Sunday, August 13, 2017

Acoustic holography

It's been a while since I posted anything new on this blog and I apologize. Yes, I got distracted.

Also, I've been putting off discussing one of my most interesting "great ideas" because -- well, because it's somewhat disturbing, as it could be used for surreptitious surveillance. Recent events, however, have forced my hand, so to speak, encouraging me, finally, to publicly speculate regarding this potentially controversial idea. More on this later.


Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Probing (and prodding) the Brain

I got really excited recently when I learned about John Grisham's new book. And no I'm not a Grisham fan. But his new book means a lot to me because it's about something called "focused ultrasound," an extension of an idea I had many many years ago. I was never able to convince anyone it was viable. And I didn't have the resources to pursue it, but I always hoped someone would eventually figure it out -- and someone actually did. Finally. Grisham decided it was important enough to write a book about, and his book is free -- because he wants the news to be as widely disseminated as possible. It's a huge medical breakthrough, and I'm really proud of myself, because I had that basic concept in mind so long ago.

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Adjustable Lenses

Several years ago, after trying out a pair of progressive lenses that didn't work for me, the notion that there is no reason glasses couldn't be adjustable popped into my head. What could be simpler? All you'd need was lenses made of some sort of flexible plastic that could easily be adjusted to change the focal point, from long distance, to middle distance to reading distance. That's the sort of thing I need and that's why I tried progressive lenses in the first place.

Wednesday, March 15, 2017

The ArmPhone

The Apple "SmartWatch" -- behold:

Sorry to be disrespectful to the memory of Steve Jobs, but when this device came out I was profoundly underwhelmed. Why would anyone want something like that? First of all, these things are both clunky and ugly as heck. And after interacting with one for any significant length of time, the eye strain would be sending you to your nearest ophthalmologist. I find it enough of a challenge to set the alarm on my digital watch, thank you. Navigating text messages, making phone calls, reading online texts, etc. on such a tiny device would drive me nuts.

Sunday, March 12, 2017

The Cash Eater

Moving right along into a very different realm, I'd now like to share one of my more outrageous ideas. I call it the "Cash Eater" because that's exactly what it does: it eats cash.

We are already familiar with those machines that make change. Insert a dollar or in some cases even a five dollar bill, and out spills a bunch of quarters. Like a slot machine, only less exciting. :-)  I use one all the time at the laundromat:


Thursday, March 9, 2017

The Automobile of the Future

Among a great many auto manufacturers and hi-tech companies enthusiasm for the self-driving car abounds. According to many this exciting new development is "just around the corner," once certain tricky but supposedly manageable issues are resolved. Meanwhile, some very intriguing and in some cases really beautiful designs have emerged.

One of my favorites is the brand new Sedric, from Volkswagen:



Wednesday, March 8, 2017

A New Concept: The Retro

(........continued from previous post)

Not necessarily, because as I see it, there IS a future for the self-driving car so long as manufacturers are willing to accept some very simple modifications. And by the way, ANTOAVTYCAD is a bit unwieldy, I must admit. So I gave the matter some thought and came up with a better name: the RETRO. Not "retro" in the usual sense, as a throwback to something old and outdated. But "retro" as in "retro-fitted." Or, more specifically, a self-driving car retrofitted with controls permitting it to operate both autonomously and under the guidance of a driver. Given the advanced technology of today's autonomous vehicles, adding controls of this kind would be a relatively simple and inexpensive task.

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

The ANTOAVTYCAD: A New Type Of Autonomous Vehicle That You Can Actually Drive

Autonomous, or "self-driving" cars are much in the news today, and, judging from the hype, they are just around the corner. According to most experts: not yet. And, in my humble opinion: not ever.

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Advertisement for Myself

Hello everyone. You may call me DocG. I'm a media artist, writer, composer -- and inventor, of sorts. I've come up with several neat ideas in the past and have some neat ideas for the future. But I'm not really an inventor because I've never had the ambition to follow through on any of my "bright ideas." However, I've shared most of them with friends, relatives, even strangers -- and often I've gotten this look from people, as if to say "What makes you think your idea is so great? I can't imagine it would ever work or anyone would ever find it useful or even interesting."

I've proven them wrong, however. Time after time. In fact some of my favorite ideas from way back in the 20th century have been adopted in the 21st -- by others, of course, not me. For example: