Ideas - Innovation - Ingenuity - Inventiveness


Idea is a mental image or a representation of some object. An abstract concept that is difficult to visualize but can be inferred. The process of using your mind to consider something carefully. To use your mind or exercise the mind or one's power of reason in order to make inferences, decisions, or to arrive at a solution or judgment. The content of cognition. The main thing that you're thinking about. To have or formulate in the mind. Your intention or what you intend to do. Your goal. To have in mind as a purpose. To recall knowledge from memory or have a recollection. To imagine or visualize something. To focus one's attention on a certain state. To be capable of conscious thought. To decide by pondering, reasoning, or reflecting. An approximate calculation of quantity, degree or worth. To bring into a given condition by mental preoccupation. To imagine or conceive of something and see in one's mind. To form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not yet the case. 

Inventions - Imagination - Adaptation - Abstract - Concept - Intellectual Freedom - Entrepreneurs - Development - Planning - Funding


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Quotes about Ideas and being Creative


Idea Light Bulb Word Cloud"Big things have small beginnings."

"Small moves smartly made can set big things in motion."

"Small consistent efforts are better than doing nothing at all."

"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way."

"Necessity is the Mother of Invention, meaning that when the need for something becomes imperative, you are forced to find ways of getting it or achieving it."

"The primary driving force for most new inventions is a need."

"Impossible things happen all the time."

"Many of the things that seem impossible now will become realities tomorrow."

“What is now proved was once only imagined.”

"Every great invention started as an idea that was only imagined."

"Many things are thought to be impossible until they are proven."

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."

"If you go back a few hundred years, what we take for granted today would seem like magic to our ancestors."

If you feel that you're too big to do small things, or feel that you're too small to do big things, then you will probably not do anything meaningful or valuable. Little things can be just as important as big things, and big things can be just as important as little things. So do something, think of something, make something or be something, becuase it will always be better than doing nothing, or thinking of nothing, or making nothing or being nothing.


Idea Moments


Eureka Effect refers to the common human experience of suddenly understanding a previously incomprehensible problem or concept.

Epiphany is a sudden revelation. A moment of sudden understanding or revelation. An enlightening or astonishing disclosure.

Idea Process Info-Graph (image) - Divergent Thinking - Convergent Thinking - Planning

Figment is a contrived or fantastic idea.

Meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes in that they self-replicate, mutate, and respond to selective pressures.

Tipping Point - Diffusion - Obsolescence

Internet Meme is an activity, concept, catchphrase or piece of media which spreads, often as mimicry, from person to person via the Internet.

Faith Hilling is a south park episode where the boys must deal with the fact that "Faith Hilling", the memetic trend in which they enjoy participating, is being supplanted in popularity by newer ones, including one that leads investigators to believe that cats are evolving in intelligence and have become a threat to humanity. It is the third episode of the sixteenth season and the 226th episode overall.

Device is an instrumentality invented for a particular purpose. Something in an artistic work designed to achieve a particular effect. Any clever maneuver. Any ornamental pattern or design.

Alphabet of Human Thought provides a universal way to represent and analyze ideas and relationships by breaking down their component pieces. All ideas are compounded from a very small number of simple ideas which can be represented by a unique character.

Creative Industries refers to a range of economic activities which are concerned with the generation or exploitation of knowledge and information.

Creativity - Independent Learning

Imagination Age is when creativity and imagination will become the primary creators of economic value. This contrasts with the information age where analysis and thinking were the main activities. Copy Rights.

Intelligence - Inspiration - Taking a Walk for ideas - Resources for Ideas

Breaking down barriers for underrepresented kids could quadruple America’s pool of inventors.

Realize is to be fully aware or cognizant of something and to perceive an idea or situation mentally. To make something seem real or concrete and coming to understand something clearly and distinctly and giving the appearance of reality or substance.

Dream is to have imaginative thoughts indulged in while awake. 

Visualize - Awareness

Paradigm is the generally accepted perspective of a particular discipline at a given time. A model or pattern for something that may be copied. A theory or a group of ideas about how something should be done, made, or thought about.

Paradigm Shift is an important change that happens when the usual way of thinking about or doing something is replaced by a new and different way. A fundamental change in the basic concepts and experimental practices of a scientific discipline.

Intuition is instinctive knowing without the use of Rational Processes. An impression that something might be the case.

Feeling is when you come to believe on the basis of emotion, intuitions, or indefinite grounds. 

Impression is a vague idea in which some confidence is placed. A clear and telling mental image.

Suggestion is an idea that is proposed to imply as a possibility. To declare a plan for something. A proposal offered for acceptance or rejection. Persuasion formulated as a suggestion. The sequential mental process in which one thought leads to another by association. Call to mind. The act of inducing hypnosis.

Don't put any Ideas in their Head means that you should not give information that could be misinterpreted or misunderstood, especially when the information could cause someone to make a bad decision or have an error in judgment. But if the idea is to propose a possibility, then it may be enlightening and beneficial. Advice.

Enabling Technology is equipment and/or methodology that, alone or in combination with associated technologies, provides the means to increase performance and capabilities of the user, product or process.

General Purpose Technology has the potential to drastically alter societies through their impact on pre-existing economic and social structures. The introduction of a new GPT to an economy may, before improving productivity, actually decrease it: The obsolescence of old technologies and skills. Learning costs. Time required for development of new infrastructure. Readjustment of labor to new industries, causing temporary unemployment. This initial inability to exploit the benefits of the new technology is known as the Solow Paradox or Productivity Paradox, which refers to the slowdown in productivity growth in the United States in the 1970s and 80s despite rapid development in the field of information technology or IT over the same period. Mostly because jobs going to other countries, and also that education did not improve enough to adapt to these new changes.

Having an idea and exploring and researching an idea are two different things. Just having an idea is just a dream, but exploring an idea is to make that dream come true. So you're not just thinking about doing something, you're actually doing and learning something, something valuable.

Conjure Up is to summon something into action or to bring a thought, picture or an idea into existence.

Novel is something original and of a kind not seen before. Pleasantly new or different.

New is something original, unfamiliar and not seen before. Having just come into being or been made very recently or acquired or discovered. Having no previous example, precedent or parallel. Unaffected by use or exposure. Lacking training or experience.

What does coming up with an idea mean? A good idea is an idea that turns into great improvements and gives inspiration to others.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants.

After you learn about someone's idea, or when someone tells you about a decision or plan they have, just don't say good luck or I wish you well. Instead say "Go Get Em Tiger, Let me know if there's anything that I can do on my end, and how do I stay up to date on your progress, because I can't wait to hear about your journey and learn from your experiences. Keep me informed."



Having a Big Idea


Remember, all great ideas, advancements and inventions from people are the direct result of other great ideas and inventions that came from other people. No single person can take credit for any idea, advancement or invention. No one did anything on their own, or did anyone do anything all by themselves.

Everyone Stands on the Shoulders of Giants - Failure is not always bad

The most important thing that we need to avoid is planned obsolescence. Everything should be manufactured using the Cradle to Cradle design so that our products are built to last like the Centennial Light Bulb. Or at the least make them easily recycled, easily reused or easily repurposed.

Serendipity is unexpected and fortunate discoveries, usually happening when looking for something unrelated. Finding something nice while looking for something else. Serendipity means a "fortunate happenstance" or "pleasant surprise".

Luck is an unknown and unpredictable phenomenon that leads to a favorable outcome.

Do things happen for a reason? You can increase your odds of success, but there are still no guarantees.

How Simple Ideas Lead to Scientific Discoveries (video)

Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation Steven Johnson FORA.tv Technology | Season 1 Episode 36 | 56:40 (video).

Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson (youtube)

Sometimes you have to look to the fringe and get close to the edge in order to see what you're looking at.

Fringe is the outside boundary or surface of something.

Edge is a line determining the limits of an area.

Half of inventions “arise unexpectedly” from serendipity—not direct research, Roughly half of all inventions started as ideas or discoveries that people had while working on something else. idea evolved when they were working on an unrelated project and often when they weren’t even trying to invent anything.



Some Ideas take Years to be Accepted or to be Understood


From a simple idea to an actual product could take years. Developing something can be a long process. So don't ever feel that your research or work was for nothing just because you have put a lot of time and effort into something that hasn't come into fruition just yet. There's always two sides to a story, and you could also inspire someone else to do great things too.

Douglas Engelbart created the first computer mouse prototype in 1963. It took almost 30 years for the mouse to reach a mass audience and be used as an effective interface tool with millions of computers. Inventions - Proof of Concept.

The first packet-switched network, the ARPANET, was launched in 1969. It took about 30 years for Internet access to be widely adopted by American consumers.

The first multi-touch computing display was introduced in 1984, but it took 23 years for the first high-profile multitouch product, the iPhone, to reach the market in 2007. And it took a few more years, with the introduction of Android in 2008 and the iPad in 2010, for multi-touch computing to become a ubiquitous standard for mobile computing. Touchscreen.

Charles Babbage was an English polymath in the 1800's. A mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, Babbage is best remembered for originating the concept of a programmable computer. Alan Turing 1950.

Computer History - A Long Slow Sequence of Invention and Discovery - Technology Revolution

Structural Biochemistry - Mental Inertia in the Biological Sciences (wiki-books)

Pace of Innovation is the speed at which technological innovation or advancement is occurring, with the most apparent instances being too slow or too rapid. Both these rates of innovation are extreme and therefore have effects on the people that get to use this technology. The factors that cause rapid pace of innovations include lack of trial and error, technological momentum, ease of entry into a field. Innovators usually do not have the burden of proof, thus regulatory agencies have to prove that the technology has negative effects. Slow pace of innovation is caused by, but not limited to, lack of monetary funding, conflict of interests between the innovators and other factions such as the consumers, and technological momentum of competing technologies which make the use of new innovations difficult. Different technologies require different paces of innovation, therefore it is important to note that the appropriate pace of innovation depends on the context.

Monopolies and Corruption Impede Advancements.

Diffusion of Innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. The key elements in diffusion research are: Innovation is a broad category, relative to the current knowledge of the analyzed unit. Any idea, practice, or object that is perceived as new by an individual or other unit of adoption could be considered an innovation available for study. Adopters are the minimal unit of analysis. In most studies, adopters are individuals, but can also be organizations (businesses, schools, hospitals, etc.), clusters within social networks, or countries. Communication channels. Diffusion, by definition, takes place among people or organizations. Communication channels allow the transfer of information from one unit to the other. Communication patterns or capabilities must be established between parties as a minimum for diffusion to occur. Time. The passage of time is necessary for innovations to be adopted; they are rarely adopted instantaneously. In fact, in the Ryan and Gross (1943) study on hybrid corn adoption, adoption occurred over more than ten years, and most farmers only dedicated a fraction on their fields to the new corn in the first years after adoption. Social system is the combination of external influences (mass media, surfactants, organizational or governmental mandates) and internal influences (strong and weak social relationships, distance from opinion leaders). There are many roles in a social system, and their combination represents the total influences on a potential adopter.

