ideas

Photo "Vault" by Flickr user ostrograd

Local banks should hire a “startup advocate”

A recent crowdsource-driven funding contest promoted by a local bank in my area got me thinking about how banks in particular can find themselves on the sidelines of the entrepreneurship/startup movement as the costs to starting a business drop and as new and creative fundraising options become available. One way that banks can become more active participants […]

Local banks should hire a “startup advocate” Read More »

Let’s see more context-aware design touches

I hope, and I predict, that we’ll start to see more of a trend in web and software development in the coming months and years that probably already has a great name, but since I don’t know it, for now I’m giving it my own name: context-aware design. Loosely, I define context-aware design as a principle

Let’s see more context-aware design touches Read More »

Idea factory: Share your TiVo programming hints with other friends

Looking for a pretty easy and usable web project? How about using the TiVo website (where owners can view and schedule TiVo recordings online) and combining it with some kind of easily hackable online TV listings site (neither Yahoo!’s nor TVGuide.com’s had any kind of feed/API that I could find). The result would be a

Idea factory: Share your TiVo programming hints with other friends Read More »

Idea factory: Compare the box office theories with fact

Okay, so some folks are suggesting that summer box office was down because the movies were bad. Bereft of proof until recently, they’re now claiming vindication because box office receipts are now up, in a time when “better” movies are traditionally released (the fall). So…how to find out what’s really happening? There’s no absolute way

Idea factory: Compare the box office theories with fact Read More »

Retail heaven or Dell Hell: Before you expect a blog to solve your customer service woes, try some basics first

Considering the serious amount of blogjuice generated by Jeff Jarvis’ 520-part Dell Hell series is generating in (and out!) of the blogosphere, I thought it only fair to relate two extremely positive customer service experiences I’ve had lately, starting with most recent and going back through earlier this summer. Then, I’ll talk a bit about

Retail heaven or Dell Hell: Before you expect a blog to solve your customer service woes, try some basics first Read More »