Innovation, inspiration, and common sense for all
Free Rice is one of those sites where you click on it and you do something good. Although with Free Rice you do more than just click. You play a game and the more answers you get right, the more people you have fed. You leave with knowledge and the UN has supplied more hungry people with more food. Everybody wins!
When the NYTimes publishes its Year In Ideas issue, its time for rejoicing. Outside of an election year like this one, nothing helps me get excited for the future like this little round up (well, on a non-personal level that is).
I have not had cable for over five years. In NYC that means not having TV since broadcast reception is so poor. Granted I have always been a greater fan of movies (I saw two last night), than shows in general, but 2008 certainly marks the year by which my practice no longer seems like a compromise.
If you want to change things, some times you have to show how something has already changed. Everyone has climbed on the bus when you think they are still at the stop waiting. This is a good idea: build a list of everyone who is well known who has done that thing you know they’ve done but it’s not being said. You could extend this to many activities.
The “Do Not Call” List is a really good idea and of course we are on it, but what happens when those annoying marketing calls somehow still get through. Some clever Brits not only came up with this good idea, but they have executed it.
I was giving a read of Ray Fisman & Ed Miguel’s new book Economic Gangsters (get it, it’s a good and quick read) and was inspired by the former Mayor of Bogota’s techniques. Some of you may recall Mr. Mockus from the article that tipped of Ray & Ed from the NY Times several years ago:
Mimes were part of Mr. Mockus’s diabolical plan. He first hired 20 professionals to follow, imitate and mock citizens who committed public incivilities like jaywalking, picking pockets and driving recklessly. So successful were the first mimes that 400 more were trained as ”traffic mimes” to monitor pedestrians at street corners.
Half Bakery is full of them. You should definitely get a smile out of many. You could also lose an hour at work surfing through them. Some would definitely make this world a better place.
The Halfbakery is a communal database of original, fictitious inventions, edited by its users. It was created by people who like to speculate, both as a form of satire and as a form of creative expression.