Diffusion in business is the process by which a new idea or new product is accepted by the market. The rate of diffusion is the speed with which the new idea spreads from one consumer to the next. Adoption (the reciprocal process as viewed from a consumer perspective rather than distributor) is similar to diffusion except that it deals with the psychological processes an individual goes through, rather than an aggregate market process. In economics it is more often named "technological change". There are several theories that purport to explain the mechanics of diffusion: The two-step hypothesis – information and acceptance flows, via the media, first to opinion leaders, then to the general population. The trickle-down effect – products tend to be expensive at first, and therefore only accessible to the wealthy social strata – in time they become less expensive and are diffused to lower and lower strata. The Everett Rogers Diffusion of innovations theory – for any given product category, there are five categories of product adopters: Innovators – venturesome, educated, multiple info sources; Early adopters – social leaders, popular, educated; Early majority – deliberate, many informal social contacts; Late majority – skeptical, traditional, lower socio-economic status; Laggards – neighbours and friends are main info sources, fear of debt. Crossing the Chasm model developed by Geoffrey Moore – This model overlays the Everett Rogers' adoption curve with a 'chasm'. According to Moore, the marketer should focus on one group of customers at a time, using each group as a base for marketing to the next group. The most difficult step is making the transition between visionaries (early adopters) and pragmatists (early majority). This is the chasm that he refers to. Technologies or products that cannot cross this chasm will die or remain niche. If successful, a firm can create a bandwagon effect in which the momentum builds and the product becomes ubiquitous. Technology driven models – These are particularly relevant to software diffusion. The rate of acceptance of technology is determined by factors such as ease of use and usefulness. According to Everett M. Rogers, the rate of diffusion is influenced by: The product's perceived advantage or benefit. Riskiness of purchase. Ease of product use – complexity of the product. Immediacy of benefits. Observability. Trialability. Price. Extent of behavioural changes required. Return on investment in the case of industrial products. Models - There are several types of diffusion rate models: Penetration models – use test market data to develop acceptance equations of expected sales volume as a function of time. Three examples of penetration models are: Bass trial only model. Bass declining trial model. Fourt and Woodlock model. Trial/Repeat models – number of repeat buyers is a function of the number of trial buyers. Deterministic models – assess number of buyers at various states of acceptance – later states are determined from calculations to previous states. Stochastic models – recognize that many elements of the diffusion process are unknown but explicitly incorporate probabilistic terms.

Technology Readiness Level are a method of estimating technology maturity of Critical Technology Elements (CTE) of a program during the acquisition process. They are determined during a Technology Readiness Assessment (TRA) that examines program concepts, technology requirements, and demonstrated technology capabilities. TRL are based on a scale from 1 to 9 with 9 being the most mature technology. The use of TRLs enables consistent, uniform discussions of technical maturity across different types of technology.
Level 0: Idea. Unproven Concept, no testing has been performed.
Level 1: Basic Research. Principles postulated and observed but no experimental proof available. (similar ideas may already be in use? what was the feedback?).
Level 2: Technology Formulation. Concept application have been formulated.
Level 3: Applied Research. First laboratory tests completed. Proof of concept.
Level 4: Small Scale Prototype built in laboratory environment (crude prototype).
Level 5: Large Scale Prototype. Tested in Intended Environment.
Level 6: Prototype System tested in intended environment close to expected performance.
Level 7: Demonstration System operating in operational environment at pre-commercial scale.
Level 8: First of a kind commercial system. Manufacturing issues solved.
Level 9: Full commercial application, technology available for consumers.

Technology Adoption Life Cycle is a sociological model that describes the adoption or acceptance of a new product or innovation, according to the demographic and psychological characteristics of defined adopter groups. The process of adoption over time is typically illustrated as a classical normal distribution or "bell curve". The model indicates that the first group of people to use a new product is called "innovators", followed by "early adopters". Next come the early majority and late majority, and the last group to eventually adopt a product are called "phobics." Phobics use the cloud without knowing they are doing. The demographic and psychological (or "psychographic") profiles of each adoption group were originally specified by the North Central Rural Sociology Committee, Subcommittee for the Study of the Diffusion of Farm Practices, by agricultural researchers Beal and Bohlen in 1957. The report summarized the categories as: innovators – had larger farms, were more educated, more prosperous and more risk-oriented. Early adopters – younger, more educated, tended to be community leaders, less prosperous early majority – more conservative but open to new ideas, active in community and influence to neighbors. Late majority – older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active. Laggards – very conservative, had small farms and capital, oldest and least educated. The model has subsequently been adapted for many areas of technology adoption in the late 20th century.

Five Stages of the Adoption Process Stage: Knowledge. The individual is first exposed to an innovation, but lacks information about the innovation. During this stage the individual has not yet been inspired to find out more information about the innovation. Persuasion. The individual is interested in the innovation and actively seeks related information/details. Decision. The individual takes the concept of the change and weighs the advantages/disadvantages of using the innovation and decides whether to adopt or reject the innovation. Due to the individualistic nature of this stage, Rogers notes that it is the most difficult stage on which to acquire empirical evidence. Implementation. The individual employs the innovation to a varying degree depending on the situation. During this stage the individual also determines the usefulness of the innovation and may search for further information about it. Confirmation. The individual finalizes his/her decision to continue using the innovation. This stage is both intrapersonal (may cause cognitive dissonance) and interpersonal, confirmation the group has made the right decision. Adopter category: Innovators are willing to take risks, have the highest social status, have financial liquidity, are social and have closest contact to scientific sources and interaction with other innovators. Their risk tolerance allows them to adopt technologies that may ultimately fail. Financial resources help absorb these failures. Early adopters. These individuals have the highest degree of opinion leadership among the adopter categories. Early adopters have a higher social status, financial liquidity, advanced education and are more socially forward than late adopters. They are more discreet in adoption choices than innovators. They use judicious choice of adoption to help them maintain a central communication position. Early Majority. They adopt an innovation after a varying degree of time that is significantly longer than the innovators and early adopters. Early Majority have above average social status, contact with early adopters and seldom hold positions of opinion leadership in a system (Rogers 1962, p. 283). Late Majority. They adopt an innovation after the average participant. These individuals approach an innovation with a high degree of skepticism and after the majority of society has adopted the innovation. Late Majority are typically skeptical about an innovation, have below average social status, little financial liquidity, in contact with others in late majority and early majority and little opinion leadership. Laggards. They are the last to adopt an innovation. Unlike some of the previous categories, individuals in this category show little to no opinion leadership. These individuals typically have an aversion to change-agents. Laggards typically tend to be focused on "traditions", lowest social status, lowest financial liquidity, oldest among adopters, and in contact with only family and close friends.

New discoveries are often not immediately made when new technologies, knowledge, or techniques become available. They are often delayed as a result of mental inertia. Mental inertia is defined as the basis that prevents a scientist from taking the most productive steps and the most adaptive reasoning available with the current level of scientific methods, approaches and techniques. In other words, mental inertia is basically simple ideas that scientists overlook because they do not think the idea warrants investigation. The scientist is often either unaware of these reasons or they believe that they are using the most productive experimental approaches. A scientist would readily change their reasoning if it was brought to his attention that the selected reasoning was wrong. Therefore, intentional repositioning, does not qualify as mental inertia.

Just because things were discovered in history, that does not mean that everyone alive at that time knew about that discovery. And today, just because things are being discovered everyday, this does not mean that everyone knows about these particular discoveries, and even if they did know, this does not mean that people fully understand the meaning of this new discovery. Though we have been alive for years, we literally just got here, and everyone knows very little, which is a major problem, because no life form can survive with disseminating information that it learns from its existence.

Internet Meme - Art Types

Virtual Reality History; 1838 – Stereoscopic photos & viewers.(Charles Wheatstone). 1939 : The View-Master (William Gruber). 1849 : The lenticular stereoscope (David Brewster). 1929 – Link Trainer The First Flight Simulator. 1930s – Science fiction story by science fiction writer Stanley G. Weinbaum predicted VR. 1950s – Morton Heilig’s Sensorama. 1960 – The first VR Head Mounted Display. 1961 Headsight – First motion tracking HMD. 1965 – The Ultimate display by Ivan Sutherland. 1966 – Furness’ Flight Sim. 1968 – Sword of Damocles. Ivan Sutherland and his student Bob Sproull created the first VR / AR head mounted display (Sword of Damocles) that was connected to a computer and not a camera. 1969 – Artificial Reality. Myron Kruegere a virtual reality computer artist developed a series of experiences which he termed “artificial reality” in which he developed computer-generated environments that responded to the people in it. 1972 – GE Builds a Digital Flight Sim. 1975 – Krueger’s VIDEOPLACE. 1977 – The MIT Movie Map. 1979 – The McDonnel-Douglas HMD. 1982 – Sayre Gloves. 1985 – VPL Research is Founded. 1986 – Furness Invents the Super Cockpit. 1987 – Virtual reality the name was born, coined in 1987 by Jaron Lanier. 1989 – NASA Gets Into VR. 1991 – Virtuality Group Arcade Machines. 1991 – Medina’s VR Mars Rover. 1992 – The Lawnmower Man. 1993 – SEGA announce new VR glasses. 1994 – The Sega VR-1. 1995 – Nintendo Virtual Boy. 1997 – Landmark VR PTSD Treatment. 1999 – The Matrix. 2007 – Google Brings Us Street View. 2010 – Street View Goes 3D and the Oculus is Prototyped. 2012 – The Oculus Kickstarter. 2014 – Facebook Buys Oculus and Sony Announced their VR Project.

Innatism is a doctrine that holds that the mind is born with ideas/knowledge, and that therefore the mind is not a "blank slate" at birth.

Ephemera is lasting only one day, short-lived. Transitory written or printed matter not meant to be retained or preserved.

"A supermind will emerge that will produce ideas that are no longer comprehensible to the individual man."

"Fantasizing and Dreaming does not move you forward, only Learning followed by Actions move you forward."

Winning is not the same as being Lucky, or Losing when nothing is lost....

What would you rather have: something that you wished for? something happening unexpected? or something that you worked for?

Making something happen is a lot better then just waiting for something to happen, even if you make a mistake, at least the wait is over, and you can now move on, and explore other possibilities, instead of just hoping for that one thing to happen all on its own. 

You will have a lot of ideas growing up, and most of the ideas that you have in life will never pan out. To have a really great idea you need vision, foresight and the willingness to do most of the work. Having an idea is the easy part, bringing your idea to life is the hard part.

Deciding which idea you think will be a great one is sometimes all about luck. Being in the right place at the right time.

"An idea is the beginning of an incredible journey, where our imagination can take us places way beyond our physical self."

"Entrepreneurs do more then anyone thinks possible with less than anyone thinks possible." Problem Solving

"Believe you can and you're halfway there."

Inspiring Quotes

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

“Sometimes it’s the people that no one imagines anything of, who end up doing the things that no one can imagine.”

"The best way to be involved with life is to do something that the world needs."

"A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely fool proof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools." - Douglas Adams

"Ninety percent of the greatest inventions in the world did not come from geniuses, they came from regular people searching for answers. Besides, all geniuses Stand on the Shoulders of Giants, just like the rest of us."

"Two of the reasons why people never pursue ideas. The first comes from never trying out your ideas because you are afraid, the second, you are waiting for the perfect time."

Everything leading up to this point was a combination of many ideas, and these ideas created and sparked even more new ideas, and then all these ideas and observations together ultimately lead me to a point of action, which was to organize and disseminate information and knowledge...I believe the action was always there, it just took me a while to figure it out and to discover it.

Juxtaposition is the act or placement of two things or abstract concepts near each other. A side-by-side position.

We have experimented with a lot of different things in this world and we have tried a lot of different ideas. It's time to choose the best and let go of the rest. Our world has been a testing ground for our mistakes. But we have learned many things, so it's time to put them into practice and stop the abuse and waste. Ignorant Gimmicks that have no practical purpose are mostly targeted at children and ignorant consumers who believe that this new toy will make them more productive. A Corporate Lie and a Costly Con Game.

Patents and Copyrights

Knowledge Spillover is an exchange of ideas among individuals. In knowledge management economics, knowledge spillovers are non-rival knowledge market costs incurred by a party not agreeing to assume the costs that has a spillover effect of stimulating technological improvements in a neighbor through one's own innovation. Such innovations often come from specialization within an industry.

How to Write and Pitch an Idea for a TV Show (wikihow)

"In this revolution, research has become central, it also becomes more formalized, complex, and costly. A steadily increasing share is conducted for, by, or at the direction of, the Federal government. Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers. The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present – and is gravely to be regarded. Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientific-technological elite." ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower.

"I have always found that there is always something of value within a mistake. Even if something turns out to be a bad idea or if things end up transmitting the wrong message or end up transmitting misinformation or end up having negative effects. So don't ever throw something away or ignore something until you have examined it for anything useful. There might be that one word or that one piece that ends up having some kind of value, something that can be used someplace else where it was never intended to be used. This is what makes innovation so surprising sometimes. Ideas sometimes come from the strangest places where you least expect it. So there are many different ways that we can learn from our mistakes. So don't ever regret making mistakes, because we can always learn something.

