Overkill

Techie types like me can fall in love with technology all out of proportion to its usefulness. I know I have to combat it. Otherwise I find myself building some fancy database app when what I really need is a box of index cards.

There's always someone to sell you a million dollar solution to a nickel problem, and some of the most egregious offenders are in medical sales. I recall reading about a 'penile turgidity monitor', used on impotent men to determine if they had erections while they slept - this could help determine if the problem was physical or mental. But you could replace it for most purposes with a piece of toilet paper and some tape. Check in the morning to see if it's broken so you know if the problem is in his head.

And then there's this from Science Daily by way of Poor Man:

"simple, cost effective method for extracting carbon dioxide directly from the air — which could allow sustained use of fossil fuels while avoiding potential global climate change."

We already have this - it's called a "tree". This technology might well have practical use somewhere, but if it's CO₂ reduction you want, we can go simpler and cheaper in most places.

Did I mention that I have this little app that turns my PC into an alarm clock that speaks several languages?