Bike saddles

Bicycles are brilliant: fast, efficient, green, healthy, etc. Apart from saddles. Bike saddles are the modern equivalent of medieval torture devices. So why hasn't some bright spark somewhere sorted this out?

For me, the lack of comfort stems from my weight being on my perineum rather than on my bum cheeks. The reason there isn't better support for the cheeks is that they need to move as the legs move. So the solution that suggests itself to me is a hinged saddle with one cushion for each cheek. These move independently on a hinge that goes across the bike and is supported by the seat post. Each cushion is a curved l-shape to support the bum cheek and the top of the thigh. Some molding of the cushion (higher at the side than in the middle) would help stop any side-to-side movement. A woeful attempt to communicate this idea visually is below.

Change management

Every organisation, it seems, has some kind of change programme, but to date I have found them difficult to fathom. There appear to be a few things missing:

• a complete list of all elements/pilots/projects of the change programme
• an annual report (detailing elements/pilots/projects brought forwards from the prior year, elements/pilots/projects terminated/finished and carry forwards to the next year)

One sentence reminders

One of the difficult things about self-improvement is remembering what it is you are trying to do (lose weight, get fit, be more organised...). I think it might be helpful to summarise self-improvement plans into a few sentences which can be read each day to serve as a reminder.

Pit bed

Why are beds flat? Is that really what we want? Did anyone actually do any consumer research? I think not. How about a bed with walls that curve down into the base, wide enough to give room for maneuver but narrow enough to make it snug?

Trial by media

Often the stigma associated with media reporting of arrests and trials is a huge punishment for those that are found not guilty. There should be a law to force the media to report the outcome of a case if they name someone as alleged, and give the outcome equal prominence (e.g. if arrest is front page, so should be the verdict).

Other operating systems, drivers, market intervention

There should be a law to force all hardware manufacturers to make available linux-compatible drivers for their products and force them to make available the necessary technical information to allow a 3rd party to easily make a driver for their products (to allow new entrants into the operating system market).

Annotation

Maybe it's just me, but I prefer active reading. Active reading involves highlighting, annotating, making notes (and maybe doodling). And does Adobe Reader allow you to highlight and annotate PDFs? No! It's a travesty. The most common e-reading format doesn't allow you to read thing properly!

Sun exposure meter

I want to get sunburnt as much as then next person, so I thought it'd be useful to have a sun exposure meter to tell you, based on your skin conditions and the sun strength, how long you should be out in the sun each day and what factor sun screen you need. Once you've plugged in what factor you've put on it could monitor your UV exposure and tell you to cover up when you've had too much.

Product placement in adverts

I remember thinking a long time ago about the possibility of companies using one advert to sell complimentary products. For example, you might want to advertise a Ferrari with a Rolex. It occurred to me that perhaps this joint advertising could be done on a more subtle level, using product placement. A car manufacturer could pay Coca-Cola to have their car in the background of a Coca-Cola advert. I wonder whether this is already done.

Wikireligion

I have always been intrigued by the idea of a hybrid religion (I call it a metareligion in my mind but I fear that is an inappropriate use of the prefix meta) taking the best parables and guidance from all the world's religions, philosophies, etc. Whilst I am keen to produce such a hybrid religion myself, I would be interested to see whether a wiki community could band to together to produce a democratically formed hybrid religion. I would probably be subject to much heated discussion, but people would find that they have lots in common: rules such as "thou shall not kill" are fairly universal.