Cuba's DIY Inventions from 30 Years of Isolation (youtube) - Technological Disobedience.

Leapfrogging is to surpass or overtake another to move into a leading or dominant position. An advancement that is a big step forward. Making many steps that leap beyond the first prototype, making the new idea seem ahead of it's time and futuristic. Small and incremental innovations lead the dominant firm to stay ahead. However, sometimes, radical innovations will permit to new firms to leapfrog the ancient and dominant firm. The phenomenon can occur to firms but also to leadership of countries, or cities. Technology Revolution.



Abstract - Abstraction - Concept


Abstract is something existing only in the mind and separated from embodiment and not representing or imitating external reality or the objects of nature. A concept without a specific example or an idea not associated with any specific instance. Dealing with a subject in the abstract before having a practical purpose or intention that can be easily explained. A sketchy summary of the main points of an argument or theory. An abstract idea is an idea that can be interpreted in many different ways, and doesn't seem to be connected or associated to anything, and is difficult to define alone, but easier to explain when in context.

Abstraction is a concept or idea not associated with any specific instance. The process of formulating general concepts by abstracting common properties of instances. Preoccupation with something to the exclusion of all else. Preoccupation with something to the exclusion of all else. Abstracting is to consider a concept without thinking of a specific example. Consider apart from a particular case or instance. Abstraction is a conceptual process where general rules and concepts are derived from the usage and classification of specific examples, literal ("real" or "concrete") signifiers, first principles, or other methods. "An abstraction" is the outcome of this process—a concept that acts as a common noun for all subordinate concepts, and connects any related concepts as a group, field, or category. Conceptual abstractions may be formed by filtering the information content of a concept or an observable phenomenon, selecting only the aspects which are relevant for a particular subjectively valued purpose. For example, abstracting a leather soccer ball to the more general idea of a ball selects only the information on general ball attributes and behavior, excluding, but not eliminating, the other phenomenal and cognitive characteristics of that particular ball. In a type–token distinction, a type (e.g., a 'ball') is more abstract than its tokens (e.g., 'that leather soccer ball'). Abstraction is the quality of dealing with ideas rather than events. Freedom from representational qualities in art. Abstraction - Abstract as a Summary.

Concept is an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances. A generalization or abstraction from experience or the result of a transformation of existing ideas. Concept is an abstract idea representing the fundamental characteristics of what it represents. Concepts (PDF) - Theory.

Conception is an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances. The creation of something in the mind.

Concept Map or conceptual diagram is a diagram that depicts suggested relationships between concepts. It is a graphical tool that instructional designers, engineers, technical writers, and others use to organize and structure knowledge.

Conceptually in terms of a concept or abstract idea or the concepts or their formation.

Conceptual Model is a representation of a system, made of the composition of concepts which are used to help people know, understand, or simulate a subject the model represents. Some models are physical objects; for example, a toy model which may be assembled, and may be made to work like the object it represents.

Closed Concept is a concept where all the necessary and sufficient conditions required to include something within the concept can be listed. For example, the concept of a triangle is closed because a three-sided polygon, and only a three-sided polygon, is a triangle. All the conditions required to call something a triangle can be, and are, listed.

Concept Analysis is a principled way of deriving a concept hierarchy or formal ontology from a collection of objects and their properties. Each concept in the hierarchy represents the set of objects sharing the same values for a certain set of properties; and each sub-concept in the hierarchy contains a subset of the objects in the concepts above it.

Conceptual Framework is an analytical tool with several variations and contexts. It is used to make conceptual distinctions and organize ideas. Strong conceptual frameworks capture something real and do this in a way that is easy to remember and apply.

Intangible is something not having physical substance or intrinsic productive value and incapable of being perceived by the senses and hard to pin down or identify because it lacks substance or reality and incapable of being touched or seen.

Immaterial is something without material form or substance. Not consisting of matter. Relevance.

Vague - Interpretation - Complex System

Abstract and Concrete are classifications that denote whether a term describes an object with a physical referent or one with no physical referents. They are most commonly used in philosophy and semantics. Abstract objects are sometimes called abstracta (sing. abstractum) and concrete objects are sometimes called concreta (sing. concretum). An abstract object is an object which does not exist at any particular time or place, but rather exists as a type of thing, i.e., an idea, or abstraction. The term 'abstract object' is said to have been coined by Willard Van Orman Quine. The study of abstract objects is called abstract object theory.

Element is an abstract part of something. An artifact that is one of the individual parts of which a composite entity is made up, especially a part that can be separated from or attached to a system. Elements.

Embodiment is a tangible or visible form of an idea, quality, or feeling. Giving concrete form to an abstract concept. A new personification of a familiar idea. A concrete representation of an otherwise nebulous concept. Cognition.

Object of the Mind is an object that exists in the imagination, but which, in the real world, can only be represented or modeled. Some such objects are mathematical abstractions, literary concepts, or fictional scenarios. Closely related are intentional objects, which are what thoughts and feelings are about, even if they are not about anything real (such as thoughts about unicorns, or feelings of apprehension about a dental appointment which is subsequently cancelled). However, intentional objects may coincide with real objects (as in thoughts about horses, or a feeling of regret about a missed appointment).

Mental Event is any event that happens within the mind of a conscious individual. Examples include thoughts, feelings, decisions, dreams, and realizations. These events often make up the conscious life that are associated with cognitive function.

"Turn your heart away from things visible and turn yourself to things invisible".

Virtual Artifact is an immaterial object that exists in the human mind or in a digital environment, for example the Internet, intranet, virtual reality, cyberspace, etc.

Non-Physical Entity is a spirit or being that exists outside physical reality. Their existence divides the philosophical school of physicalism from the schools of idealism and dualism; with the latter schools holding that they can exist and the former holding that they cannot. If one posits that non-physical entities can exist, there exist further debates as to their inherent natures and their position relative to physical entities.

Mental Representation is a hypothetical internal cognitive symbol that represents external reality, or else a mental process that makes use of such a symbol: "a formal system for making explicit certain entities or types of information, together with a specification of how the system does this." Mental representation is the mental imagery of things that are not actually present to the senses. In contemporary philosophy, specifically in fields of metaphysics such as philosophy of mind and ontology, a mental representation is one of the prevailing ways of explaining and describing the nature of ideas and concepts.

Visualize (mind maps) - Intelligence - Hakerspace

Synthesis is the combination of ideas into a complex whole.

Representation is a presentation to the mind in the form of an idea or image. An activity that stands as an equivalent of something or results in an equivalent. A creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something. The act of representing; standing in for someone or some group and speaking with authority in their behalf. A statement of facts and reasons made in appealing or protesting.

Depiction (art skills) - Prototype (engineering) - Mind Maps (visualizing data) - Spatial Intelligence (3D Space) - Knowledge (definitions)

Having a new idea or learning something new that benefits you, can give you a high as if you're on a drug. Maybe when your brain forms new connections that are created from new ideas and learning something new, the brain rewards you with dopamine or some other chemical reactions, so as to let you know that learning is good for you, so that you keep learning and dreaming.

Most knowledge is abstract and only exists in your mind. But knowledge is extremely important and valuable to all life. An good example of knowledge would be having knowledge of the toxins in a water well from which you drink from everyday. If that water has toxic chemicals, then over time, your body and mind will degrade and even cause an early death. So if you had the knowledge about the toxins in the water, then you would not drink from that well and you would find another well, or, you would create an effective way to filter the water so that it's safe and healthy to drink, which would take even more knowledge. Even if you put a sign saying "Don't drink the Water because it's Poisonous", the person who reads the sign would have to have knowledge about how to interpret the symbols and the language of that sign, and that knowledge could only exist in that persons mind. Even if you wrote the instructions, you would still have have knowledge in order to read the instructions. Most Knowledge can not exist outside the mind, even the knowledge about our DNA still needs someone to read the DNA. Information is something that is detected and observed, the facts that can help to confirm whether a particular piece of knowledge is accurate. But some information can also be abstract, because it only exists in the mind, or on a document, which someone would have to have knowledge in order to decipher it accurately.

I can show you pictures from my vacation to give you a basic idea about some of the things I saw, but I can't show you pictures that shows you what I learned from those experiences. Most of what we consider to be knowledge has no pictures, unless those pictures have instructions and explanations. I can write about my experience, but there are no words that can explain how the knowledge from that experience is organized in my mind and how the knowledge is processed in my mind. I can write about how a particular experience has changed me in some way, but there are no words that can explain how this change is organized in my mind and how the change is processed in my mind.



I Have a Feeling that this Already Happened Before


Did you ever get that feeling that you have just thought of something that no one else has ever thought of before? When someone says "this has never been done before", it probably was done before, just not in the exact same way. It's new to you because it was forgotten because something's can take a long time to come into being. And don't forget that everyone stands on the shoulders of giants.

Vujade is like nothing you have ever seen or felt before. It's when something or somewhere that should be familiar is suddenly very different. Memory Flaws.

Jamais vu means "never seen", the phenomenon of experiencing a situation that one recognizes in some fashion, but that, nonetheless, seems very unfamiliar.

Vujá dé is a propensity for discovering something new in something you've already seen a million times before.

vu jàdé is noticing something for the first time that has been there all along; the realization that you've been unaware of something you should have noticed a long time ago.

vuja de is derived from deja vu, the phenomenon where an event happens and you feel that it has happened before or that you dreamed/predicted/instinctually.

Déjà vu is the feeling of having "already lived through" something, a feeling of familiarity. The phenomenon of having the strong sensation that an event or experience currently being experienced has already been experienced in the past.

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

It really doesn't matter if someone has already thought of your idea, or has spoken of your idea before, the question is, has anyone put the idea into action, and if so, what did they learn? Welcome to Basic Knowledge 101. I know that someone has already thought of doing this, it's just that I decided to put that idea into action. And here's what I have learned, I have only just begun.



Inventions that Changed the World


I added to the list of 41 inventions that was created by Ryan Allis.

1. Fire (400,000 BCE) - The controlled use of fire was an invention in the early stone age, with some of the earliest evidence dating back to hundreds of thousands of years ago. It’s not exactly certain when fire was first being used by humans, but most research puts it somewhere between 200,000 and 600,000 years ago.

2. Language (100,000 BCE) - Some scholars believe the development of primitive language-like systems or proto-language began as early as Homo habilis, while others place the development of symbolic communication only with Homo erectus around 1.8 million years ago, or with Homo heidelbergensis around 0.6 million years ago, and the development of language proper with Homo sapiens, currently estimated at less than 200,000 years ago. True semantic, phonetic language was first being used around 100,000 BCE, making it a lot easier to pass on how-to knowledge from generation to generation and speeding the spread of innovation. Humans first wear clothes around 25,000– 50,000 BCE.

3. Trade and Specialization (17,000 BCE) - In Chapter 2 of the book The Rational Optimist, author Matt Ridley highlights just how important specialization and trade has been to our advancement as humans. Matt gives the example of two early humans Oz and Adam. Oz focuses on getting really good at catching fish and Adam focuses on getting really good at making fish hooks, and then they trade as needed for both to benefit. The first known instance of humans trading with other humans comes from New Guinea around 17,000 BCE, where locals exchanged obsidian, a black volcanic glass used to make hunting arrowheads, for other needed goods. By 3,000 BCE, trade routes across Asia and the Middle East developed, followed the domestication of the camel and the creation of the trade caravan. Trading merchants, who purchased goods up front and held the inventory as they transported it were, of course, the original entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs rearrange land, labor, goods, and capital to enable the sum of the outputs to have high value than the sum of the inputs.

