Making Cars Green(er)
Posted by Merrin
Lois Nilsen has jumped on the worthy solar power bandwagon, challenging people to find a way of using parked cars to collect solar energy. The deadline for this challenge is August 31st, 2010.
Millions of cars,” Nilsen reminds us, “sit in parking lots gathering solar energy every day.” It is wasted potential, as there should be a way of using the car to provide power to the car owner’s workplace, grocery store, mall, etc., while the person is inside working or shopping. Nilsen suggests the option of plugging the car into a device. She also suggests that, as an incentive, the car owner could be offered a little bit of credit for providing energy. The solution should be easy to install in cars that are currently in use.
“And were each wish a mint of gold…”
Posted by Merrin
ChallengePoster John Olesen is no stranger to idealism and grand visions for major system overhauls and improvements. In addition to the challenge that he posted two weeks ago for someone to redesign the current United States Economy, Olesen also poured forth an ocean of noble wishes for a better America (and, indeed, for a better world).
These wishes are broad and wide-ranging, covering major topics such as the American government (a wish that the government would stop impeding progress, a wish that congress acted in the interests of the people, and a wish that the best ideas and people would be used to run the country), finance and the economy (a wish that we could design a new economy where the best idea is always used to get things done, a wish that we produced what we need rather than what we can sell, and a wish that the “sophisticated investor” requirement was eliminated for raising money), health (a wish to receive the best health care possible and a wish to feed the third world), and technology and development (a wish to rebuild all of the sub-par buildings in the country, a wish that we would maximize our technology to become more efficient instead of thinking about the cost, and a wish that people would stop fighting change).
If all of Olesen’s wishes were realized, there’s no doubt that many of the world’s injustices, imbalances, and inefficiencies would be significantly diminished. This is the spirit of innovation and change that fuelled ChallengePost in the first place. And, if any of these loftier wishes are thwarted, Olesen has included one that’s perhaps more nearly within reach: that “Congress would stop fighting online poker and embrace it.”
Get those apps in!
Posted by Merrin
Two major challenges will be closing in the coming weeks: the Thomson Reuters StreetApps Challenge (closes July 9th) and the Apps for Healthy Kids competition initiated by Michelle Obama (closes June 30th). These challenges are offering $25,000 and $60,000 respectively to winners. If you’ve thought about submitting solutions for either of these but haven’t managed to make the time yet, this is a gentle nudge to jumpstart that creative energy!
New Vision for the American Economy
Posted by Merrin
Do you long for a different, better economy? Do you have your own pet theories about how all American citizens could work less and earn more than people currently in the top 10% income bracket? Have you ever wondered if people would be better off in a society that didn’t depend upon monetary transactions? John Olesen is encouraging idealists to re-think and redesign the current United States economy and to devise a creative alternative that offers everyone equal wealth.
Olesen calls on potential solvers to think radically and independently, and to forget every pre-existing assumption they have about a functioning American economy. The goal, he says, “is to create the best possible economy.” He does, however, set a number of very challenging parameters, specifying that everyone must have a home that is at least 3000 square feet, that everyone owns or has access to a private plane, that labor is sharply reduced, that manufacturing and transportation systems are automated, and that homelessness must be eradicated. The elimination of the use of currency is optional.
The scope for creativity is essentially boundless and, with a challenge this difficult, competitors will be relieved to know that they have until July 4, 2011 to submit their solutions!
