Free energy device invention

[Dazz]

Good examples of "impossibles" in other areas

the 4 minute mile in pre 1956

Human powered flight pre Wright bros

Human space travel

The need for more than 640 kb of RAM in any home PC

A cure for Aids, we are partially there

A cure of Cancer, we are partially there for some.....

Nanotech etc etc

Gee whizzy Rolf.....I'm not sure that's a "good list" at all.


1. The four minute mile was broken in May 1954 in England by Roger Bannister, 2 months before the 1954 Empire Games in Vancouver Canada.

1a. Reports of it also being broken in May 1770 in London by James Parrott. Accepted by sporting authorities at the time, but rejected by modern sporting bodies.

By 1956, it was pretty ho-hum.

See attached link. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four-minute_mile

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2. Despite what American's say, 1903 with the Wright brothers was not the first powered flight. Orville Wright at Kitty Hawk was the first "heavier than air" machine to take flight.....but there was a bunch of flying machines that carried humans before that....

2.0 The Montgolfier brothers, seemed to play a huge part in things.

Montgolfier, Joseph Michel 1740–1810, and Jacques Étienne Montgolfier, 1745–99, French inventors, brothers. Together they invented the first practical balloon. On June 5, 1783, they sent up at Annonay, near Lyons, a large linen bag inflated with hot air; its flight covered more than a mile and lasted 10 min.

2.1 First human flight. A Frenchman, Jean Pilâtre de Rozier, made the first captive-balloon ascension on 15 Oct 1783.....looks like he was tethered to a rope when he went up in a Montgolfier balloon.

2.2 With the Marquis d'Arlandes, Pilâtre de Rozier made the first free flight, once again in a Montgolfier balloon, both reaching a peak altitude of about 500 ft, and traveling about 5.1/2 miles in 20 minutes over Paris on 21 Nov 1783. Surely this should be recorded as the first real human flight.

2.3 Germany's Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin flew the first of his long series of rigid-frame airships. It attained a speed of 18 mph and got 3.1/2 miles before its steering gear failed on 02 July 1900. The Count was up in the air and thinking of dropping bombs from a great height 3 years before Orville took off !!

See attached link. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0004537.html

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Space travel - fair enough, should be on the list.

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640kB RAM in a home PC.....that was never an impossibility.....that was just some big noting IBM tosser who said the world would only ever need 6 computers.

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AIDS & Cancer cures.....still in the too hard basket at present. Granted, after decades and billions of $, they do seem to be making slight headway. Trouble is, verifying some guarantee with a Dr is notoriously difficult as most people have found out.

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Nanotechnology - dunno, what was stated as being impossible ?? Ties into the 640kB of RAM a bit I would have thought.

 

[spludgey]

A fool and his money are easily parted.

Let me guess, it involves magnets, right?

 

[Bird Dog]

I was approached a few years ago about designing a laser measuring device which was to be used (if you can believe it) for measuring the distance between the wood and jack in lawn bowls.
At the time, no one had released such a device (of any nature) and I remember telling the two gentlemen that they were looking at it from the wrong angle and should not limit it to just lawn bowls.

Anyway, they did not have any patents however they did get me to sign an N.D.A (Non disclosure Agreement) or something to that effect to prevent me from discussing it with any other party.
Terry can confirm however this might be a good interim measure to at least open discussions.

Another option, if he is indeed ridgey didge is to offer him the following alternative.
He pays the $1,000 to see the "top flight" patent attorney to confirm or deny his beliefs in the Patenting laws around who has seen the device etc..
If the attorney confirms it then you agree to front up the your share of the trust money to see it.
If he states it's incorrect you then offer to sign an NDA and check out the device for yourself.
In your contract you may also want to stipulate a time limit etc of your investment.

Either way, regardless of what he's achieved to date.. from a commercial and even historical perspective, it's still effectively 100% of nothing!

Good luck..

B.D

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

I want eternal life and 72 virgins. [every year]

Second floor is the IT department. The eternal life part I can't help you with.

 

[Dazz]

That's funny VY !! Kudos.

 

[Ocean Architect]

Statement :

Easy. Spend a thousand bucks having a chat with a top flight patent lawyer. It might be the best money you've ever spent.....and save you oodles.

Me? Guys I think you've misunderstood. I don't want to invest in it. I don't want to find investors for it. I don't want to go to lawyers, or spend any money at all on anything.

My position is simple - he asked me what I thought, and I've been thinking about it for a while. I thought to ask you guys, because we have some shrewd and clever people on the forum.

I obviously hope it works out for him, because he's a nice guy and a friend of mine. I also hope it's real because I love new and useful gadgets/tools/ideas, as well as the design process, plus I would love to see what his concept is.

I must admit that I am biased towards inventors because I've invented stuff in the past and thought of taking the idea to market. My latest gadget will revolutionize the world, actually - it's a tile spacer remover that lets you take those stupid little crosses out of tiles without giving you blisters woohoo!

The other thing is that I really like looking at people with a dream chase it down as hard as they can, whether they win or lose.