4. Farming (15,000 BCE) - Around 15,000 BCE (about 17,000 years ago), the first animal domestication began taking place, and around 10,000 BCE, the first domestication of plants. This step was critical for the advancement of the human species. Instead of having to be a nomadic species that continually moved around seeking new places to hunt and to gather, we could stay in one place. This allowed us to start to form communities and cities (the basis for civilizations), which have been critical in the development of human knowledge. Around 12,000 BCE, food preservation began as civilizations in the Middle East extended the life of their foods through drying them in the sun. With the ability keep food edible beyond the time that it would naturally go bad, and store it for the future, time and energy were made available to work on other things besides simply farming, hunting, and gathering, enabling a great advance in our ability to specialize and trade. With greater specialization and trade came a substantial increase in the variety of tools and goods available.

5. The Ship (4000 BCE) - Around 4,000 BCE, the ancient Egyptians were making wooden sailboats and around 1200 BCE the Phoenicians and the Greeks began to make even bigger sailing ships. The advent of the ship was a huge step forward from humanity because it was one of the first forms of transport that enabled commerce to begin happening between different parts of the world. Boating.

6. The Wheel (3400 BCE) - The next significant step in the history of innovation came with the creation of the wheel, sometime between 3300 and 3500 BCE, and some estimated 4000 BC. We know this thanks to the discovery in southern Poland of the earliest known depiction of a wheeled vehicle on a clay pot. to 3001 BC. In 2000 BC, discs began to be hollowed out to make a lighter wheel. The wheel invention led to major advances in transportation, the mechanization of agriculture, making windmills and eventually making mechanical clocks, which led to machines. The first known geared clock was invented by the great mathematician, physicist, and engineer Archimedes during the 3rd century BC. Archimedes created his astronomical clock, which was also a cuckoo clock with birds singing and moving every hour. Spirals - Round Houses.

7. Money (3000 BCE) - The next critically important innovation that contributed to the development of a strong human civilization was money. Around 3000 BCE, the Sumerians were one of the first societies (if not the first) to begin using money to help the ease of commerce and exchanging of goods, replacing the barter system.

8. Iron, (3000 BCE) - The whole science of metallurgy began around 4400 BCE when human civilizations began to use copper and silver, and soon thereafter we figured out how to merge copper and tin to form bronze. Around 3000 BCE we found an even stronger substance called iron, which gave rise to a new age of human history.

9. Written Language (2900 BCE, and earlier) - Although language had been around for tens of thousands of years, the invention of written language was extremely important because it made written records and numerical calculations possible. The first recorded written language was Sumerian cuneiform, which started around 2900 BCE. Soap formula was written on a Babylonian clay tablet around 2200 BCf, consisting of water, alkali, and cassia oil. The Ebers papyrus. Egypt in1550 BC indicates the ancient Egyptians bathed regularly and combined animal and vegetable oils with alkaline salts to create a soap-like substance. First Computer - History of Printing.

10. The Legal System (1780 BCE) - Hammurabi, the sixth king of Babylon, was one of the first to write down a formalized code of laws. He created a structure that enabled his people to understand what the societal norms were. Other examples include the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the Ten Commandments, the Twelve Tables of Rome, and the Book of Leviticus—early legal systems that enabled society to tackle dispute resolution at a lower cost and create an understanding of what the norms are. These systems helped create amazing advancement in our ability to conduct commerce in a frictionless environment.

11. The Alphabet (1050 BCE) - The first “true alphabet” (containing vowels as well as consonants) was created by the Phoenicians around 1050 BCE. Many modern alphabets evolved from the Phoenician alphabet. The Battery. The Spoon is a utensil consisting of a shallow bowl or head that is oval or round at the end of a handle. The spoon is a type of cutlery or flatware, especially as part of a place setting, it is used primarily for transferring food to the mouth when eating. Spoons are also used in food preparation to measure, mix, stir and toss ingredients and for serving food. Present day spoons are made from metal flat silver or silverware, plated or solid, wood, porcelain or plastic. There are a wide variety of spoons that are made of a variety of materials and by different cultures for many different uses and foods. Historians can't determine the exact time the spoon was invented, but archaeologists can point to evidence around 1000 B.C. of spoons from Ancient Egypt made from wood, ivory, flint, and stone, some adorned with hieroglyphics or religious symbols. The spoon predates the knife and the fork. People still eat with their fingers and drink from bowls.

12. Steel (650 BCE) – Steel is a compound, an alloy between iron and carbon, and one of the strongest substances we know. The earliest known production of steel is a piece of ironware excavated in Western Asia that is about 4,000 years old. The Spartans used steel extensively around 650 BCE, as did the Chinese from 400 BCE, and the Romans.

13. Water Power (200 BCE) - The next great innovation, around 200 BCE, was water power—first used in the Fertile Crescent area in the Middle East. This breakthrough enabled enormous transformations in our ability as a species to harness power, and water power continued to be used into the nineteenth century, when water-powered mills were still common in England and New England. Archimedes was an Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer who lived from 287 BC – c. 212 BC.

14. Paper (105) - Moving into the common era (CE) calendar, we saw the creation of paper, which was first used by the Chinese in around the year 105. Around the sixteenth century, wood pulp paper became more widely used, replacing rag paper. With wood paper, knowledge could spread much more easily. In 100 AD Clear Glass was made through the introduction of manganese dioxide, by glass blowers in Alexandria circa 100 AD, the Romans began to use glass for architectural purposes. The first paper-like plant-based writing sheet was papyrus in Egypt around the 4th Century BC, but the first true paper, the first true papermaking process was documented in China during the Eastern Han period around 25–220 AD, traditionally attributed to the court official Cai Lun. This plant-puree conglomerate produced by pulp mills and paper mills was used for writing, drawing, and money. During the 8th century, Chinese paper making spread to the Islamic world, replacing papyrus. By the 11th century, papermaking was brought to Europe, where it replaced animal-skin-based parchment and wood panels. By the 13th century, papermaking was refined with paper mills using waterwheels in Spain. Later improvements to the papermaking process came in 19th century Europe with the invention of wood-based papers.

15. Movable Type (1040) - Advancing about 900 years, we had the creation of movable type. While many people think that movable type began in 1436 with Gutenberg’s Printing Press, it actually goes back to imperial China in year 1040. Later, when Gutenberg invented his press, he was able to use special inks and tin, lead, and antimony to mass-produce books and get content to the educated folks of Europe in fifteenth century. Scientific Revolution is a concept used by historians to describe the emergence of modern science during the early modern period, when developments in mathematics, physics, astronomy, biology (including human anatomy) and chemistry transformed the views of society about nature.

16. The Microscope (1592) - The microscope was an extremely important invention that has led to the more recent breakthroughs in the understanding of nanotechnology and the understanding of atomic structure. Back in 1592, Dutch spectacle makers Zacharias and Hans, a father and son team, discovered that nearby objects appeared greatly enlarged when looking through a specially shaped lens, creating the first known microscope.

17. Electricity (1600) - Going forward to 1600, English scientist William Gilbert coined the term electricity, which originated from the Greek word for amber. Later, in 1752, Ben Franklin showed that lightning and the spark from amber were one and the same substance: electricity.

18. The Telescope (1608) - Hans Lippershey created a convex lens and concave eyepiece that enabled the creation of the telescope. The next year, Galileo Galilei built on these early designs to create a much more powerful telescope that enabled us to truly see the heavens and understand our place in the universe.

19. The Engine (1712) - The steam engine was first invented by Thomas Newcomen in 1712 building on the ideas on Denis Papin and Thomas Savery. Steam power was tremendously important to the development of seafaring navigation and to powering the machinery that drove the industrial revolution. The internal combustion engine followed, first made commercially successful by Etienne Lenoir in 1858. Two-Stroke Engine - Part 1. First Attempt at Making an Internal Combustion Engine (youtube). Windows made of Glass became common in ordinary homes only in the early 17th century whereas windows made up of panes of flattened animal horn were used as early as the 14th century. In the 19th century American west, greased paper windows came to be used by itinerant groups. Modern-style floor-to-ceiling windows became possible only after the industrial plate glass making processes were fully perfected.

20. The Light Bulb (1800) - Humphry Davy, an English scientist, created the first light bulb. It was improved in 1879 by Thomas Edison, who discovered that a certain type of carbon filament, when placed in bulb without oxygen, could glow for 40 hours. Later on, Edison would create a bulb that could last for over 1,500 hours—a tremendous advancement in our ability as a society to be able to do things even after the sun has set. LED's

21. The Telegraph (1809) - The first crude telegraph was invented in Bavaria by Samuel Soemmering, and in 1828 the first telegraph in the United States was invented by Harrison Dyer. It was, of course, Samuel Morse, creator of the Morse code, who invented the telegraph communication system that ended up succeeding commercially.

22. The Electromagnet (1825) - The electric magnet was discovered by British inventor William Sturgeon. His first magnet was an iron horseshoe wrapped with copper wire. When he passed an electric current through the wire, the 7 oz. horseshoe became a magnet and current life nine pounds. Electromagnets went on to be used in motors, generators, loudspeakers, hard drives, MRI machines, and particle accelerators. Mirrors were invented in 1835. The silvered-glass mirrors found throughout the world today first got their start in Germany almost 200 years ago. German chemist Justus von Liebig developed a process for applying a thin layer of metallic silver to one side of a pane of clear glass.

23. Petroleum (1859) - Petroleum was discovered. The first natural gas well was created in Ohio and the first oil well was created and the first oil refined in Pennsylvania. Petroleum was one of the most efficient substances in terms of the amount of energy that could be expended per ounce of liquid when burned. The discovery of petroleum, of course, led to the gas-powered car half a century later as well as a substantial increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Screw Tops.

24. The Telephone (1860) - The telephone was invented by Johann Philipp Reis. He was the first to produce a functioning electromagnetic device that could transmit understandable sounds. Sixteen years later, Alexander Graham Bell received the first patent for telephones and invented the first commercially successful telephone.

25. The Vacuum Tube (1883) - Thomas Edison discovered that an electrical current doesn’t need a wire through which to move—it could actually travel through gas or a vacuum. In 1893, ten years later, Lee De Forest invented the Audion, which could control the flow of and amplify the current—an innovation that became critically important to telecommunication later on in the twentieth century. Toilet Paper for hygiene purposes has been recorded in China in the 6th century AD, with specifically manufactured toilet paper being mass-produced in the 14th century. Modern commercial toilet paper originated in the 19th century, with a patent for roll-based dispensers being made in 1883.

26. Bicycle (1885) - John Kemp Starley is widely considered the inventor of the modern Bicycle, and also originator of the name Rover. In 1885 Starley made history when he produced the Rover Safety Bicycle. – a rear-wheel-drive, chain-driven cycle with two similar-sized wheels, making it more stable than the previous high wheeler designs. English inventor and industrialist (1854–1901).

27. Semiconductors (1896) - The first semiconductors were discovered. A semiconductor is simply material that has electrical conductivity due to flowing electrons. Today, silicon serves as the main component for most commercially produced semiconductors. Germanium, gallium, arsenide, and silicon carbide can also be used but silicon is more common (which is the main reason that the area between San Francisco and San Jose is called Silicon Valley.) Jagadish Chandra Bose was the first to apply semiconductors for commercial purposes around 1896.

28. Penicillin (1896) - The French medical student Ernest Duchesne originally discovered the antibiotic properties of Penicillium, however his research went mostly unnoticed. It took until 1928 for Scottish biologist Alexander Fleming to re-discovered penicillin. Penicillin enabling doctors to fight bacterial infections, save lives, and cure syphilis, gangrene and tuberculosis.

29. The Radio (1897) - The next great invention was the radio. In 1897, Nikolai Tesla applied for and received the first radio system patent after demonstrating it the year before at the World’s Fair. Radio took advantage of the amazing invisible parts of the electromagnetic spectrum to transmit information through waves. Today, we take it for granted that signals can travel invisibly through the air, but 130 years ago it was quite radical to demonstrate that there were things that we could not see that were still real. In fact, the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum is only a very small fraction. From the studies of the electromagnetic spectrum now know that there are gamma waves and x waves and radio and television, which have revolutionized human communication globally.

