"Gut" is "intuition" is "genius"

Hybrid reporting from the field. It turns out that your gut feelings are simply those that you have without first thinking about them. Those, according to recent scientific research, are the most accurate and often more creative. It's your built in genius, the little voice that knows stuff already. The consummate synergizer in your wee little brain that has already sussed it out and has the answer for you, as long as you quit all that damn thinking. Turns out the harder you think about a solution, the more your brain gets in your way about it. SO: quit thinking so much. When I do this idea stuff, roughly half of all the ideas I come up with are those that start with a blank blog entry screen. True there are ideas that I cook up over time, or that I have been itching to get down but didn't have the right venue at the time. But most really good ones, honestly, are those that have sprung out of the raw necessity of trying to get 3 down before midnight! I'm no genius, but the intuition and gut reactions that YOU have might very well be righter than any stewed-over debate of a thought you got.

The other night I blew up my keyboard with ideas, coming up with 8 ideas between 11:26 and 11:52. Most days it takes hours to stew up that many ideas, sometimes they've been cooking for years. But when I looked at the clock and got cracking, the ideas flowed out one after the other.

I had recently read an article that basically says that ideas don't come better with stressful attention to them, but when the person is relaxed, not really thinking of that particular thing in the first place. In my case, ideas occur at all times, and often when I am indeed asking my brain directly for them.

It's true, though ,that the concept might be on to something. The study in the article (I may dig it up soon) went on to say that time was an issue, and that more time didn't equal better ideas or a better solution to a problem. I agree for myself at least. For me, the initial idea is usually on target, with a "gut" feeling when it hits. Intuition? I'm not quite sure. This one, my peeps, is still cooking...

Family Secretary

Not necessarily an innovation per se, but a darn good idea: Family Secretary. Somebody in every family, immediate and then extended, to document the family's existence and meaning. Who's taking the photos? Who's writing the epitaphs? Who knows the addresses of your 3rd cousins? Where's the family tree? Best get to making sure that somebody has that job. And, secretary has the word "secret" in it.
I lost my 6th grade spelling bee on that one. All the more reason to pay more attention...

Smart Bolts

More nano-tech. Bolts that have a carbon nanotube running down the center that knows how much it's being torqued. Great for lug-nuts on cars, so you can tell how hard you have to tighten it in order to be safe and secure. Could use kinetic energy to give off a tiny amount of light, brighter=tighter.

Things this blog could do 4 U & me

• bring ad revenue if I can figure out how
  
• add friends and commnunity who want to use me as a creative consultant
• cause a bunch of other people who have ideas to start blogging them because like me they can't bear to die with their idea in their head.
• help me eventually patent or sell an idea that I've blogged, make millions and start an idea incubator that sponsors my Idea Camp.
• help get the Green idea out there some more.
• continue to heal my aching mind as the weight of unspoken ideas is lessened.
  

iPhone Video iChat hack, iLike

So, my iPhone has a nice little 2.0 megapixel camera and I've seen the hack programs that let it be a video camera, but sadly there're no looking into the camera as you see the other person during iChat like I can from my iMac. Crappy i naming convention!

The answer, dear Apple, is to hack a little mirror that snaps onto the top of the iPhone that will bounce your image back to the camera on the other side of the phone. Must have other purposes, like as a signal when you're shipwrecked or a makeup mirror. Must look Apple-y.

Parking Space Guides

In Seattle, many beautiful craftsman homes get this tiny little slot of a parking space, right off the main arterial. It requires some kind of superhuman telemetry to park your Outback at a sharp 45 degree angle, doing 20 mph in order not to hold up traffic.

Enter: Space Guides. It's a recycled plastic product that guides you into your space on rails. Like an automated car wash without the automation. Think Washington State Ferry docks. At the end, you get a gentle rubber stop to maximize parking spaces while keeping your car from scraping the underside on a cement curb.

Redneki Hana!

Surly, talented, and genuine short order cook will griddle bacon, eggs, chicken fried steak, pork chops and hush puppies at your table. He/she will make fun of you and your friends while whipping you up a fabulously greasy meal.

Sent from my iPhone