If I'm anything, I'm a sucker for a novel idea. No matter how terribly impractical or far-out an idea ay be, if there's a possibility that the idea is interesting, I get sucked in really easily. I think it's because I often think of things as what they could be rather than what they are. I see the United States as a country of freedom-loving, smart, talented, and tolerant people, no matter what the data says or I actually see in our culture. If I imagine space travel, it's not the shuttle launches, nor even the tales of Firefly or Star Trek. I envision us instead beaming through space as data, from Dyson shell to Dyson shell, after we've uploaded our consciousnesses into our virtual worlds. Have I been reading too much Charles Stross? Most likely. It does seem like the most sensible path to the future, though. I just wish I wasn't going to miss it.
Enough talk of libertarian nations and singularities. Let me show you two remarkable ideas that are part of our current reality and that have sucked me in like a fly to a flashlight.
Bitcoins
If you are one of those bitcoin haters from HN, you better leave now. Ah, bitcoins, the decentralized, peer-to-peer, digital currency that has been sweeping the internet. What attracts me to such an odd system of currency? Well, that's simple: I'm a Paranoid Bastard. The benefit of this currency system is that no one controls it in any way. The entire workings of the system is completely transparent, down to every last bitcoin. Some anonymity is given by the fact that coins are sent to public key addresses, rather than names, and it is fairly easy to launder the money through other addresses. The genius idea of having the market's overhead (processing transactions) via the nodes on the network while also being tied to the bitcoin generation system just astounds me. Very elegant, indeed. Not to mention it's a completely digital currency, from its inner cryptographic workings to it's main transaction method. I don't have to trust the Federal Reserve, Treasury, banks, and countless other people that touch my money anymore, because I can trust the system. And the openness of the system almost guarantees that I know exactly what is going on. Bitcoins are gaining momentum and currently trading at close to $19 a coin, so I suggest you look into it now at bitcoin.org.
RepRap
The second big idea that I am currently enthralled with is 3D printing. 3D printing is not a new idea, but it is getting cheaper and cheaper by the day. DIY hobbyists and other individuals are building and using their very own 3D printers inside their homes now. A 3D printer, if you are not informed, is a device that creates object our of plastic by layering the material in 3D space, much like your 2D printer prints out pictures. One analogy is that your desktop printer is to a printing press as a 3D printer is to a factory. These DIY 3D printers are in their infancy, but momentum is again growing, especially with a project called RepRap. This projects goal is to create a 3D printer that can not only print useful goods, but can also replicate itself. That way, after you received a RepRap, you could print the parts and assemble one for your friend. The philosophy, modeled after biological symbiosis and evolution, will lead to better printers and a higher proliferation of the printers into the world. I am excited about this project and am hoping to build one myself to tinker with in the future. For more information on RepRap, I would recommend that you watch this video, visit the official site, or contribute to this Kickstarter effort.
Well, thanks for listening to me ramble. I'm going to go find another idea.