Month: May 2015

Family Computing & Backups, Google Drive vs. DropBox

10 Things to Finish

  1. Move from SVN to Git. Document the process and write an article for treehousetim.com
  2. Finish making the hardwood floor transitions and install.  95% done is not done.
  3. Basement.
  4. Article about innovation and centralized/institutional education.
  5. Article about Failure.
  6. Clean the garage.
  7. Get family computing organized and backups back to happy. Write an article for treehousetim.com
  8. Decide between Google Drive and DropBox. (please comment with your thoughts)
  9. Teach my 4 year old to ride her bicycle.
  10. Start writing a book.

A Much Better Ikea, Wifi Lightswitch, Fair Printer Ink and Toner

  1. A better “take and bake” pizza.   Better crust, better sauce.  Seriously high quality ingredients.  I’m so tired of crappy pizza that looks amazing.  I’d rather it look like poo and taste amazing.
  2. A better pillow.  Grease proof, comfy.  Adjustable kit with extra stuffing.
  3. A better light switch.  Auto shutoff with timers. Wifi or bluetooth enabled. Log on/off and plot usage over time.
  4. A better bunk bed. Worry free design to prevent roll-offs.  Modular design for easy assembly.
  5. A much better Ikea. Better design tools that help you plan a solution for a space.  More modularity across entire product line.  Everything is interlocking and interchangeable.  Better store layout.  Don’t herd me like a cow.
  6. A better recliner with a sturdy frame and beefy mechanism.  Should not clunk or creak.  Ball bearings.
  7. Bed-side lamp with USB ports built in for charging.
  8. Better bedtime books.  I’m so tired of reading Disney Princess Books.
  9. A better computer printer. “Fair Printer”  Fair Printer would sell printers and ink/toner for a reasonable profit.  The information needed to allow 3rd party providers of ink and toner would be open source – free for anyone.
  10. Spicy food meter – detects amount of heat in food.

Open Source Franchises, Loans Without Limits, How to be a Man

  1. Open Source Franchises.  Business in a box.  Open Source.  Have maintainers just like software.  This could create  a service ecosystem around it just like open source software.
  2. Crowd funded loans without limits.  each participant can set dollar amount, interest rate and payback time. Aggregate each participant’s money into a single offer.  Credit checks and income verification will be needed based on amount.
  3. Used item valuation guide. Crunch data from Craigslist, eBay and Amazon (and others – needs research).
  4. Charging Cords that don’t break.  I’m amazed there hasn’t been a class action lawsuit about this.  Seriously, Apple – $20 cord that lasts 6-18 months max?  That’s immoral.
  5. Ebook idea: Youtube skits for kids.
  6. Ebook idea: Wood Pallet Deck Furniture
  7. Ebook idea: how to run an AirBNB or VRBO through sub lease
  8. Ebook idea: how to cut your kids’ hair and make it not look like it.
  9. Ebook idea: How to be your own computer tech support – common problems and fixes – save hundreds.
  10. Ebook idea: How to shave, wear a suit, tie a necktie and other lost manly arts.

Sriracha Vanilla Ice Cream, Minecraft, Coffee, Home Organization

  1. Why can’t coffee taste like it smells when grinding?
  2. Why is cold brew coffee so expensive?
  3. Why is home organization so hard?
  4. Why is smart home / home automation so expensive?
  5. Why have products gotten so crappy?
  6. Why are high efficiency washing machines so loud and raucous when they spin out?
  7. Bluetooth doorbell.
  8. Ebook idea: How to teach kids to write business plans.
  9. Minecraft killer. Something that is more fun and where users actually create value while playing.  Teaches coding?
  10. Sriracha Vanilla Ice Cream
  11. Super modular computer – upgrade/expand easily.  Multi system architecture – possibly use Facebook Open Compute project designs.

