I have a friend who is a dancer, bust his ankle and had to go to hospital. There, he had an instant, gloved microsurgery, booming lights, blink and its over, operation. Wow I said when I saw him walking uneasily 2 days later. Is that down to incredibly expensive new NHS tricknology? No, he said, it's a bloody stick, pointing to his only means of support. You get one free with every operation.

This apposite forcing together of software and stick also seems to be the case with innovation and technology. Anytime innovation is mentioned, there on its coat tails is technology. Recently the Higher ('Hire'?) awards for excellence, innovation joined them together too. But they can be separate, can't they?

I was wondering about these recent innovations I'd seen or heard of, the 'successful exploitation of new ideas' and where technology fitted, if at all:

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LIFT (London International Festival of Theatre) project 'Eat London': imagining and building an edible map of London, where 5,000 people from many different communities created 60 square metres of edible grass, tarmac, brick and steel, their cuisine representing the diversity of London

Holidaytaxis.com: enabling transfer from flight to hotel without waiting for 50 other people and the Lost luggage couple to get on your transfer bus

Clicksnmortar: estate agents who want to help

02 interactive 'stareout' ad challenging users to a staring contest with Englandrugby team members. Mike Tindall, apparently, can stare for 6.5 minutes without blinking. (Premium rates for this?)

The people who queued up at Northern Rock who didn't have savings there because they didn't want their neighbours to think they didn't have any.

Karen Bilimoria's Cobra beer, an Indian lager (Been there, drank that)

The 105,800 new enterprises starting up in Jan-March 2007 and not worrying about the mortality rate.... yet (At least Alan Sugar wasn't among them)

HSBS faced down on Facebook: a ' viral campaign' by student protesters about HSBC new banking charges, including 'flash queues' forcing HSBC to freeze planned charges

Sean Kingston (Kisean Anderson from Miami) posts a demo on MySpace and targets key record label producers, with 8 emails a day for a month, to get a record deal for 'Beautiful Girls' (Number 1 world wide this summer)

Horsesmouth.co.uk: from 'me' to 'we' social networking for positive change, funded by the Edge, (an alternative learning charity), advocating self help, includes mentoring
The Homeless World Cup held in Denmark this August with 48 Nations taking part. Scotlandwon, beating Poland in the final.

Gilad Atzmon & the Orient House Ensemble's 'Refuge'

Fruit shaped tables in a primary school to interest pupils in nature and design

Kevin Finch S+M cafes: controlled nostalgia in an updating of 'greasy spoon' cafes opening in London(S+M = sausages and mash)

So which ones aren't real?
And where's the technology? Even better, where's the learning?