I considered ways to keep these things with me. Storing them on my phone or a piece of paper is no good since it’s still easy to forget about them. Writing them on my hand seemed okay, but then I wondered about the health concerns of letting ink sink into my skin all the time. There was also the issue that having notes scrawled all over my hand would mayhaps cause me to appear a tad insane.

Then I remembered watches. They were those digital timepieces that you used to strap to your wrist before cell phones made them irrelevent. This fact still renders them useless, but they would be awesome for uses other than timekeeping. Things like storing things I wanted to remind myself of. The display could rotate through them, and could be used for other things as well, like grocery lists. A button could scroll through list contents, or lists of different types.

And there are other things it could do for me as well, like store people’s names and their relation to me (I am horrible with names). Also, if I could get it to sync with my phone over bluetooth, it could pop up notifications when I receive a text message, an email, a phone call, or a twitter mention. Heck, if it can connect with my phone, it could just be treated like a widget that I can always see. It could show me weather, stock market updates, anything. The possibilities are endless.

The only issue is that there would be no room for a full keyboard, only a few buttons. However, that could be fixed by just hooking it up to a computer to add content, or perhaps even through a smartphone.

If anyone is thinking “this is ridiculous”, I offer that if Apple can make those little ipod nano‘s with touchscreen display and up to 16GB of memory that can clip onto my belt for $189, then some Chinese company can make my watch for like $20.

I considered making it myself, but I don’t have any idea what I would be doing with something like this. I might buy a book on microcontrollers or something though, we’ll see.

If anyone wants to steal this idea, I would be flattered, but please let me know so I can be an early adopter. Or, if this already exists, please place a link in the comments so I can buy it.

Sleep.

More specifically, that tiny bit of time just before you fall unconscious.

You see, before you fall asleep your memory processing shuts down, which is why even though you’ve gone to sleep thousands of times in your life, you never actually remember the moment it happens.

This memory loss in fact extends a little bit before when you actually fall asleep. So why does this creep me out?

Sometimes I’ll be lying in bed, waiting to fall asleep and thinking about things, and as I get closer and closer to falling asleep, I suddenly realise something.

If I’ve entered the timeframe where my memory has shut down, then I won’t remember anything I’m currently thinking about. Effectively, the person who I am for that moment won’t be remembered, and will effectively “die” as soon as I fall asleep.

This knowledge somehow awakens some deep seated survival instinct, and I’m suddenly wide awake. It’s a strange reaction. Like that person who I am for that small moment doesn’t want to disappear.

So that’s why sleeping creeps me out: in order to do it, you have to effectively let a tiny part of yourself die every night.

You may think I’m a bit silly, but I bet a few people will be lying awake in bed a bit later than usual tonight.

Well, I decided this sounded like a pretty sweet deal, so I did up a business plan for Dischan Media: a web design and visual novel development company. It ended up being selected as one of the finalists and I was flown out the finals. In the end, I won third place, which has a prize of $1000.

However, even after the contest portion of the event, things were not over. There was a second day of consulting sessions where you met with professionals in different industries to talk about your business. This was a great experience and I learned a lot. I talked to insurance brokers, marketing professionals, human resources experts, and many others.

I also got to meet some of the other young entrepreneurs who had applied. They were all great people and had some very interesting ideas.

I can’t participate in the contest again next year, since I was already a finalist, but I would definitely consider attending.

If you are curious about second and first place, I can tell you that second place and $2000 went to Elite Productions: a DJ and lighting service, and that first place and $5000 went to Corcoran Consulting. If you are curious about the Angel Business Development Program, you can check out their site.

Anyway, it was a great time. I’d like to wish the best of luck to all the other entrepreneurs I met, and of course thank everyone involved in the program for their hard work.

Cheers!