Quote: Linus Pauling

"Well, you just have lots of ideas and throw away the bad ones. You aren't going to have good ideas, unless you have lots of ideas and some principle of selection."

- Linus Pauling

Blog Expirations on Blogger

Problem: It's always disappointing when someone takes a primo blog name on Blogger and then doesn't do anything with it. Here are some random examples of great keywords for which I found existing blogs, which turned out to be quite lame and abandoned (as you can see for yourself). I included a short excerpt from each blog to give you a general idea.

MoreCowbell - (last post October 2002) "Apparently I missed the memo, but Rosie O'Donnell is back in the news.
LOL - the only post (from April 2001) is "this is the flufy puiff blog.... it has everything from Harry Potter to Limp Bizkit"
Sublime - (last post July 2001) "i'm bored and grumpy. i just cleaned my room, yuck. dried flowers rot. dum dee dum"
Preschool - only post from 10/13/04 is "my son goes to pre-school at 8:00"
PhiladelphiaEagles - There are a total of 5 posts, from November 2003
RantsAndRaves - A single post in 2000, completely worthless and with no redeeming value

Obviously most of these people had 5 minutes of interest a few years ago, and have no intention of ever posting to that blog again. Yet they are squatting on a prime blog name.

Solution: Blogger should have a rule where someone can apply to wait list a blog name, in which case Blogger sends an e-mail to the "owner" of that blog indicating that if they don't make a single post for a 2 year period, the name will be transferred to a new owner.

Federal Corporate Insurance System

Problem: It seems unfair that certain industries get federal bailouts as part of their revenue model. An example that came up recently in the news is the citrus industry. California suffered an unusual frost that killed a large percentage of the annual orange crop. Now they are asking the government to grant them emergency disaster bailout funds. However, when they have good years I do not see them lining up to pay any extra amount to the government. You also hear about farmers getting bailed out from time to time, for floods or other disasters. So these industries are receiving an unfair subsidy that other industries do not receive. I am not unsympathetic to the people experiencing these disasters - it just seems that there should be a more equitable way to handle this than random bailouts.

Solution: Create a federal insurance fund that can be applied to any industry. Corporations in that industry pay into the fund at an agreed-upon level. For example, maybe the citrus farmers pay 2 cents per orange, or a dollar per basket. These funds are kept in a trust. When there is a disaster, the government pays out some of the money in the trust. Everything is budgeted. If the funds fall short over time, the premiums can be increased. This sort of idea is already in place for the pension industry (Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation), so it seems like a reasonable idea for other industries to start funding their own disaster relief as well.

Webcam RSS Feed

Problem: You have a webcam that you would like to keep tabs on, but you don't have time to watch it like a security guard. You would just like occasional updates on the status of something. For example, maybe you are expecting a package delivered and want to know soon after it is there and have some general idea of when it arrived.

Solution: A webcam that captures images at a selected interval, and then makes them available as an RSS feed. Then you can just look in your RSS reader and see all of the captures with the appropriate timestamp.

The Perpetual Line

Problem: You want to open a new hotel in Las Vegas, and are looking for a unique hook to attract visitors.

Solution: The "Perpetual Line". This is just a line where people go to wait. One person goes through the line every 10 seconds, and gets a paper with their number and maybe a handstamp or some sort of collectible ("I did The Vegas Line"). The unique thing about the line is that it never ends as new people are always entiring the back of the line. It is a place to meet people, hang out, be a part of the event, etc.

Webcam Screensaver

Problem: You would like a more interesting screen saver. Also, you have something you want to watch when your computer is not actively running.

Solution: A web cam feed that displays as a screen saver. The feed is gradually and imperceptibly moved around the screen, so that it performs the necessary function of a screen saver. But perhaps more interesting to look at.

Disclaimer: This idea was suggested by a friend.

Google Patents

Check out another cool new Beta feature from Google - it is called Google Patents.

What are some cool things you can do with Google Patents?

1. Browse through and find interesting patents to read about. Here is an application I found from Groundspeak for something that sounds very much like Geocaching.
2. Search for a product idea you have, to see if it is already patented.
3. Look at how similar patent applications were filed, to prepare for filing your patent application.
4. Instead of buying a service, just get the pertinent information you need from the patent application. Here is a good example.

Hitbot, a Weblog Traffic Maximization Tool

Problem: You have a weblog, with revenues generated based on number of unique visitors and advertising click-throughs. You would like as many people as possible to be driven to your site after searching for common terms in search engines.

Solution: Hitbot is a software program that reviews a blog post, and suggests ways that the wording could be changed that would not change the gist of the entry but would increase the likelihood of matching common queries in search engines. Or it could generate keywords at the end of a post. So if you are reviewing an ipod, for example, it might list "mp3 player" and "Apple" as tags in the post. Customers could pay for the use of hitbot via a subscription or pay-for-use model.

Disclaimer: This idea was suggested by a friend.

Lights / Wipers

Problem: Many states now have laws that you must turn on your headlights when using your windshield wipers. But in daytime, it is easy to forget to turn on your lights.

Solution: An option to have the lights come on automatically after 30 seconds of using the wipers.

Disclaimer: This idea was suggested by a friend.

Flash Drive Auto-Sync

Flash drives are those little hand-held USB drives that allow you to easily move files around from one place to another.

Problem: Flash drives are very easy to lose, or damage, which means the files are lost. Due to their temporal nature, people do not usually think to back up these files.

Solution: A flash drive that creates a special folder on your computer, and every time you plug in the flash drive it updates the folder to make sure it contains precisely all of the files that are on the flash drive. (An option would also have it wait to sync the files until the middle of the night, or when CPU cycles are sufficiently low).

Disclaimer: This idea was suggested to me by a friend.

Art Quotes

Problem: On the one hand, there are folks who need some original artwork, such as a sketch for a mural or a family portrait. On the other hand, there are starving artists - students, etc. - looking for work.

Solution: A website where you can post an art project. You provide as much detail as possible about the concept of the project. Then registered artists can go in and provide a quote for doing the project (including shipping, where applicable), along with a link to his or her portfolio. You can then select an artist based on the information provided. Feedback profiles would also indicate artists who have delivered successful projects, and how many positive and negative feedbacks they received.

Windshield Wiper De-Icing

Problem: In icy and wet road conditions, windshield wipers often develop little chunks of ice on the blades. This prevents the blades from making even contact with the windshield, and renders them less effective or useless.

Solution: Heated windshield wiper blades, or a heated windshield strip at the base of the window where the wipers rest (perhaps like the small heat strips use in rear defoggers). Also, heat the nozzle that ejects the fluid so it does not get iced.

Disclaimer: This idea was suggested to me by a friend.