30. The Electron (1897) - That same year, 1897, J. Thomson discovered the electron. An electron is a negatively charged subatomic particle and it’s the primary carrier of electricity, which of course has revolutionized the world in the last 115 years.

31. Quantum Physics (1900) - The history of quantum physics is quite fascinating. It began with a number of discoveries going back all the way to 1838 with Michael Faraday’s discovery of cathode ray tube, and included 1887’s discovery by Heinrich Hertz of the photoelectric effect. But the real beginning of quantum physics was arguably in 1900 with Max Planck’s quantum hypothesis: that any energy-radiating atomic system can be divided into individual energy elements. Using that research in 1905, Albert Einstein theorized and later proved that light is made up of individual quantum particles which were later termed photons by Gilbert Lewis.

32. The Airplane (1903) - We saw the invention of the airplane by the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, on the North Carolina coast with the first successful flight of a manned machine occurring on December 17.

33. Television (1926) - The creation of television happened in 1926, but there were many inventions that led up to it, including the discovery of the photoconductivity of selenium in 1873 by Willoughby Smith and the 1884 invention of the scanning disk by Paul Nipkow. It was John Logie Baird who created the first televised moving images in 1926. Ten years later, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) broadcast the first public television show.

34. The Transistor (1947) - We saw the creation of the transistor. A transistor is a device that’s used to amplify and switch electronic signals. It’s extremely important in the ability to exchange information over a distance. Once we could amplify electronic signals we could have global telecommunications. In 1906, Lee De Forest had developed the triode in a vacuum tube that could amplify signals, which had helped overseas telephone calls be made for the first time, but it was in 1947 at AT&T that Bill Shankly and his team created the first semiconductor transistor. Of course, it was Bill Shankly who later founded Shankly Semiconductor, out of which Fairchild Semiconductor and later Intel were born.

35. DNA (1953) - James Watson and Francis Crick discovered DNA while working at Cambridge University. The duo suggested that the correct model for DNA structure was the double helix model and famously walked into a local pub and exclaimed, “We have found the secret of life.”

1955, on July 17th, Disneyland was the first theme park. Walt Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966). In 1965 Walt began development of another theme park, Walt Disney World. Epcot - Experimental Prototype Community Of Tomorrow (opened October 1, 1982) EPCOT (concept) was one of the first Futuristic City Designs. Walt Disney Imagineering - Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow: The Futurism of Walt Disney (youtube)

36. The Integrated Circuit (1959) - We saw the creation and discovery of the integrated circuit. Integrated circuits allow engineers to fit a lot more transistors, resistors, and capacitors in a smaller area. It was Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments and Robert Noyce of Fairchild Semiconductor, along with their teams, who created the first integrated circuits in 1959. All computers eventually ended up using integrated circuits, which later developed into microprocessors.

37. The Internet (1969) - We saw the creation of the early Internet, called the ARPANET, which was built by the United States Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (then called ARPA, today called DARPA) to connect researchers at different locations. The ARPANET delivered its first message on October 29, 1969 between UCLA and Stanford. The first message was simply the word “log in.” The message crashed the network and only the first two letters, L and O, made it through. By the end of 1969, four computers were connected to the ARPANET. By the 1980s, the ARPANET had turned into a global network that was used to send files and data from one computer to another. But it took until 1991 for the creation of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) by Tim Berners-Lee, which enabled the creation of a web of hyperlink documents. The World Wide Web became a communication tool that formed a constantly updating record of human knowledge and expression. A year later, in 1992, researchers of the University of Illinois developed a browser that created a user-friendly way to view the World Wide Web. Initially called Mosaic, that first browser turned into the company and product Netscape, which revolutionized the ability of individuals to access information globally.

38. Microprocessors (1971) - Ted Hoff of Intel created the microprocessor, which was an integrated circuit. It had all the functions of the computer or a central processing unit (CPU) on it, in a tiny space. The first chip was called the Intel 4004. It had 2300 transistors on it. It had as much power in one single chip as the ENIAC supercomputer, a 30-ton computer built in 1946. The microprocessor led to the miniaturization and the creation of the PC industry in the late 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, which enables us to have a supercomputer in our pockets today, connected to the global Internet–an amazingly important invention in human history that happened only a little more than four decades ago.

39. The Mobile Phone (1973) - Motorola launched the first handheld mobile phone. The first prototype weighed 2.5 pounds, offered 30 minutes of talk time, and featured a battery that took ten hours to recharge.

40. The Smartphone (2007) - On January 9, the iPhone launched, the first widely available smartphone with multi-touch capabilities (the ability to detect two fingers at once, enabling more complex user interactions such as pinch-to-zoom). The lowly telephone had turned into a cloud-connected smartphone with built-in GPS, compass, voice recorder, camera, maps, and web browser with an app store that allowed the user to download from a selection of millions of specialty applications. The multitouch smartphone paved the way for the tablet and the coming convergence of the laptop/tablet/and smartphone and new hybrids such as cloud-connected glasses and smartwatches. A world with smartphones with sufficient processing power and memory to be used as full-featured computers connected via docking stations to flexible frame monitors with hand gesture inputs and a projected keypad was soon approaching.

41. The Quantum Computer (2011) - The last step in our brief history of innovation is the quantum computer. In 2011, the first quantum computer was brought to market by D-wave. It was called the Dwave One. Quantum computers use superposition and entanglement to solve some computing problems thousands of times faster than traditional computers. In May 2013 Google announced it was purchasing a D-wave Two quantum computer to be hosted at the Quantum Artificial Research Lab at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, CA.

One person can make all the difference, even when knowing that everyone stands on the shoulders of giants.

Threaded Screw-Top for Bottles and Jars - John Landis Mason (1832 in Vineland, New Jersey – February 26, 1902), was an American tinsmith and the patentee of the metal screw-on lid for antique fruit jars that have come to be known as Mason jars. Many such jars were printed with the line "Mason's Patent Nov 30th 1858". He also invented the first screw top salt shaker in 1858. In 1858, Mason invented a square-shouldered jar with threaded screw-top, matching lid, and rubber ring for an airtight seal – the Mason jar. Until the 1830s, long before refrigeration and hothouse gardens, many fruits and vegetables had been available only seasonally, but the recent development of jars had made canning a practical alternative to drying, pickling, or smoking to preserve food. Prior to Mason's innovation, jars had a flat, un-threaded top, across which a tin flat lid was laid and sealed with wax. It was messy, unreliable, and unsafe – if the wax was not applied properly it allowed deadly bacteria to thrive in the jar. Mason's easy and re-usable jars made home canning procedure's popular among American settlers, homesteaders, and even in urban homes, but most Mason jars were manufactured by competitors after his patent expired in 1879. His invention never made Mason rich – he was later accused (but not convicted) of having his home burned to obtain an insurance windfall, and he worked for many years as an accountant at Colonial Bond and Guaranty Company. He was married and had six daughters. He died in poverty in a tenement house in New York City in 1902.

Some Inventions take a long time before they are fully utilized and their value understood.

"It isn't all over; everything has not been invented; the human adventure is just beginning." - Gene Roddenberry - Star Trek.

Historic Inventions Timeline (wiki)
Timeline of United States inventions (wiki)
Top 10 Inventions of All Time (youtube)
List of Inventors (wiki)
List of Prolific Inventors (wiki)
Yoshiro Nakamatsu (wiki)

First 2 Black Women To Be Inducted Into The National Inventors Hall Of Fame.

Lists of Accomplishments
Top 50
National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance | NCIIA
Innovation Fellows
5 Brilliant Scientific Accidents Golden Mole Award (youtube)
Invention Awards (wiki)

Universe Timeline (one of the very first inventions)

Corporate Takeover of America Timeline
Corporate Takeover of America's Education System

History (Historical Knowledge)

Invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition or process. The invention process is a process within an overall engineering and product development process. It may be an improvement upon a machine or product or a new process for creating an object or a result. An invention that achieves a completely unique function or result may be a radical breakthrough. Such works are novel and not obvious to others skilled in the same field. An inventor may be taking a big step in success or failure.



Innovation - Smart Innovation


Innovation is a creation of a new device or process resulting from study and experimentation. The creation of something in the mind. The act of starting something for the first time and introducing something new. Innovation can be defined simply as a new idea, device or method.

Reverse Innovation is innovation seen first, or likely to be used first, in the developing world before spreading to the industrialized world.

Disruptive Innovation is an innovation that creates a new market and value network and eventually disrupts an existing market and value network, displacing established market-leading firms, products, and alliances.

Innovation System stresses that the flow of technology and information among people, enterprises, and institutions is key to an innovative process. It contains the interactions between the actors needed in order to turn an idea into a process, product, or service on the market. National Innovation System - NIS (wiki).

Institutional Innovation - Measuring Innovation (PDF) - Measuring Science and Technology Innovation (PDF)

Sustainopreneurship is the use of business organizing to solve problems related to social and environmental sustainability.

Eco-Innovation - Social Innovator - Growth Mindset - Reusable - Life Cycle

Science Technology and Innovation Indicators - A Global Perspective on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI)

International Innovation Index is a global index measuring the level of innovation of a country. Innovation Hub.

Frugal Innovation is the process of reducing the complexity and cost of a good and its production. Usually this refers to removing nonessential features from a durable good.

Market Analysis analyses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. A documented investigation of a market that is used to inform a firm's planning activities, particularly around decisions of inventory, purchase, work force expansion/contraction, facility expansion, purchases of capital equipment, promotional activities, and many other aspects of a company.


Entrepreneur


Entrepreneur is defined as the process of designing, launching and running a new business, which typically begins as a small business, such as a startup company, offering a product, process or service for sale or hire.

Entrepreneurship is the capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit.

Social Entrepreneurship is the use of the techniques by start up companies and other entrepreneurs to develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a variety of organizations with different sizes, aims, and beliefs. Benefit Corporations.

Social Entrepreneur - Activism - Social Entrepreneurship - Entrepreneurship Programs

Entrepreneur Training Courses Online – Free of Charge. HP LIFE - Learning initiative for Entrepreneurs.

Ingenuity or Inventiveness is the Power of Creative Imagination. Ingenuity is the quality of being clever, original, and inventive, often in the process of applying ideas to solve problems or meet challenges.

Ingenious is showing inventiveness and skill.

Alexander Weygers was a polymath Dutch-American artist who is best known as a sculptor, painter, print maker, blacksmith, carpenter, philosopher, Aerospace engineer and author. Weygers Foundation.



Development - The Process of Developing


Consensus Flowchart Develop is to progress and learn gradually in a series of steps in order to make something new or make something better. To move into a strategically more advantageous position and become more technologically advanced. To grow emotionally or to mature through experiences. To undergo changes or improvements, like with a product, or with a mental or artistic creation. To create by training and teaching. To gain knowledge through experience. To grow, progress, unfold, or evolve through a process of evolution, natural growth, differentiation, or a conducive environment. Come to have or undergo a change of physical features and attributes. Come into existence and take on form or shape. Work out. Change the use of and make available or usable. Be gradually disclosed or unfolded. Manifest. Expand in the form of a series. Cause to grow and differentiate in ways conforming to its natural development.

Creation - Producing - Value - Expression - Proving - Compatible - Seed Planting

Development is the act of improving by expanding or enlarging or refining. A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage, especially a more advanced or mature stage. Development in biology is the process of an individual organism growing organically. A purely biological unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level. Elaborate by the unfolding of a musical idea and by the working out of the rhythmic and harmonic changes in the theme.

Development (Biology) - Child Development - Personal Development (self smart) - Software Development (Beta)

Growing is the unfolding of events involved in an organism changing gradually from a simple to a more complex level. To develop and reach maturity. To become greater through improvements. To take on form or shape.

Unfolding is a developmental process. To develop or come to a promising stage. Open to the view. Spread out or open from a closed or folded state.

Enhance is to make better or more attractive. Increase. Quality Control.

Advance is to contribute to the progress, development or the growth of something. To obtain advantages and develop in a positive way and change for the better. The act of moving forward, as toward a goal

Become is to undergo a change or development. Come into existence. Enhance the appearance of. Enter or assume a certain state or condition.

