Technological Genius Is Timeliness, Not Inspiration 255
Hugh Pickens writes "Ezra Klein has an interesting essay in the Washington Post about 'simultaneous invention,' where technology advances to the point that the next step is obvious to multiple people at once, and so they all push forward with the same or similar inventions. While the natural capabilities of human beings don't change much from year to year, their environments do, and so does the technology and store of knowledge they can access. 'The idea of the lone genius who has the eureka moment where they suddenly get a great idea that changes the world is not just the exception,' says Steven Johnson, author of Where Good Ideas Come From: The Natural History of Innovation, 'but almost nonexistent.' Consider Adam Goldberg's CU Community, created in 2003 at Columbia University, a social network that launched first and had cooler features than Facebook, with options for pictures and integrated blogging software. Klein writes, 'Zuckerberg's dominance can be attributed partly to the clean interface of his site, partly to the cachet of the Harvard name and partly to luck. But the difference between Mark Zuckerberg and Adam Goldberg was very small, while the difference between what Mark Zuckerberg could do and what the smartest college kid in 1999 could do was huge. It was the commons supporting them both that really mattered.'"
Tech Genius != Financial Success (Score:1, Funny)
Neither Mark Zuckerberg nor Bill Gates nor Steve Jobs could program a fucking VCR.
Re:Genius (Score:5, Funny)
And yes, I'm aware that Zuckerberg gets more ass than I ever will,
I was listening to a review of the movie on PBS. One of the commentators pointed out that, contrary to the story line, Zuckerberg was (and still is?) involved with one woman during the birth and creation of Facebook.
There's something to the idea that once the problem of 'getting ass' has been resolved, creative people have much more time resources with which to develop new technology*.
*Hence my idea of providing free hookers to engineering ad technology students. This will correct the USA's tech slide in no time.
Re:Poke (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Next up (Score:4, Funny)
0-click ordering
Its called Government.
Re:standing upon the shoulders of giants... (Score:3, Funny)
I am a clod, you insensitive dwarf!
Re:Social networking? Really? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Obvious corollary (Score:2, Funny)
Patent should have been rejected. It's to amuse the human. The cat is definitely not amused.
Re:Obvious corollary (Score:5, Funny)
I googled it too... my god.
I thought the patent system had some worth... had something redeeming quality.... until I read that.
Primary Examiner:Manahan, Todd E. should be fired, then tarred and feathered.
"A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct. "
And no. people love to claim that the abstract isn't a big deal, that the claims section has the real material but no. just no.
Claims:What is claimed is:
1. A method of inducing aerobic exercise in an unrestrained cat comprising the steps of:
(a) directing an intense coherent beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus to produce a bright highly-focused pattern of light at the intersection of the beam and an opaque surface, said pattern being of visual interest to a cat; and
(b) selectively redirecting said beam out of the cat's immediate reach to induce said cat to run and chase said beam and pattern of light around an exercise area.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said bright pattern of light is small in area relative to a paw of the cat.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said beam remains invisible between said laser and said opaque surface until impinging on said opaque surface.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein step (b) includes sweeping said beam at an angular speed to cause said pattern to move along said opaque surface at a speed in the range of five to twenty-five feet per second.
Description:BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to recreational and amusement devices for domestic animals and, more particularly, to a method for exercising and entertaining cats.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Cats are not characteristically disposed toward voluntary aerobic exercise. It becomes the burden of the cat owner to create situations of sufficient interest to the feline to induce even short-lived and modest exertion for the health and well-being of the pet. Cats are, however, fascinated by light and enthralled by unpredictable jumpy movements, as for instance, by the bobbing end of a piece of hand-held string or yarn, or a ball rolling and bouncing across a floor. Intense sunlight reflected from a mirror or focused through a prism, if the room is sufficiently dark, will, when moved irregularly, cause even the more sedentary of cats to scamper after the lighted image in an amusing and therapeutic game of "cat and mouse." The disruption of having to darken a room to stage a cat workout and the uncertainty of collecting a convenient sunbeam in a lens or mirror render these approaches to establishing a regular life-enhancing cat exercise routine inconvenient at best.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method of exercising a cat in normal day and night lighting environments.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a method of providing amusing, entertaining and healthy exercise for a cat.
It is yet another object of the present invention to teach a method of exercising a cat effortlessly at any time.
In accordance with the present invention, a light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation (laser) device in a small hand-held configuration is used to project and move a bright pattern of light around a room to amuse and exercise a cat.
The method is effective, simple, convenient and inexpensive to practice and provides healthy exercise for the cat and amusement and entertainment for both the cat and the owner.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings of one specific embo
simple human psychology: (Score:3, Funny)
when you can't get any ass, all you want to do is get ass
when you can get ass any time you want, you lose interest in trying to get it