One of the best things about tossing out an idea is the fervent hope that someone really smart (much smarter than me) is reading them, if only for casual fun. And maybe that will provoke a much more detailed and well-formed idea on their part, no matter how silly my idea is. That is one of the greatest joys in brainstorming- the ability to provoke extremely intelligent people to come up with revolutionary thoughts and ideas. The beauty of this process is that your ideas don’t necessarily have to have any detailed merit- just the germ of an idea that encourages others to come up with better ones.

I have kept this book short so that it’s easy to get the gist of the ideas fairly quickly. A vast majority of people have good imaginations and can extrapolate from core ideas very quickly. I wanted to put together something that could easily be read in an airplane or on a train commuting somewhere. I have however, included economic arguments as part of the discussion of the ideas. Almost everything nowadays depends on financial decisions. You can have the greatest idea in the world, but if there’s no clear path for commercial viability, it will probably die. On the other hand, even the most half-baked idea can survive as long as it can stoke the interest of the general public and people want to spend money on it…

I hope what happens is that people read this book and it provides a lot of fodder for young minds. I hope they sit around a bar have a few beers and have raucous discussions about the ideas I presented. Perhaps they will all be ridiculed. Or perhaps it will spark some follow up ideas that are really great.

Read, enjoy and discuss. I hope you have as much fun reading this as I had writing it.

The purpose of this book is to share a bunch of “crazy” ideas. There is no claim that any careful research is done. It is more like a brainstorming session where any idea that comes to mind is presented. That is why you get a wide range of topics , from dealing with cat litter to exploring space.

You may wonder what the value of this is. Maybe the ideas are all not worth much in practical terms. Or perhaps there are some gems and some real bad ones. What’s the sense in me writing about these ideas?

Actually, I was wondering the same thing for many years. I have thought about writing this book for a lot of years , and never went through with it until recently.

I think we all start out when we are young thinking we are going to change the world. Especially in university, when I was studying physics, I had constant discussions with my colleagues about revolutionary ideas. As you get older, you settle down to a regular life that for the most part involves paying bills with the money you earn. Most of our energies start getting devoted to survival. Before you know it , you are wondering about managing retirement and you are left with a sense that somehow life passed you by.

The reason for this transformation from a wild eyed youngster with grand ideas to a well settled mortgage paying robot is fairly plain- most of us are just struggling to get by in life. Few of us have the luxury of picking and choosing what we do for a living. My own entry into the IT field was due to the inability of finding any physics related employment after doing a Ph.D. The job market was poor, and I looked around for a marketable job. I have done fairly well in my chosen profession, but I am constantly haunted by the thought that I was meant for something else. I suspect I have a lot of company in this regard.

It seems to me our sense of intellectual courage also wanes with age and seniority. We may have ideas that we think are worthwhile, but we dismiss them for the usual reasons:

• People will think they are stupid (a perennial favorite).
• I bet someone has thought of it already (yes, but they might not have voiced it ).
• I want to stick to the safe stuff that’s in the realm of my expertise.

It all becomes a tedious cycle. We end up doing something by rote, or maybe finding just a few ideas in our chosen profession that are interesting, and being content to live out our lives without a sense of wonder or exploration.

So this book is my attempt to revive a sense of wonder and speculation.

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Kindle Daily Deal: Black Friday

This Kathy Fischer Brown Special Edition contains three novels:Lord Esterleigh’s Daughter
The Serpent’s Tooth Trilogy, Book 1
As a child, Anne Fairfield dreams of the father she never knew, the hero who died fighting the French and their Indian allies in a land across the sea. Her mother’s stories, and fantasies of her own devising, sustain and nurture her through a poor and lonely existence. Until one winter night, a strange man comes to call, and the life she has known comes crashing down like shattered glass.Forced to confront sordid truths, secrets and lies, the headstrong young woman begins to learn that, like generations of Darvey women ruled by their hearts, she is destined to follow in their footsteps.Set against the backdrop of 18th century England, Lord Esterleigh’s Daughter is the first book in “The Serpent’s Tooth” trilogy, which follows Anne from the rural countryside, to London society and into the center of the American Revolution.Courting the Devil
The Serpent’s Tooth Trilogy, Book 2
Four years after a near fatal blunder uproots her from her home and inheritance, Anne Darvey, daughter of the Marquess of Esterleigh, finds herself an indentured servant on a farm near Fort Edward in New York, as the British army advances toward Albany. Driven by guilt over the pain she has caused her father and grief over her lover’s death, she sets out to deliver a message. The consequences lead to the discovery that all is not as it seems, and sets in motion events that lead to love and danger.Set against the backdrop of the American Revolution, Courting the Devil is the second book in “The Serpent’s Tooth” trilogy, which follows Anne from her childhood in the rural English countryside, to London society, and into the center of the American Revolution.Winter Fire
When Ethan Caine pulled the unconscious woman from the half-frozen creek, he had no idea that his world was about to explode. Dressed in clothes of Iroquois design and on the run for a murder she might have committed, she stirred up dark secrets from his Indian fighting past. Yet she was everything he desired. He needed to know the truth.He needed to find a way to trust her.Banished by the Seneca who had adopted and raised her, ostracized by the whites in the settlement, Zara Grey wanted only to be accepted. “Ethancaine” treated her with kindness and concern. It was easy to trust him. But her Indian ways disturbed him, and in her heart she would always be Seneca.

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This Margaret Tanner Special Edition published by Books We Love contains three novels.

Lauren’s Dilemma
Captain Blair Sinclair returns from the trenches of World War 1 suffering amnesia, and mistakes Lauren (Laurie) Cunningham for his fiancée.

When his real fiancée turns up his memory returns, and Laurie is banished for being an imposter.

Pregnant and desperate to hide the shame of having Blair’s baby out of wedlock, she marries Dick McKinlay. He needs a wife to hide his own dreadful secret.

Dick is tried for a murder he did not commit. Will Laurie reveal both their secrets to save him from the hangman?

Daring Masquerade
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A Mortal Sin
As the world teeters on the brink of World War 2, Paul Ashfield travels to Australia in search of the mother who deserted him. He meets Daphne Clarke, and after nights of passionate love-making, they decide to marry, but Paul discovers a shocking family secret. He and Daphne share the same mother. Devastated, he quickly departs the scene.

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Once slated for a professional football career, Dermot Sparhawk is now a recovering alcoholic on a mission to solve the murder of his godfather, Jeepster Hennessey. With his Micmac Indian cousin, his paraplegic tenant, and a former teammate helping, Sparhawk cobbles together a theory that could cost him his life.

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