Start is to take the first step or steps in carrying out an action. Have a beginning, in a temporal, spatial, or evaluative sense. To set in motion and cause something to start. The act of starting something. A signal to begin. To bring into being. To get off the ground. To begin work and act in a certain capacity. The advantage gained by beginning early. Begin an event that is implied and limited by the nature or inherent function of the direct object. Proof of Concept.

Begin is to take the first step or steps in carrying out an action. The first item or point, constitute the beginning or start, come first in a series. To begin to speak, understand, read, and write a language.

Inception is an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events.

Gartner Hype Cycle represents the maturity, adoption, and social application of specific technologies. The hype cycle claims to provide a graphical and conceptual presentation of the maturity of emerging technologies through five phases. Each hype cycle drills down into the five key phases of a technology's life cycle.

Engage is to carry out or to participate in or be involved in a particular activity that can consume all of one's attention or time. To start a job to do a particular piece of work. Engage for service under a term of contract.

Attainment is the act of achieving an aim. Arrival at a new stage. An ability that has been acquired by training.

Threshold is the starting point for a new state or experience. The smallest detectable sensation. The entrance or the space in a wall through which you enter or leave a room or building. The space that a door can close.

Reverse Engineering - Planning (decisions)

Smart Design - Simplicity - Compatible - Usability

Jerry Cans: Explore the incredible design, engineering and history of the humble jerry can. (youtube)

"The Process of Development is in our DNA, we are born to develop."

New Product Development covers the complete process of bringing a new product to market. New product development is described in the literature as the transformation of a market opportunity into a product available for sale. The product can be tangible (something physical which one can touch) or intangible (like a service, experience, or belief). A good understanding of customer needs and wants, of the competitive environment and of the nature of the market represents the top required factor for the success of a new product. Cost, time and quality are the main variables that drive customer needs. Aiming at these three variables, companies develop continuous practices and strategies to better satisfy customer requirements and to increase their own market share by a regular development of new products. There are many uncertainties and challenges which companies must face throughout the process. The use of best practices and the elimination of barriers to communication are the main concerns for the management of the NPD process. Mutations.

Design is a construction or activity specification or plan, or the result of that plan in the form of a prototype, finished product, or process. Design a plan or drawing produced to show the look and function or workings of a building, garment, or other object before it is built or made. an arrangement of lines or shapes created to form a pattern or decoration. Decide upon the look and functioning of a building, garment, or other object, by making a detailed drawing of it.

Design Science as a methodology is an outcome based information technology research methodology, which offers specific guidelines for evaluation and iteration within research projects. Design science research focuses on the development and performance of (designed) artifacts with the explicit intention of improving the functional performance of the artifact. Design science research is typically applied to categories of artifacts including algorithms, human/computer interfaces, design methodologies (including process models) and languages. Its application is most notable in the Engineering and Computer Science disciplines, though is not restricted to these and can be found in many disciplines and fields. In design science research, as opposed to explanatory science research, academic research objectives are of a more pragmatic nature. Research in these disciplines can be seen as a quest for understanding and improving human performance.

Human-Centered Design is a design and management framework that develops solutions to problems by involving the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process. Human involvement typically takes place in observing the problem within context, brainstorming, conceptualizing, developing, and implementing the solution. Human-centered design is an approach to interactive systems development that aims to make systems usable and useful by focusing on the users, their needs and requirements, and by applying human factors/ergonomics, usability knowledge, and techniques. This approach enhances effectiveness and efficiency, improves human well-being, user satisfaction, accessibility and sustainability; and counteracts possible adverse effects of use on human health, safety and performance. ISO 9241-210:2010(E). Human-centered design builds upon participatory action research by moving beyond participant's involvement and producing solutions to problems rather than solely documenting them. Initial stages usually revolve around immersion, observing, and contextual framing in which innovators immerse themselves with the problem and community. Consequent stages may then focus on community brainstorming, modeling and prototyping, and implementation in community spaces. Further, human-centered design typically focuses on integrating technology or other useful tools in order to alleviate problems, especially around issues of health. Once the solution is integrated, human-centered design usually employ system usability scales and community feedback in order to determine the success of the solution. Human-centered design is key to forming partnerships for large-scale conservation success.

Next Generation is used to describe a product that has been developed using the latest technology and will probably replace an existing product because it's more advanced.

Iterative Design is a design methodology based on a cyclic process of prototyping, testing, analyzing, and refining a product or process. Based on the results of testing the most recent iteration of a design, changes and refinements are made. This process is intended to ultimately improve the quality and functionality of a design. In iterative design, interaction with the designed system is used as a form of research for informing and evolving a project, as successive versions, or iterations of a design are implemented.

Iterative and incremental Development is any combination of both iterative design or iterative method and incremental build model for software development.

Iteration is the act of repeating a process, either to generate an unbounded sequence of outcomes, or with the aim of approaching a desired goal, target or result. Each repetition of the process is also called an "iteration", and the results of one iteration are used as the starting point for the next iteration or improvement.

Version is something a little different from others of the same type. A written work (as a novel) that has been recast in a new form.

Software Versioning corresponds to new developments in the software incrementally different versions of electronic information.

Version Control is the management of changes to documents, computer programs, large web sites, and other collections of information. Changes are usually identified by a number or letter code, termed the "revision number", "revision level", or simply "revision". For example, an initial set of files is "revision 1". When the first change is made, the resulting set is "revision 2", and so on. Each revision is associated with a timestamp and the person making the change. Revisions can be compared, restored, and with some types of files, merged. (also known as revision control or source control).

Editing (updating)

Modification is to make partial or minor changes to (something), typically so as to improve it or to make it less extreme. An event that occurs when something passes from one state or phase to another.

Back to the Drawing Board means that an idea, plan, or proposal has been unsuccessful and that a new one must be devised. When something you have done has not been successful, you will have to start again or start over or try another idea.

Design Method ProcessUnified Process is a popular iterative and incremental software development process framework. Rational Unified Process is an iterative software development process framework created by the Rational Software Corporation, a division of IBM since 2003.

Permutation is one of several possible variations, in which a set or number of things can be ordered or arranged. The action of changing the arrangement, especially the linear order, of a set of items. An event in which one thing is substituted for another. Permutation relates to the act of arranging all the members of a set into some sequence or order, or if the set is already ordered, rearranging (reordering) its elements, a process called permuting. These differ from combinations, which are selections of some members of a set where order is disregarded.

Combination is a selection of items from a collection, such that (unlike permutations) the order of selection does not matter.

Science - Research - Practice - Train - Self-Directed Learning

Quality Control (QC)

JIRA provides bug tracking, issue tracking, and project management functions. Jira software (wiki)

Maintenance - Service - Service Oaths

Integrative Level or level of organization, is a set of phenomena emerging on pre-existing phenomena of lower level. Typical examples include life emerging from non-living substances, and consciousness emerging from nervous systems.

Technology Readiness Levels (9) Proof of Concept is a realization of a certain method or idea in order to demonstrate its feasibility, or a demonstration in principle with the aim of verifying that some concept or theory has practical potential. A proof of concept is usually small and may or may not be complete. Real Life Example.

Feasibility Study is an assessment of the practicality of a proposed project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats present in the natural environment, the resources required to carry through, and ultimately the prospects for success. In its simplest terms, the two criteria to judge feasibility are cost required and value to be attained. A well-designed feasibility study should provide a historical background of the business or project, a description of the product or service, accounting statements, details of the operations and management, marketing research and policies, financial data, legal requirements and tax obligations. Generally, feasibility studies precede technical development and project implementation. A feasibility study evaluates the project's potential for success; therefore, perceived objectivity is an important factor in the credibility of the study for potential investors and lending institutions.  It must therefore be conducted with an objective, unbiased approach to provide information upon which decisions can be based. Technology Readiness Level.

Prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and software programming. A prototype is generally used to evaluate a new design to enhance precision by system analysts and users. Prototyping serves to provide specifications for a real, working system rather than a theoretical one. In some design workflow models, creating a prototype (a process sometimes called materialization) is the step between the formalization and the evaluation of an idea. A prototype can also mean a typical example of something such as in the use of the derivation 'prototypical'. This is a useful term in identifying objects, behaviors and concepts which are considered the accepted norm and is analogous with terms such as stereotypes and archetypes. The creation of prototypes will differ from creation of the final product in some fundamental ways: Material: The materials that will be used in a final product may be expensive or difficult to fabricate, so prototypes may be made from different materials than the final product. In some cases, the final production materials may still be undergoing development themselves and not yet available for use in a prototype. Process: Mass-production processes are often unsuitable for making a small number of parts, so prototypes may be made using different fabrication processes than the final product. For example, a final product that will be made by plastic injection molding will require expensive custom tooling, so a prototype for this product may be fabricated by machining or stereolithography instead. Differences in fabrication process may lead to differences in the appearance of the prototype as compared to the final product. Verification: The final product may be subject to a number of quality assurance tests to verify conformance with drawings or specifications. These tests may involve custom inspection fixtures, statistical sampling methods, and other techniques appropriate for ongoing production of a large quantity of the final product. Prototypes are generally made with much closer individual inspection and the assumption that some adjustment or rework will be part of the fabrication process. Prototypes may also be exempted from some requirements that will apply to the final product. Engineers and prototype specialists attempt to minimize the impact of these differences on the intended role for the prototype. For example, if a visual prototype is not able to use the same materials as the final product, they will attempt to substitute materials with properties that closely simulate the intended final materials.

Emergence is the process of coming into being, or of becoming important or prominent. The process of coming into view or becoming exposed after being concealed. Emergence is a phenomenon whereby larger entities arise through interactions among smaller or simpler entities such that the larger entities exhibit properties the smaller/simpler entities do not exhibit. Cause and Effect.

Fruition is the enjoyment derived from use or possession. The condition of bearing fruit. Something that is made real or concrete.

Produce is to create or manufacture a man-made product and cause something to happen, occur or exist. To undergo a change involving improvements.

Prototype - Drawings - Process Improvement - Big Business - Small Business - Startup - Development - Funding

Crude is something that was not carefully or expertly made and belonging to an early stage of technical development that is characterized by a simplistic example of a much more advanced design that has not yet been built.


Compatible - Repurposed


Compatible is something able to exist or occur together and perform in harmonious or agreeable combination without any conflicts. Compatible is something that is capable of being used with or connected to other devices or components without modification, so it doesn't need to be thrown away or considered to be useless.

Form Follows Function - Relationship Compatibility - Asymmetric

Incompatible is something incapable of being used with or connected to other devices or components without modification. Something that is not compatible with other facts and being incorrect, unsuitable or improper.

Backward Compatibility is a property of a system, product, or technology that allows for interoperability with an older legacy system, or with input designed for such a system, especially in telecommunications and computing.

Interoperability is the ability equipment or groups to operate in conjunction with each other. Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or System, whose Interfaces are completely understood, to work with other products or systems, present or future, in either implementation or access, without any restrictions.

Conway's Law describes the link between communication structure of organizations and the systems they design. The law is based on the reasoning that in order for a product to function, the authors and designers of its component parts must communicate with each other in order to ensure compatibility between the components. Therefore, the technical structure of a system will reflect the social boundaries of the organizations that produced it, across which communication is more difficult. In colloquial terms, it means complex products end up "shaped like" the organizational structure they are designed in or designed for. The law is applied primarily in the field of software architecture.

