little ideas for a slightly better world

[Peter]

This isn't a thread for discussing armed revolutions or radical social engineering projects, but for minor things that could realistically be changed to improve our day-to-day lives in some way. 

My first idea is that it would be nice if I could do an internet search that was restricted to only websites that I've bookmarked, or that are in my browser's history, or filtered in some other way based on my past activity.  Sometimes I'll think of something I saw online weeks, months or even years ago, like an interesting article or a product that was for sale, but I won't remember what site I saw it on and can't find it again with Google, often because there are too many other sites flooding the search results with things that are similar, but not quite what I'm looking for.  I'd like to be able to do this without revealing information about my past browser activity to Google or other search providers in a personally identifiable form, so it should have a secure annonymising system that separates the information from the source's IP address, and also splits the information up so that assticklers.com isn't sent in a big chunk of data along with frank56.adultblogservice.com and foocorp.com/boardofdirectors/frankharvey.

[Christopher McCandless]

This isn't a thread for discussing armed revolutions or radical social engineering projects, but for minor things that could realistically be changed to improve our day-to-day lives in some way. 

My first idea is that it would be nice if I could do an internet search that was restricted to only websites that I've bookmarked, or that are in my browser's history, or filtered in some other way based on my past activity.  Sometimes I'll think of something I saw online weeks, months or even years ago, like an interesting article or a product that was for sale, but I won't remember what site I saw it on and can't find it again with Google, often because there are too many other sites flooding the search results with things that are similar, but not quite what I'm looking for.  I'd like to be able to do this without revealing information about my past browser activity to Google or other search providers in a personally identifiable form, so it should have a secure annonymising system that separates the information from the source's IP address, and also splits the information up so that assticklers.com isn't sent in a big chunk of data along with frank56.adultblogservice.com and foocorp.com/boardofdirectors/frankharvey.

So we want an Aspie search engine? Btw - this FF plugin might interest you: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/06/view-your-web-browser-history-in-visual.html

[Peter]

So we want an Aspie search engine? Btw - this FF plugin might interest you: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/06/view-your-web-browser-history-in-visual.html

I don't think there needs to be anything particularly Aspergerish about it, and how would an Asperger search engine differ from a non-Asperger search engine?  Thanks for the link though; I'll try it out later, but based on the description, it seems like a good match for what I wanted.

[Christopher McCandless]

So we want an Aspie search engine? Btw - this FF plugin might interest you: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/06/view-your-web-browser-history-in-visual.html

I don't think there needs to be anything particularly Aspergerish about it, and how would an Asperger search engine differ from a non-Asperger search engine?  Thanks for the link though; I'll try it out later, but based on the description, it seems like a good match for what I wanted.

More set up to deal with how we process and store stuff I guess. In particular, it might allow us to search by other means, e.g. via pictures or sketches.

[RageBeoulve]

This isn't a thread for discussing armed revolutions or radical social engineering projects, but for minor things that could realistically be changed to improve our day-to-day lives in some way. 

My first idea is that it would be nice if I could do an internet search that was restricted to only websites that I've bookmarked, or that are in my browser's history, or filtered in some other way based on my past activity.  Sometimes I'll think of something I saw online weeks, months or even years ago, like an interesting article or a product that was for sale, but I won't remember what site I saw it on and can't find it again with Google, often because there are too many other sites flooding the search results with things that are similar, but not quite what I'm looking for.  I'd like to be able to do this without revealing information about my past browser activity to Google or other search providers in a personally identifiable form, so it should have a secure annonymising system that separates the information from the source's IP address, and also splits the information up so that assticklers.com isn't sent in a big chunk of data along with frank56.adultblogservice.com and foocorp.com/boardofdirectors/frankharvey.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with your reasoning. True change would only occur if blood were shed.

[TheoK]

This isn't a thread for discussing armed revolutions or radical social engineering projects, but for minor things that could realistically be changed to improve our day-to-day lives in some way. 