Oh and to the person who asked, it doesn't involve magnets. (that was one of the first questions I asked him also )

 

[Propertunity]

... My latest gadget will revolutionize the world, actually - it's a tile spacer remover that lets you take those stupid little crosses out of tiles without giving you blisters

Why take 'em out? I just grout over the top of them.

 

[shuggy]

Has he made a working prototype and videoed it in action with commentary? Upload, wait for it to go viral and he will have the world beating a path to his door.

 

[battler]

Suppose you knew someone who had invented a device that made water run uphill under its own weight, without any fuel of any kind.

Like this?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_ram

 

[BMan]

Why take 'em out? I just grout over the top of them.

thats what has happened in my house.... pity they didnt even cover them

 

[HiEquity]

How can I verify that your statement is correct? Personally I have no stake in this, I just want to see what his device is.

I'm not a patent attorney but have played in this space for long enough to have learnt a thing or two. My advice is worth exactly what you pay for it (I'm not joking either - just read my standard T&Cs of engagement - a lawyer wrote them!).

Dazz's suggestion would be cheaper, easier and more reliable, but if you don't value your time and want to get into the deep dark world of intellectual property you can start here, here and here.

Good luck!

 

[Ocean Architect]

Why take 'em out? I just grout over the top of them.

Sometimes they stick out above the surface of the tile and you can't grout over them, especially when you're installing laser cut polished porcelain tiles with very thin grout lines. Then when you try to get them out with a screwdriver or whatever, the chances of chipping a tile are high. My spacer remover is a modified scraper, with a couple of pointy ends and rounded fulcrum for leverage. I really like using it, but I'm biased

Some tilers also believe in taking them out because if the wall/floor the tiles are stuck to moves, as happens as the house naturally sinks/settles into the ground, the spacers can cause tiles to pop off because unlike grout, they're very strong/inflexible.

Also thanks to HIEquity for the links. It isn't that I don't value my time, it's just that I'm interested to have a read. Man's gotta have a hobby

 

[Sim]

640kB RAM in a home PC.....that was never an impossibility.....that was just some big noting IBM tosser who said the world would only ever need 6 computers.

Not that it's important - but it does irk me when people misquote this ... and you've a doozy here with two misquotes or mis-attributes if you like.

Firstly, it is Bill Gates from Microsoft who is quoted as making the 640K of RAM comment - something he strenuously denies ever making, and nobody has ever provided evidence he really did say it! He is actually on record at the time of complaining about the lack of RAM in IBM's PC architecture - originally it was going to be 512K, but he pushed and pushed for it to be increased.

Secondly, the "big noting IBM tosser" you mention was actually IBM's Thomas J. Watson (Sr), chairman and CEO of IBM.

The quote about only ever needing 5 computers (not 6) is very often pulled out in the same context as the 640K RAM comment, and is equally wrong.

The quote actually refers to a comment made during a sales trip to sell one of IBM's new computers in the early 40s - computers which rented for between $12,000 and $18,000 per month (a heck of a lot of money in the 1940s!). His comments referred to his sales team's ability to potentially get orders for perhaps 5 of them (of the 20 or so organisations they approached).

The quote was about IBM's ability to sell their computers at that point in time, not a prediction about future worldwide demand!

Just so you know, okay?

 

[Aaron Sice]

IBM - the company founded off the back of making counting machines for the Jews in Nazi war camps.

yay for IBM.

 

[evand]

Look, im sure this isn't a unique situation your friend finds himself in. It sounds like a well trodden path for inventors. Whats the big deal?

 

[Sunfish]

IBM - the company founded off the back of making counting machines for the Jews in Nazi war camps.

yay for IBM.

What did the Jews need counting machines for?

 

[Corey Batt]

IBM did business dealings with the Third Reich, selling data processing machines designed to look at census data. This allowed the Nazi's to process individuals data cards looking for Jewish origins, cross checking names and blood lines.

IBM also designed data systems for the concentration camps, used to manage the millions of inmates within the concentration camps - the argument is that without this technology, there would have been no where near as precise a net to find Jews and other 'undesirables', and that the holocaust would not have been able to be conducted on such a widescale industrial manner.

IBM doesn't deny this, but also states that much of its records were destroyed or have gone missing during this period.

 

[Aaron Sice]

What did the Jews need counting machines for?

boomchish.

 

[Aaron Sice]

IBM did business dealings with the Third Reich, selling data processing machines designed to look at census data. This allowed the Nazi's to process individuals data cards looking for Jewish origins, cross checking names and blood lines.

IBM also designed data systems for the concentration camps, used to manage the millions of inmates within the concentration camps - the argument is that without this technology, there would have been no where near as precise a net to find Jews and other 'undesirables', and that the holocaust would not have been able to be conducted on such a widescale industrial manner.

IBM doesn't deny this, but also states that much of its records were destroyed or have gone missing during this period.

convenient.

thanks for clarifying.

 

[VYBerlinaV8]

I worked for IBM for a number of years.

Never again...