Genius grants for inspired groups of collaborators

This entry is part 16 of 18 in the series The Idea Liberation Project

It would be fantastic if some creative foundation endowed a fellowship program that identified talent clusters: groups of tightly collaborative peers, likely in a single place,but possibly applicable to groups that have very tight, web-supported distance collaboration

Multiplication table app round-up: Blog post wanted

Learning multiplication tables ought to be a lot easier — or at least a lot more fun — in the age of the iPad and iPhone. That’s why I’d love someone to write a blog post rounding up different multiplication table apps.

Blackout ribbon: Avoiding grim news and spoilers

This entry is part 9 of 18 in the series The Idea Liberation Project

I’d like to designate a coloured ribbon that would be as universally recognized as the yellow or pink ribbon campaigns. See someone wearing this ribbon, and you know that they don’t want to discuss the latest grim news stories. A more elaborate version could prevent spoilers, too.

The Genzlingerizer: An app to enhance offline reading (and an IFTTT workaround)

This entry is part 8 of 18 in the series The Idea Liberation Project

I want to set up rules for the publications I read in print, specifying the authors or topics that qualify as must-reads. When said publication appears at my door, I want to launch an iPhone app that tells me which pages to look at in this morning’s New York Times, this week’s New Yorker, or the latest Entertainment Weekly. Then I want an easy way to take whatever I’m reading in print, and convert it to a set of links that are ready to share online.