My first idea is that it would be nice if I could do an internet search that was restricted to only websites that I've bookmarked, or that are in my browser's history, or filtered in some other way based on my past activity.  Sometimes I'll think of something I saw online weeks, months or even years ago, like an interesting article or a product that was for sale, but I won't remember what site I saw it on and can't find it again with Google, often because there are too many other sites flooding the search results with things that are similar, but not quite what I'm looking for.  I'd like to be able to do this without revealing information about my past browser activity to Google or other search providers in a personally identifiable form, so it should have a secure annonymising system that separates the information from the source's IP address, and also splits the information up so that assticklers.com isn't sent in a big chunk of data along with frank56.adultblogservice.com and foocorp.com/boardofdirectors/frankharvey.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with your reasoning. True change would only occur if blood were shed.

 

[Peter]

This isn't a thread for discussing armed revolutions or radical social engineering projects, but for minor things that could realistically be changed to improve our day-to-day lives in some way. 

My first idea is that it would be nice if I could do an internet search that was restricted to only websites that I've bookmarked, or that are in my browser's history, or filtered in some other way based on my past activity.  Sometimes I'll think of something I saw online weeks, months or even years ago, like an interesting article or a product that was for sale, but I won't remember what site I saw it on and can't find it again with Google, often because there are too many other sites flooding the search results with things that are similar, but not quite what I'm looking for.  I'd like to be able to do this without revealing information about my past browser activity to Google or other search providers in a personally identifiable form, so it should have a secure annonymising system that separates the information from the source's IP address, and also splits the information up so that assticklers.com isn't sent in a big chunk of data along with frank56.adultblogservice.com and foocorp.com/boardofdirectors/frankharvey.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with your reasoning. True change would only occur if blood were shed.

So, are there no improvements that you can think of which don't require violence?  No niggling little annoyances in your life which could be corrected in a peaceful manner through the application of a little creativity and elbow grease, or by doing something a little differently?

I like to keep our garden well watered when we have hot, dry weather like we're getting at the moment, but it's a pain in the ass to go around the entire garden with a hose to water everything, and it's a garden of bushes, trees, irregular shapes and numerous other factors that make sprinklers far more bother than they're worth.  To resolve this minor annoyance in my life, I snaked a length of hose around the garden this evening, winding it under and around obstacles, sealed the end of it and carefully perforated it so that it produces little misty jets of water that go exactly where I want them to, allowing me to spend more time enjoying the garden, and less time standing around with a hose while I get bored.  I've improved my life in a small but noticeable way, and nobody got hurt in the process.

[RageBeoulve]

This isn't a thread for discussing armed revolutions or radical social engineering projects, but for minor things that could realistically be changed to improve our day-to-day lives in some way. 

My first idea is that it would be nice if I could do an internet search that was restricted to only websites that I've bookmarked, or that are in my browser's history, or filtered in some other way based on my past activity.  Sometimes I'll think of something I saw online weeks, months or even years ago, like an interesting article or a product that was for sale, but I won't remember what site I saw it on and can't find it again with Google, often because there are too many other sites flooding the search results with things that are similar, but not quite what I'm looking for.  I'd like to be able to do this without revealing information about my past browser activity to Google or other search providers in a personally identifiable form, so it should have a secure annonymising system that separates the information from the source's IP address, and also splits the information up so that assticklers.com isn't sent in a big chunk of data along with frank56.adultblogservice.com and foocorp.com/boardofdirectors/frankharvey.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with your reasoning. True change would only occur if blood were shed.

So, are there no improvements that you can think of which don't require violence?  No niggling little annoyances in your life which could be corrected in a peaceful manner through the application of a little creativity and elbow grease, or by doing something a little differently?

I like to keep our garden well watered when we have hot, dry weather like we're getting at the moment, but it's a pain in the ass to go around the entire garden with a hose to water everything, and it's a garden of bushes, trees, irregular shapes and numerous other factors that make sprinklers far more bother than they're worth.  To resolve this minor annoyance in my life, I snaked a length of hose around the garden this evening, winding it under and around obstacles, sealed the end of it and carefully perforated it so that it produces little misty jets of water that go exactly where I want them to, allowing me to spend more time enjoying the garden, and less time standing around with a hose while I get bored.  I've improved my life in a small but noticeable way, and nobody got hurt in the process.

