

[HenrikOlsen]

For communication with the computer, adding Bluetooth would probably be a far cheaper solution, without requiring proprietary hardware added to the computer.

[mugaliens]

Some insights from Tim Berners-Lee:

Well... Quote:
March 12, 2008
...The semantic web is the term used by the computer and internet industry to describe the next phase of the web's development, and essentially involves building web-based connectivity into any piece of data — not just a web page — so that it can "communicate" with other information...
timesonline

They're going to have to develope it into something equivalent or better than a DKNF before it's workable.

Cheers!