Observation doesn't come easily but it can be learned. Some of the greatest minds ever such as da Vinci and Aristotle had great powers of observation. They used these powers to gain a greater understanding of the world around them. Not everyone can be expected to have the genius of da Vinci or Aristotle but we all can observe our surroundings and look for signs, clues or evidence that something exists or could exist. By design our brain filters out all sorts of stuff. If we didn't, we wouldn't be able to handle the amount of sounds, sights, and smells that are constantly bombarding us from every direction. Our brain also has the ability to focus and scan for specific items. So the next time a bold claim is made about some new breakthrough or some technology that could be used to solve any one of many popular issues that face the world today take a look around and see if you can find any evidence.
About one year ago I began wondering why businesses leave their desktop computers on all the time. Many employees will connect remotely from home to their work computers so by leaving their computers on they are insured that the computer is always available. Probably even the busiest person only uses their computer 60 out of the 168 hours in the week. Isn't there built-in software and hardware that would allow for machines to be powered on and off remotely? There is, however these features just don't work very well so instead of taking the risk of not being able to connect to a machine people tend to leave their computers on all of the time. Look around and you will come to the same conclusion - there is no evidence that the ability to remotely turn on and off your machine actually exists.
Earlier this year, I sponsored a computer science senior project with the University of Colorado to create the capability to remotely power computers from on to off. The students just finished and as part of the project we will be posting this software online for anyone who wants to download it. The senior class project - Sleep If Not Needed - has some great features. Hopefully now when I look around I will find that almost nobody I work with will leave their computer on when they aren't using it and as evidence I should see a lower electric bill.