4 Day Work Week, Self Driving Cars, BioTech, Biscuits and Gravy

  1. Furnace Filter that measures pressure on high and low side and calculates efficiency/capacity/how clogged.  communicates over wifi.
  2. Make an outline of my life – write life story (thus far).
  3. 4 day work week.
  4. Biscuits and Gravy Drive Through – everything homemade.  Primary ingredients: love and real butter.
  5. Self driving cars.  NOW! Need to brainstorm the path forward. Legislation, public perception
  6. Artificial Intelligence: Movie Script Writing
  7. Party Cups that glow green when picked up by it’s owner – using nano bio tech.
  8. Auto regenerating Air Freshener made with biotech.
  9. Wind up swing pusher for lazy parents.  Wind it up and it will give your kid a boost on the backyard swingset.
  10. Party cup set – all unique styles or with unique, yet memorable numbers.  Could prove problematic with alcohol, but if you’re that drunk you won’t care if you grab the wrong cup.

Listening to Kids

Listen to kids. Their ideas are not clogged up by years of boxed-in thinking.

I just realized this last night when trying to screw a shelf to a wall bracket and was getting frustrated. My 9 year old, Sam, said, “Dad, let me take a look. I might have an idea.” That was all it took. I hadn’t even realized I could do anything but keep slogging forward in constant failure. I took 5 seconds to think and came up with a solution.

In the future I’ll be asking for a fresh childlike perspective sooner.

And to think, I almost snapped at him for talking while I was struggling. 😦

Gutter Glogger, Pavlovs, Meetups and Family Game Night

  1. Gutter cleaning pole – “The Gutter Glogger – The  taller gutter de-clogger” Prototype – painting extension pole with paintbrush clamp.  Garden trowel, stick, garden hose.
  2. Develop Brain Storming Curriculum to be used in a mentoring or one-on-one environment (think tutoring or home schooling).
    Brainstorming meetups – small groups get together to create idea lists.  Individual members can request help with specific topics.
  3. Trunk Club for Men AND boys – father’s and sons.  Dad and son have matching outfits.
  4. SAAS Contract Boilerplate Generator – get rid of crappy outdated technical contract language.
  5. Bi-Weekly Income Planner vs. monthly or 1st/15th bills.  26 pay periods vs 12 or 24.
  6. Homemade dessert education network.  Works to educate restauranteurs to stop serving crappy assembly line desserts from their food service vendor.
    Homemade Dessert
  7. Write an ebook about the moral obligation we have to those around us regarding money and not enabling theft.
  8. Bedtime Pavlovs – some sort of automatic ritual device – bells, lights, that helps kids not connect bedtime to daylight.
  9. Family Organizing.  No one is doing family calendars / organization well.  Sharing is too complicated, notifications need to be scoped to avoid members.  Families grow up – have a plan for account splitting,
  10. Plan a family game night.  Learn more card games. Board Games.  Create a fun calendar. Vote on activities to do on designated “fun nights”
  11. Hold a family meeting to set vision, mission and values for the family.

Cardboard Signs, Machine Learning, Business Tourism and Mom

  1. Stop and talk to someone holding a cardboard sign asking for help. Find a way to permanently help them.
  2. Meet as many interesting people and as many money people as possible.  Make connections between groups – expect nothing in return.
  3. Website for ideas  “idaexchange.com” (available as of this writing) – ideas are currency.  Trade them – pay an idea to get an idea.  Machine Learning used to ensure quality.
  4. Make a better linked in – more personal, more results oriented rather than clubbish. Focus on legitimate relationship links and accomplishments.
  5. Recency is relevancy – interaction (including commerce) metrics, in a temporal context (I have the domain name… let’s talk)
  6. Make a better facebook.  More privacy, more ads, no sharing.  User is not a product.
  7. Make homemade BBQ sauce
  8. Write a book full of amusing things my kids say
  9. Business tourism – what is it like to spend a day with an employee from a major corporation? Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, etc.
  10. Talk mom into writing about her childhood and life – sell it on Amazon.

Recent Relevance – New Site Launch

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and reading recently about personal improvement and helping those around me.   I’ve been reading James Altucher’s book “The Choose Yourself Guide to Wealth” in which he advocates making a daily list of 10 ideas.

He suggests giving the ideas away for free, an “all boats lift in a rising tide” mentality.  I’ve been making multiple lists a day – some of them are too private to share (things like “how can I help Uncle Crime fight a lawsuit”) but the ones I can share will get posted.

I believe ideas are only relevant for a short period of time so the site is named  accordingly:

http://recentrelevance.com/