Computer Compatibility or Software Compatibility refers to the ability for a software to run on a particular operating system, or refers to the compatibility that a particular software has running on a particular CPU architecture. Software compatibility can also very. Rarely is a compiled software compatible with multiple different CPU architectures. Normally, an application is compiled for different CPU architectures and operating systems to allow it to be compatible with the different system. Interpreted software, on the other hand, can normally run on many different CPU architectures and operating systems if the interpreter is available for the architecture or operating system. Software incompatibility occurs many times for new software released for a newer version of an operating system which is incompatible with the older version of the operating system because it may miss some of the features and functionality that the software depends on. Hardware compatibility can refer to the compatibility of computer hardware components with a particular CPU architecture, bus, motherboard or operating system. Hardware that is compatible may not always run at its highest stated performance, but it can nevertheless work with legacy components. An example is RAM chips, some of which can run at a lower (or sometimes higher) clock rate than rated. Hardware that was designed for one operating system may not work for another, if device or kernel drivers are unavailable. As an example, much of the hardware for mac OS is proprietary hardware with drivers unavailable for use in operating systems such as Linux. A family of computer models is said to be compatible if certain software that runs on one of the models can also be run on all other models of the family. The computer models may differ in performance, reliability or some other characteristic. These differences may affect the outcome of the running of the software.

Forward Compatibility is a design characteristic that allows a system to gracefully accept input intended for a later version of itself so that it can be easily updated or repurposed.

Utility - Purpose - Usability - Accessibility - Standards - Proof of Concept - Diametrically Opposed

Simpatico is having shared attributes or interests that are compatible. A person who is likable and easy to get along with.

Idiot Proof describes designs which cannot be misused either inherently, or by use of defensive design principles. The implication is that the design is usable even by someone of low intelligence who would not use it properly.

Capital Expenditure is an expense where the benefit continues over a long period, rather than being exhausted in a short period. Such expenditure is of a non-recurring nature and results in acquisition of permanent assets. It is thus distinct from a recurring expense.

State of the Art refers to the highest level of general development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field achieved at a particular time.

Requirement is a singular documented physical and functional need that a particular design, product or process must be able to perform. Differentiation Strategy is to develop and market unique products for different customer segments.

Maintenance - Leave Well Enough Alone?

Keeping things Simple - Development Mistakes (innovation gone bad)

Fault Tolerance is the property that enables a system to continue operating properly in the event of the failure of (or one or more faults within) some of its components. If its operating quality decreases at all, the decrease is proportional to the severity of the failure, as compared to a naively designed system in which even a small failure can cause total breakdown. Fault tolerance is particularly sought after in high-availability or life-critical systems. The ability of maintaining functionality when portions of a system break down is referred to as graceful degradation.





Top Down Bottom Up Design


Top-down and bottom-up Design are both strategies of information processing and knowledge ordering.

Top-Down approach is essentially the breaking down of a system to gain insight into its compositional sub-systems in a reverse engineering fashion. In a top-down approach an overview of the system is formulated, specifying, but not detailing, any first-level subsystems. Each subsystem is then refined in yet greater detail, sometimes in many additional subsystem levels, until the entire specification is reduced to base elements. A top-down model is often specified with the assistance of "black boxes", which makes it easier to manipulate. However, black boxes may fail to clarify elementary mechanisms or be detailed enough to realistically validate the model. Top down approach starts with the big picture. It breaks down from there into smaller segments. (also known as stepwise design and in some cases used as a synonym of decomposition) Controls.

Bottom-Up approach is the piecing together of systems to give rise to more complex systems, thus making the original systems sub-systems of the emergent system. Bottom-up processing is a type of information processing based on incoming data from the environment to form a perception. From a cognitive psychology perspective, information enters the eyes in one direction (sensory input, or the "bottom"), and is then turned into an image by the brain that can be interpreted and recognized as a perception (output that is "built up" from processing to final cognition). In a bottom-up approach the individual base elements of the system are first specified in great detail. These elements are then linked together to form larger subsystems, which then in turn are linked, sometimes in many levels, until a complete top-level system is formed. This strategy often resembles a "seed" model, by which the beginnings are small but eventually grow in complexity and completeness. However, "organic strategies" may result in a tangle of elements and subsystems, developed in isolation and subject to local optimization as opposed to meeting a global purpose.

Use Case is a list of actions or event steps, typically defining the interactions between a role (known in the Unified Modeling Language as an actor) and a system, to achieve a goal. The actor can be a human or other external system. Utility

Unit Testing is a software testing method by which individual units of source code, sets of one or more computer program modules together with associated control data, usage procedures, and operating procedures, are tested to determine whether they are fit for use. Conformance Testing

Design Methodology Manufacturing Resource Planning is defined as a method for the effective planning of all resources of a manufacturing company. Ideally, it addresses operational planning in units, financial planning, and has a simulation capability to answer "what-if" questions and extension of closed-loop MRP.

Acronyms used in Manufacturing

Invention (historic) - Designing (creativity) - Design (engineering)

Development Processes (science) - Evolve (evolution)

Co-Creation brings different parties together in order to jointly produce a mutually valued outcome.

Co-Design is an approach to design attempting to actively involve more people in the design process to help ensure the result meets their needs and is usable. Participatory design is an approach which is focused on processes and procedures of design and is not a design style.

Lessons Learned Feedback ChecklistCollaborations - Group Thinking - Hakerspace - On the Job Training - Introvert or Extrovert? - Child Development - Problem Solving 

Technology Roadmap is a plan that matches short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions to help meet those goals. It is a plan that applies to a new product or process, or to an emerging technology. Developing a roadmap has three major uses. It helps reach a consensus about a set of needs and the technologies required to satisfy those needs, it provides a mechanism to help forecast technology developments, and it provides a framework to help plan and coordinate technology developments.

Breakthrough Technologies 2015

Stepwise Regression is a method of fitting regression models in which the choice of predictive variables is carried out by an automatic procedure. In each step, a variable is considered for addition to or subtraction from the set of explanatory variables based on some prespecified criterion. Usually, this takes the form of a sequence of F-tests or t-tests, but other techniques are possible, such as adjusted R2, Akaike information criterion, Bayesian information criterion, Mallows's Cp, PRESS, or false discovery rate. The frequent practice of fitting the final selected model followed by reporting estimates and confidence intervals without adjusting them to take the model building process into account has led to calls to stop using stepwise model building altogether or to at least make sure model uncertainty is correctly reflected.

Design Thinking (PDF)

Key with Lock TumblersPostmortem Documentation is a process, usually performed at the conclusion of a project, to determine and analyze elements of the project that were successful or unsuccessful. The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) refers to the process as lessons learned. Project post-mortems are intended to inform process improvements which mitigate future risks and to promote iterative best practices. Post-mortems are often considered a key component of, and ongoing precursor to, effective risk management.
Simplicity Labs

The End of Ownership (VPRO Backlight, Video, 47:52)

Check Lists (routines)

There is a process. In order to take the next step in development you need to have certain things in place. Like a Key that activates the tumblers on a lock to unlock a door. All tumblers must be activated in order for you to take the next step. And some of those steps are big steps that happen fast. Don't forget you still have the Key.


Planned Obsolescence - Cheap Products - Life Cycle


Testing Developement Stages Planned Obsolescence or planned failure is when a product is purposely made of low quality materials so that the product fails prematurely or breaks, which forces the person to buy the product again. Planning or designing a product with a limited useful life is wasteful and criminal, especially when better materials are available and better manufacturing methods are also available. Making cheap products hurts people and pollutes the environment. Making cheap products wastes time, resources, people, money and potential. If a product can be made of higher quality, then we should make it. When we make products that last longer and are easily recyclable, then the extra cost of making that product would be more beneficial for everyone and everything on the planet. Using money as a reason to be ignorant and negligent needs to stop. People should not be allowed to do more harm than good. Don't trade convenience for the constant degradation of your health, or the planet. Don't trade a temporary gratification for a slow death. How can you feel good about slowly killing yourself, or killing other people? Ask an addict. When people don't have enough knowledge and information, people will always be less able to accurately understand cause and effect, and they will never know about better choices or better options. And there are always better choices, always. Not to say that all cheap things are bad, it's just when they are only made to make money instead of making a difference. Appliances.

Skimpflation is what companies do instead of raising prices, the companies would skimp on the goods and services they provide, degrading the quality of the stuff they sell.

Over Consumption - Reality Economics - Quality Engineering - Value Engineering

End-of-Life of a Product indicates that the product is in the end of its useful life and that a vendor will stop marketing, selling, and end support for the product. Utility.

Centennial Light is the world's longest-lasting light bulb, burning since 1901, and almost never switched off. It is at 4550 East Avenue, Livermore, California, and maintained by the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department. Pyramids of Waste aka The Light bulb Conspiracy, 2010 (video)

Ancient Tools - Pantheon 126 AD - Great wall of China 220–206 BC - Great Pyramid of Giza -2560 BC - Voyager - Knowledge Preservation

Obsolescence occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer wanted even though it may still be in good working order. Obsolescence frequently occurs because a replacement has become available that has, in sum, more advantages compared to the disadvantages incurred by maintaining or repairing the original. Obsolete refers to something that is already disused or discarded, wasted, or antiquated. Typically, obsolescence is preceded by a gradual decline in popularity.

Digital Obsolescence is a situation where a digital resource is no longer readable because of its archaic format.

Obsolete is something that is no longer in use because something new has been created, something that is more effective and more efficient than the old one. Superannuated.

Outdated is something that is no longer valid or compatible with current social needs. Extinctions.

Antiquated is something that is extremely old, obsolete, antique or old-fashioned, as seeming to belong to an earlier period.

Technical Debt is a concept in software development that reflects the implied cost of additional rework caused by choosing an easy (limited) solution now instead of using a better approach that would take longer. Pass the Buck.

Ratings - Cooperation instead of Competition - Repurpose - Adapt

Disruptive Innovation is what a criminal corporation says when a better idea comes along that threatens their profits and their monopoly on a particular existing market. Conservative.

Cradle-to-Cradle Design seeks to create systems that are not only efficient but also essentially waste free.

Life-Cycle Assessment is a technique to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product's life from cradle to grave (i.e., from raw material extraction through materials processing, manufacture, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and disposal or recycling). Designers use this process to help critique their products. LCAs can help avoid a narrow outlook on environmental concerns by. Compiling an inventory of relevant energy and material inputs and environmental releases; Evaluating the potential impacts associated with identified inputs and releases; Interpreting the results to help make a more informed decision. Useful life is the estimated lifespan of a depreciable fixed asset.

Development - Appliances

Product Lifecycle is the process of managing the entire lifecycle of a product from inception, through engineering design and manufacture, to service and disposal of manufactured products. PLM integrates people, data, processes and business systems and provides a product information backbone for companies and their extended enterprise.

Product Life-Cycle Management is the succession of strategies by business management as a product goes through its life-cycle. The conditions in which a product is sold (advertising, saturation) changes over time and must be managed as it moves through its succession of stages.

Systems Development Life Cycle describes a process for planning, creating, testing, and deploying an information system. The systems development life-cycle concept applies to a range of hardware and software configurations, as a system can be composed of hardware only, software only, or a combination of both.

SOA Lifecycle is a style of software design where services are provided to the other components by application components, through a communication protocol over a network. The basic principles of service oriented architecture are independent of vendors, products and technologies. A service is a discrete unit of functionality that can be accessed remotely and acted upon and updated independently, such as retrieving a credit card statement online. A service has four properties according to one of many definitions of SOA: It logically represents a business activity with a specified outcome. It is self-contained. It is a black box for its consumers. It may consist of other underlying services.

Enterprise Life Cycle in enterprise architecture is the dynamic, iterative process of changing the enterprise over time by incorporating new business processes, new technology, and new capabilities, as well as maintenance, disposition and disposal of existing elements of the enterprise.

Object Lifetime is the time between an object's creation and its destruction. Rules for object lifetime vary significantly between languages, in some cases between implementations of a given language, and lifetime of a particular object may vary from one run of the program to another.

QVC - Quality, Value, Convenience - which was a lie. Should have been "HqZwIp" - Highest Quality, Zero Waste, Increased Potential. Middle Men.

Smart Innovation - Collective Intelligence

Humans have the ability to solve their own problems without having to steal from other people or stealing from the environment.

Reliability Engineering - Efficiency - Resilient - Sustainable - Longevity - Quality - Performance

Durable Good is a product that can perform its required function over and over again repeatedly for a long period time without excessive expenditure on maintenance or repair. Under normal conditions of use, a durable product is a good that does not quickly wear out, or is not completely consumed in one use. Examples of highly durable goods are books, furniture, tools, sports equipment, jewelry and certain toys.

