Idea Informer

I’m a great fan of free and good products. And one of them that I use is Idea Informer, a simple but effective online feedback system. You can see it in action on a site implemented by me, www.hdmag.ro.

Anyway… because I liked it so much I wanted to show my appreciation by donating some money. But there is no donation option on the site. So I suggested the idea of creating an option for that. The reply was:

We are happy to provide free service for our users. If you like it and want to help, please recommend it to your friends. We will appreciate it!

What can I say more? They also provide good customer relations.

Frozen olives

Buying olives every now and then can be a drag. So I was wondering: why can’t you buy them once a year? Well… the official explanation is that even when kept in the fridge they get mold after a while.

But as an engineer I strive for better so I push things to limit. In the case of olives they got “pushed” down in the freezer. So here is the result:

Frozen olives

Omelette

The omelette was delicious. You wouldn’t have suspected that the olives where actually 1 month old.

Stray dogs, no more!

Stray dog looking for food

Stray dog looking for food

Probably you think that solving the stray dogs problem require mass murder, a lot of money, protests and all the fuss. I beg to differ. Here is why…

1. Fact

Uneducated and indisciplined people throw more garbage and wastes on the street, including food.

2. Fact

Our wastes become the food for stray dogs. They don’t hunt. They don’t chew on tree bark or graze grass. They eat human food.

3. Fact

With a reliable food source individuals of any species will increase in numbers.

Without a reliable food source individuals of any species will decrease in numbers.

Without any source of food a specie will go extinct.

Problem

People feeding stray dogs. An established food chain that makes the existence of stray dogs possible.

Solution

Break the food chain.

Proposal

Enforce laws that punish throwing or depositing food wastes in accessible places.

Dogs have to eat every day. Hire a bunch of men (as few as possible) to follow stray dogs in order to determine their food source. Apply fines greater enough to cover the expenses.

The search pattern should be from the center of the city towards the suburbs of the city. Use bikes for mobility.

Also acquire some mobile phones and publish the numbers. This will allow ordinary people to report improper food disposal so a much faster pinpointing of the food source will be possible.

Why use as few people as possible? The purpose of this plan is to drive the stray dogs out of the city and reduce their number gradually. A sudden drop in food supply all around the city will probably make stray dogs take desperate actions in order to survive. I don’t like the idea of dogs taking a bike out of our asses.

A zero-budget solution: the state is already paid for creating and enforcing laws, the fines should cover the expenses.

Expected results

No food on the streets. No  stray dogs on the streets.

A large amount of money well not spent.

Ethics

“Letting animals starve to death is unethical.” This would be the subject of an never-ending debate. Ethics concerns its self about right and wrong. I’m not concerned about those. Because right and wrong are the cause of conflicts. I’m not concerned about those neither.

But if you are concerned about ethics, ask your self these:

  • Is killing rats with poison ethical? They also die in pain.
  • Is letting other people starve to death ethical? 5 million per year die of starvation.
  • Is throwing away food ethical? Ecosystems are being destroyed in order to clear land for farming.
  • Is letting other people being threaten or attacked by stray dogs ethical? Other people are the ones that provide for you food and shelter.
  • Is letting stray dogs live in a hostile environment ethical? Constant rejection from people creates constant suffering in stray dogs.
  • Is letting wild animals starve to death ethical? In many areas or periods of time wild animals starved to death. Aren’t stray dogs wild animals?

[RO] Viziunea studenților asupra muncii în timpul facultății

Q1. Daca ai vrea sa lucrezi in timpul facultatii care ar fi motivele tale? Alege in ordinea descrescatoare a importantei primele 3 motive.

Q2. Ce anume te motiveaza pe tine cand lucrezi? Alege in ordinea descrescatoare a importantei primii 3 factori care te motiveaza cel mai mult.

Q3. Ce fel de forma de lucru preferi in timpul facultatii?

Q4. Daca munca pe care o faci este un task/subproiect cat ai putea lucra la acesta fara a-ti pierde auto-motivatia?

Q5. La ce intervale de timp preferi sa fi remunerat pentru un task/proiect la care lucrezi? Alege intervalul maxim de timp in care poti lucra pentru atingerea unui obiectiv fara a primi in prealabil o remuneratie.

Q6. Unde preferi sa lucrezi? Alege locatia in care crezi tu ca ai avea randament maxim.

Q7. Cand preferi/poti sa lucrezi? Alege orele in care ai randament maxim.

Q8. Cum preferi sa lucrezi? Alege rolul pe care ai vrea sa il ai intr-o echipa.

Q9. Urmatoarele doua intrebari se refara la ani de studiu universitar sau postuniversitar.

Q10. Cum crezi ca te-ar influenta lucrul in timpul facultatii?

Tabele cu statistici (XLSX)

Your Bluetooth headset may be used as a hearing aid

A year ago I bought myself a Nokia BH-505 Bluetooth headset. I usually use it to listen to my music stored on my mobile phone. One day during subway commuting I’ve noticed that after stopping the music the headset amplified the ambient sound for a couple of seconds. Of course this was a bug but it gave me an idea: if the headset can record sound, amplify it and reproduce it at a higher volume than why it can’t be used as a hearing aid?

In order to elaborate this idea I must start with some preliminary data:

  • Nokia BH-505 Bluetooth headset – $60
  • Regular hearing aid – $500 to $6,000

Now how could a $60 Bluetooth headset be converted in a simple hearing aid?

DIY – mobile phone app

The most simple approach would be to write an app that runs on the mobile phone that acts like an equalizer: it amplifies frequencies of sounds of interest (e.g. voice) and attenuates frequencies of unwanted sounds (e.g. background noise). The sound would be streamed from the microphone (via Bluetooth), processed by the equalizer on the phone and then streamed back to the headphones.

Of course this would work only for a couple of hour because the Bluetooth usage drains the battery rather quickly.

Firmware upgrade

The producer of the headset (or a skillful hacker) may implement the equalizer right into the firmware of the Bluetooth headset. This would not require a mobile phone and the Bluetooth communication so the battery would last longer.

I doubt that someone will hack into one of these Bluetooth headset firmwares too soon so start praying for some product management enlightening.

Conclusion

Of course that a Bluetooth headset would not offer the same quality as a professional hearing aid but at least it would offer your grandpa a more modern look. On another hand one Bluetooth headset like these may prove particularly useful for filtering out your baby’s cries for attention and, why not, for picking door locks.