What were they thinking: very slow gambling

When we think of gambling, we tend to think of high paced slot machines or James Bond winning it all at the craps table. It has been quite a while since the Design Automation conference was in Las Vegas, so I thought that some of you may be missing a little gambling fun. So for amusement purposes only, I bring to you today’s crazy patent.

The abstract really says it all:
An Entertaining Growth System that utilizes the growth of a seedling within its design to create an entertaining and interesting device of chance. In its simplest form it allows the user to ask a "question" of the Entertaining Growth System and receive an "Answer" by observing the Dynamic Growth of a plant, in this case as seedling, through labeled holes in a lid.

I also love some of the language used in this patent. For example claim 1:
An apparatus for indicating a determinate from an array of possible determini comprising:

1. a pot of predetermined size holding
2. soil containing
3. a seed
4. a lid indica with a plurality of holes with predetermined diameters allowing said seed to grow through whereby each said hole has an associated label
5. means far joining said lid indica to said pot at a predetermined height over said soil whereby said holes in said lid indica are oriented to said seed so as to allow said seed to grow through said holes.

Hang on a minute, or a few days or weeks to get your answer and what if there were two seeds that each provided different answers or you forget to water and no seedling emerged. Does the bank win under those circumstances?

Now I realize that gambling at this pace may cut down on your losses, but really, I think I would forget the question before it has given me an answer. It is also flawed in that you can orient the pot to get the answer you want, or at least increasing the odds of it, by making sure the predominant light is shining from the direction of the answer you desire. Oh well, anyone got a lucky 8 ball?

Brian Bailey – keeping you covered

---

If you found this article to be of interest, visit EDA Designline where – in addition to my blogs on all sorts of "stuff" – you will find the latest and greatest design, technology, product, and news articles with regard to all aspects of Electronic Design Automation (EDA).

Also, you can obtain a highlights update delivered directly to your inbox by signing up for the EDA Designline weekly newsletter – just Click Here to request this newsletter using the Manage Newsletters tab (if you aren't already a member you'll be asked to register, but it's free and painless so don't let that stop you [grin]).