Fresno Famous

just thought of something, we have at least 3 incubators here in the Fresno area; WET, CVBI, & what's its name in Clovis (really a business hub w/cubicles, phones, FAX, copy center, conference rooms & receptionist)

anyway, I was listening to this talk & I thought, why not start a new innovation center; Fresno has many laid-off engineers, managers, designers & salesmen, etc...
anyway, this would be
part 1.

Talks Tim Brown: The powerful link between creativity and play

At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play

Tim Brown is the CEO of the "innovation and design" firm Ideo -- taking an approach to design that digs deeper than the surface

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/tim_brown_on_creativity_and_play.html

part 2.
heat engine creates electricity

a 25 year detour to create a better solar powered electricity generator, using a combo of new & old technology

Talks Bill Gross: Great ideas for finding new energy

Bill Gross founded Idealab, an incubator of new inventions, ideas and businesses.

Bill Gross, the founder of Idealab, talks about his life as an inventor, starting with his high-school company selling solar energy plans and kits.

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/bill_gross_on_new_energy.html

part 3.

Center encourages aerospace entrepreneurs
By Jim Spellman

CNN
LOUISVILLE, Colorado (CNN) -- While the economy sputters here on Earth, space entrepreneurs in Colorado are looking to the heavens.

"Our goal is to help small aerospace companies to get off the ground," said eSpace director Diane Dimeff. eSpace will help entrepreneurs "to commercialize their technology and to help develop the work force that will fuel their growth."

The center's Incubator doubles as the headquarters of SpaceDev, which Tibbitts founded almost by accident more than a dozen years ago. He developed a paraffin actuator, a mechanism filled with a waxlike substance that melts when it reaches a certain temperature, flipping a switch.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/02/23/space.entrepreneurs/index.html

part 4.

CNN updated 9:11 a.m. EDT, Tue April 1, 2008
Algae: 'The ultimate in renewable energy'

By Marsha Walton

ANTHONY, Texas (CNN) -- Texas may be best known for "Big Oil." But the oil that could some day make a dent in the country's use of fossil fuels is small. Microscopic, in fact: algae. Literally and figuratively, this is green fuel.

"Algae is the ultimate in renewable energy," Glen Kertz, president and CEO of Valcent Products, told CNN while conducting a tour of his algae greenhouse on the outskirts of El Paso.

...

Kertz said he can produce about 100,000 gallons of algae oil a year per acre, compared to about 30 gallons per acre from corn; 50 gallons from soybeans.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/science/04/01/algae.oil/index.html

part 5.

SPACEPORT AMERICA DESIGN UNVEILED
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
LAS CRUCES, NM – A team of U.S. and British architects and designers, accompanied by officials from the New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) and Virgin Galactic, will unveil the design renderings of Spaceport America at a press conference Tuesday, September 4, in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Construction on the 100,000 square-foot hangar and terminal facility is scheduled to begin in 2008.

http://spaceportamerica.com/press/press-9-4-2007.html

part 6.

Live-work condos offer dual-purpose space
These condo hybrids allow professionals, entrepreneurs, artists and others to own a space that's well-suited to serve both home and work needs. Developers are catching on.
By Marilyn Bowden, Bankrate.com
With more and more people working at home at least part of the week, it's perhaps not surprising that condo developers around the country are beginning to promote live-work units as part of their mix of offerings. Though the concept harks back to days when the corner grocer lived in rooms above the store, the design usually owes more to the artist's loft that has proliferated over the past few decades in renovated commercial buildings found in resurrected downtowns.
In addition to sculptors and painters, these modern, at-home work spaces target professionals and entrepreneurs. While they may appear to be a good solution to such urban problems as sprawl, traffic congestion, rising fuel costs, parking and the mounting price of leased office space, the newness of the concept can present a number of challenges to consumers and developers.

http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13108477

part 7.

The Future starts here

& now to 'Star Trek', why can't we do something so out-there, so futuristic, audacious, that it'll make people think? who says that we can't declare ourselves an "intergalactic spaceport city"? I mean, we do call our airport "Fresno Yosemite International", when, up to recently it wasn't very 'international' & it's still not 'Yosemite', does anyone know any tours, plane or helicopter rides originating form FYI to Yosemite? No? Proves my point, so, why not change the name to FYIS? (Fresno Yosemite Intergalactic Spaceport).

why? To be the first, to invite inventors here, to invite aliens (see if they're really there?), to put ourselves so out-on-a-limb, that we need to put up or shut-up.

Up until the Creative Fresno Initiative, past City Councils hadn't done anything futuristic since the Fulton Mall, art, etc…

This City Council could set up rules, laws, travel lanes, height limits & speed limits, plan for the future, they need to set up "no fly zones" too, I've been up in a helicopter & let me tell you, parts of Fresno are ugly, also, no buzzing pedestrians nor loitering by backyard nude sunbathers

all to look sort of like the "Jetsons" or "Futurama" or "5th Element"

Establish 3-d driving schools (well, ok, I mean video arcades like "the last starfighter")

5th Element; see segment starting at 0:44 to 2:02

the Last Starfighter; see segment starting at 0:32 to 1:57
.com%2Fcontent%2Ffresno-future-idea-innovation-center-ffiic&feature=player_embedded