I see. You mean little tricks that manipulate our own environment. Sure. Lemme think about it for a while. I'll come back later.

[odeon]

So we want an Aspie search engine? Btw - this FF plugin might interest you: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/06/view-your-web-browser-history-in-visual.html

I don't think there needs to be anything particularly Aspergerish about it, and how would an Asperger search engine differ from a non-Asperger search engine?  Thanks for the link though; I'll try it out later, but based on the description, it seems like a good match for what I wanted.

More set up to deal with how we process and store stuff I guess. In particular, it might allow us to search by other means, e.g. via pictures or sketches.

Tricky. Anything like that is pretty damned hard to code--searching based on images rather than words.

[Christopher McCandless]

This isn't a thread for discussing armed revolutions or radical social engineering projects, but for minor things that could realistically be changed to improve our day-to-day lives in some way. 

My first idea is that it would be nice if I could do an internet search that was restricted to only websites that I've bookmarked, or that are in my browser's history, or filtered in some other way based on my past activity.  Sometimes I'll think of something I saw online weeks, months or even years ago, like an interesting article or a product that was for sale, but I won't remember what site I saw it on and can't find it again with Google, often because there are too many other sites flooding the search results with things that are similar, but not quite what I'm looking for.  I'd like to be able to do this without revealing information about my past browser activity to Google or other search providers in a personally identifiable form, so it should have a secure annonymising system that separates the information from the source's IP address, and also splits the information up so that assticklers.com isn't sent in a big chunk of data along with frank56.adultblogservice.com and foocorp.com/boardofdirectors/frankharvey.

I'm afraid I have to disagree with your reasoning. True change would only occur if blood were shed.

So, are there no improvements that you can think of which don't require violence?  No niggling little annoyances in your life which could be corrected in a peaceful manner through the application of a little creativity and elbow grease, or by doing something a little differently?

I like to keep our garden well watered when we have hot, dry weather like we're getting at the moment, but it's a pain in the ass to go around the entire garden with a hose to water everything, and it's a garden of bushes, trees, irregular shapes and numerous other factors that make sprinklers far more bother than they're worth.  To resolve this minor annoyance in my life, I snaked a length of hose around the garden this evening, winding it under and around obstacles, sealed the end of it and carefully perforated it so that it produces little misty jets of water that go exactly where I want them to, allowing me to spend more time enjoying the garden, and less time standing around with a hose while I get bored.  I've improved my life in a small but noticeable way, and nobody got hurt in the process.

Yeah, we might be able to tape around the edges a little, but the real problems are fundamental. Its unlikely we can sort things merely by chipping away, however. Maybe we can make a good few bob though by coming up with some original ideas and putting them into action collectively though. Then we might be able to make some more collective changes. Coming to think of it, how up to speed are you with electronics. There is a couple of novel toys I wouldn't mind making, got an idea how to turn any laptop screen into a tablet.

[Christopher McCandless]

So we want an Aspie search engine? Btw - this FF plugin might interest you: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2007/06/view-your-web-browser-history-in-visual.html

I don't think there needs to be anything particularly Aspergerish about it, and how would an Asperger search engine differ from a non-Asperger search engine?  Thanks for the link though; I'll try it out later, but based on the description, it seems like a good match for what I wanted.

More set up to deal with how we process and store stuff I guess. In particular, it might allow us to search by other means, e.g. via pictures or sketches.

Tricky. Anything like that is pretty damned hard to code--searching based on images rather than words.

You need to know an awful lot of mathematics to have a chance at doing it, though it would be amazing to do as PhD project.

[El]

Image search engine:  http://tineye.com/faq

[Christopher McCandless]

Image search engine:  http://tineye.com/faq

Thats pretty impressive, though it cannot do everything. Like take a sketch and find accurate results.

[Callaway]

Image search engine:  http://tineye.com/faq

Cool site.

[odeon]

Very cool.