Don't sell yourself short. By following links from programmer-oriented websites and weblogs, I have seen home hobbyists constructing their own button-triggered pyrotechnics gloves, as one might use for an illusionist's stage flourish. And I have seen remarkable advances in robotic flight, transcranial magnetic sensing and stimulation, and bizarre couch, loveseat, and recliner modifications.
A programmer's gift is taking an impossible dream and systematically disassembling it until it is a giant pile of tiny possibilities.
But first, let's define the requirements. Does the couch need to fly across the room more than once? This room specifically, or any room the couch happens to be in? Does the couch need to be intact after it lands? How much payload weight should the couch be able to carry? Does the payload need to be intact after the couch lands? To what extent will the couch be expected to change its course mid-flight? Should the couch be upholstered in top-grain leather, suede, natural fiber cloth, synthetic cloth, or plastic? When you say "cause a couch to fly across the room with your mind", do you mean that your mind should be invested into the couch in some way, or that your mind would be causing the flight? Is the "or" you use to join the flying-couch requirement with the hand-fireball requirement exclusive or inclusive?
This is why people don't understand programmers. They say "why all these questions? I just want to be like the Chesterfield-flinging version of Magneto, from X-Men!" And then we just nod, cross off the potential requirement about uploading a human brain into a couch, and try to guess what else they really wanted, but cannot adequately explain.
A programmer's gift is taking an impossible dream and systematically disassembling it until it is a giant pile of tiny possibilities.
But first, let's define the requirements. Does the couch need to fly across the room more than once? This room specifically, or any room the couch happens to be in? Does the couch need to be intact after it lands? How much payload weight should the couch be able to carry? Does the payload need to be intact after the couch lands? To what extent will the couch be expected to change its course mid-flight? Should the couch be upholstered in top-grain leather, suede, natural fiber cloth, synthetic cloth, or plastic? When you say "cause a couch to fly across the room with your mind", do you mean that your mind should be invested into the couch in some way, or that your mind would be causing the flight? Is the "or" you use to join the flying-couch requirement with the hand-fireball requirement exclusive or inclusive?
This is why people don't understand programmers. They say "why all these questions? I just want to be like the Chesterfield-flinging version of Magneto, from X-Men!" And then we just nod, cross off the potential requirement about uploading a human brain into a couch, and try to guess what else they really wanted, but cannot adequately explain.