Capital Good is a durable good that is used in the production of goods or services. Capital goods are one of the three types of producer goods, the other two being land and labour. The three are also known collectively as "primary factors of production" This classification originated during the classical economics period and has remained the dominant method for classification. Examples include hand tools, machine tools, data centers, oil rigs, semiconductor fabrication plants, and wind turbines. Their production is often organized in projects, with several parties cooperating in networks (Hicks et al. 2000; Hicks and McGovern 2009; Hobday 1998). A capital good lifecycle typically consists of tendering, engineering and procurement, manufacturing, commissioning, maintenance and (sometimes) decommissioning.

Consumables - Consumerism

Tangible Property is anything which can be touched, and includes both real property and personal property or moveable property, and stands in distinction to intangible property.

Right to Repair - Hacker-Space - Computers.

Corrupt Corporations don't want you to fix their products or provide you with maintenance manuals so they can stop you from fixing the product yourself. These scumbag corporations even make their products more difficult to fix on purpose, just so they can increase profits at other peoples expense.


Things to Avoid when trying to Invent Something New


Reinventing the Wheel is to duplicate a basic method that has already previously been created or optimized by others. Reinvent the wheel is a term that means to waste a great deal of time or effort in creating something that already exists.

Anti-Pattern is any commonly reinvented product that is a bad solution to a problem, creating more bad consequences than good ones, when another solution exists that is documented, repeatable and proven to be effective.

Rube Goldberg Machine is a deliberately over-engineered product that performs a simple task in a complicated fashion, generally including a chain reaction. An example is Cars. Porter's Generic Strategies.

Hype Cycle is a graphical and conceptual presentation of the maturity emerging technologies through five phases.

Vaporware is typically a computer hardware or software, that is announced to the general public but is never actually manufactured nor officially cancelled.


Pitfalls of Patents


Design Around means to invent an alternative to a Patented invention that does not infringe the patent’s claims. The phrase can also refer to the invention itself.

Not Invented Here is the behavior to avoid using or buying already existing products, research, standards, or knowledge because of their external origins and costs and the fear of patent infringement, lack of understanding of the foreign work, an unwillingness to acknowledge or value the work of others, jealousy, or forming part of a wider turf war. As a social phenomenon, this philosophy manifests as an unwillingness to adopt an idea or product because it originates from another culture, a form of tribalism.

Patent Thicket is a dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology," or, in other words, "an overlapping set of patent rights” which requires innovators to reach licensing deals for multiple patents from multiple sources."

Copyrights - Creativity - Management

Meliorism is an idea in metaphysical thinking holding that progress is a real concept leading to an improvement of the world. It holds that humans can, through their interference with processes that would otherwise be natural, produce an outcome which is an improvement over the aforementioned natural one.

Regression Discontinuity Design is a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design that elicits the causal effects of interventions by assigning a cutoff or threshold above or below which an intervention is assigned. By comparing observations lying closely on either side of the threshold, it is possible to estimate the local Average treatment effect in environments in which randomization was unfeasible.



Funding - Grants - Venture Capital - Sponsors


Grant is the act of providing a subsidy or monetary aid. Grants are made to fund a specific project and require some level of compliance and reporting. The grant writing process involves an applicant submitting a proposal or submission to a potential funder, either on the applicant's own initiative or in response to a request for proposal from the funder. Other grants can be given to individuals, such as victims of natural disasters or individuals who seek to open a small business. Sometimes grant makers require grant seekers to have some form of tax-exempt status, be a registered nonprofit organization or a local government. Grant money is non-repayable funds or products disbursed or gifted by one party (grant makers), often a government department, corporation, foundation or trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution, business or an individual. In order to receive a grant, some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal or an application is required. Most grants are made to fund a specific project and require some level of compliance and reporting.(feedback - Liability). The grant writing process involves an applicant submitting a proposal (or submission) to a potential funder, either on the applicant's own initiative or in response to a Request for Proposal from the funder. Other grants can be given to individuals, such as victims of natural disasters or individuals who seek to open a small business. Sometimes grant makers require grant seekers to have some form of tax-exempt status, be a registered nonprofit organization or a local government. For example, tiered funding for a freeway are very large grants negotiated at government policy level. However smaller grants may be provided by a government agency (e.g. municipal government). Project-related funding involving business, communities, and individuals is often arranged by application either in writing or online. Sales.

Guaranteed Loan is a loan guaranteed by a third party in the event that the borrower defaults. The Loan is quite often guaranteed by a government agency which will purchase the debt from the lending financial institution and take on responsibility for the loan. Accountable.

Sponsor is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is known as sponsor. Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically in sports, arts, entertainment or causes) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property. While the sponsoree (property being sponsored) may be nonprofit, unlike philanthropy, sponsorship is done with the expectation of a commercial return. While sponsorship can deliver increased awareness, brand building and propensity to purchase, it is different from advertising. Unlike advertising, sponsorship can not communicate specific product attributes. Nor can it stand alone, as sponsorship requires support elements.

Incentivize - Invest - Financial AidGuaranteed Income

World Bank is the largest financier of education in the developing world.

Venture Capital is a type of private equity, a form of financing that is provided by firms or funds to small, early-stage, emerging firms that are deemed to have high growth potential, or which have demonstrated high growth (in terms of number of employees, annual revenue, or both). Venture capital firms or funds invest in these early-stage companies in exchange for equity, or an ownership stake, in the companies they invest in. Venture capitalists take on the risk of financing risky start-ups in the hopes that some of the firms they support will become successful. The start-ups are usually based on an innovative technology or business model and they are usually from the high technology industries, such as information technology (IT), clean technology or biotechnology.

List of Venture Capital Firms (wiki) - VC 100 - Funding Opportunity Databases (wiki) - Money Alternatives - Brain Storming - Funding Research Dangers

Private Equity is a type of equity and one of the asset classes consisting of equity securities and debt in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange. However the term has come to be used to describe the business of taking a company into private ownership in order to reform it before selling it again at a hoped-for profit.

Financial Endowment is a donation of money or property to a nonprofit organization for the ongoing support of that organization. Usually the endowment is structured so that the principal amount is kept intact while the investment income is available for use, or part of the principal is released each year, which allows for their donation to have an impact over a longer period than if it were spent all at once. An endowment may come with stipulations regarding its usage. The total value of an institution's investments is often referred to as the institution's endowment and is typically organized as a public charity, private foundation, or trust. Among the institutions that commonly manage endowments are academic institutions (e.g., colleges, universities, and private schools), cultural institutions (e.g., museums, libraries, and theaters), service organizations (e.g., hospitals, retirement homes, the Red Cross, the SPCA), and religious organizations (e.g., churches, synagogues, mosques).

Equity in finance is the difference between the value of the assets and the value of the liabilities of something owed. It is governed by the following equation: Equity=Assets-Liabilities.

Crowd Funding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising monetary contributions from a large number of people. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and of alternative finance. In 2015, it was estimated that worldwide over US $34 billion was raised this way. Micro Credit.

Fund Raising is the process of gathering voluntary contributions of money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies (see also crowd funding). Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises. Traditionally, fundraising consisted mostly of asking for donations on the street or at people's doors, and this is experiencing very strong growth in the form of face-to-face fundraising, but new forms of fundraising, such as online fundraising, have emerged in recent years, though these are often based on older methods such as grassroots fundraising. Professional fundraisers need to register.

Telethon is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause.

Seed Money is a form of securities offering in which an investor invests capital in exchange for an equity stake in the company.

Angel Investor is an individual who provides capital to a business or businesses, including startups.

Private Investors are individuals or entities that invest capital in private companies, often in exchange for equity.

Silent Partner is an investor who becomes a member of a partnership by virtue of capital contribution, but plays an inactive role in the daily operation and management of the business. Friends in High Places.

Local Early Action Planning (LEAP) Grants

Many important advancements came from public funded research projects. People make improvements, not money. Besides that, there is no separation between the private sector and the government because they feed off each other. There is no separation between the state and religion because people are people no matter where you are. The only difference is the processes used and the kind of controls that you have over those processes. To say that the Government can do a better job or that a private company can do a better job is just wrong and illogical. You first have to define the job and then define the people who will be responsible for that job. Ignorance and corruption is everywhere. So there is no guarantee things will be done effectively or efficiently unless citizens start taking responsibility for their lives and this planet, instead of just sitting around waiting for the sh*t to hit the fan. It would be a lot better for everyone if more people took a moment of each day just to verify and to understand our situation. We cannot simply transfer our responsibilities without oversight and accountability, because we tried that already for hundreds of years, it doesn't work, people die, people suffer, people get abused, and water, air, land and food get poisoned. I wouldn't say that Capitalism failed because it was not capitalism, it was corruption. And another thing that failed is our schools and our news outlets. But you don't know that schools and the media is under serving people, because schools and the media are the ones who convinced you they did not make you blind, so it must be your fault. But it's not your fault. But it will be your fault soon if you don't start educating yourself. And one of the first things you need to learn is not to use labels that only generalizes things, instead of explaining things better so that people can fully understand what you are talking about.

Things you should do before asking for funding: 1. Background/Introduction. 2. Project Goals and Scope of Services. 3. Anticipated Selection Schedule. 4. Time and Place of Submission of Proposals. 5. Timeline. 6. Elements of Proposal. 7. Evaluation Criteria. 8. Possible Roadblocks. 9. Budget.

Funding Organizations:
Indie Gogo - Raise Money, Get Help
Patreon Clothmap - get paid to chase your dream.
Kick Starter
Crowd Rise
Idea Funding
Crowd Funder
Go Fund Me
Space Hive
Carrot Mob
Peer Backers Crowd Funding
Cent Up
Circle Up (wiki)
Google Ventures
Robinhood
Funders Club
Founders Space is a Global Startup Accelerator & Incubator.
Grants from the Government
Nation Builder
My Event

Startup Costs are the expenses incurred during the process of creating a new business. Pre-opening startup costs include a business plan, research expenses, borrowing costs, and expenses for technology. Post-opening startup costs include advertising, promotion, and employee expenses.

Business Formation Statistics

42% of startups fail because there is no product-market fit — meaning their offering doesn't solve a burning problem that enough people want. “Start-ups don't fail because they lack a product; they fail because they lack customers and product-market fit.” Overconfidence: Perceive a subjective certainty higher than the objective accuracy. Illusion of control: Overemphasize how much skills, instead of chance, improve performance. The law of small numbers: Reach conclusions about a larger population using a limited sample. Availability bias: Make judgments about the probability of events based on how easy it is to think of examples. Escalation of commitment: Persist unduly with unsuccessful initiatives or courses of action.

Declining Business Dynamism: What We Know and the Way Forward. A growing body of evidence indicates that the U.S. economy has become less dynamic in recent years. This trend is evident in declining rates of gross job and worker flows as well as declining rates of entrepreneurship and young firm activity, and the trend is pervasive across industries, regions, and firm size classes. We describe the evidence on these changes in the U.S. economy by reviewing existing research. We then describe new empirical facts about the relationship between establishment-level productivity and employment growth, framing our results in terms of canonical models of firm dynamics and suggesting empirically testable potential explanations. Business Dynamism is measured by the rate at which firms enter the market, grow, shrink, and then leave the market.



Innovation Resources - Change Makers




Think Idea Champions of the Earth in 2004 as an annual awards programme to recognize outstanding environmental leaders at a policy level. Six awards are given out each year to a Laureate representing different geographical regions with one additional special prize. In 2017, the program was extended to a Young Champions of the Earth with six young champions from the six global regions. The Champions of the Earth are invited to accept their award at an international ceremony, which publicizes and encourages the worldwide replication of the achievements of the Champions. This awards programme is a successor to UNEP's Global 500 Roll of Honour.

United Nations Environment Programme is an agency of United Nations and coordinates its environmental activities, assisting developing countries in implementing environmentally sound policies and practices.

The American Dream...



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