Idea Liberation Project

2012

  1. Magic browser plugin for retroactive logins across open tabs Today I was browsing recipes on Epicurious, opening recipes in tabs as I found them. Once I decided to save a recipe to my recipe box, I had to login to the site…
  2. App: Running late Imagining an app that lets your friends or colleagues know when you're running late.
  3. Genius grants for inspired groups of collaborators McArthur "genius" grants are famous for endowing single, brilliant individuals with the resources to pursue their dreams and vision for an extended period of time.
  4. Wouldn't it be awesome if we had this site or hashtag? Wouldn't it be awesome if there were a site that invited people to complete the sentence, "Wouldn't it be awesome if...."?
  5. Hanger card: How to have sex in the shower Healthcare organizations distribute shower hanger cards that prompt women to do breast self-exams. The same approach could provide handy tips on how to have sex in the shower.
  6. Talk back to Vancouver's rain on Twitter Tired of Vancouver's eternal rain? Talk back to @YVRrain, a Twitter account for Vancouver's rain clouds.
  7. Unstoppable Timer: mobile app wanted A timer/clock/stopwatch that disables sleep when active, so I don't have to turn off my iphone's auto-lock feature when using my iphone to keep track of time while giving a talk. [EOM]
  8. ClickCentral: a web app for tracking clicks on all tweeted links I want a single analytics dashboard that shows me click rates for any link I've tweeted. Right now I have to look at separate stats for bit.ly, ow.ly, Buffer and alex.loves. [EOM]
  9. 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.
  10. ShoeCamp: An (imaginary) unconference for the footwear-obsessed Madeline Stanionis inspired this vision for ShoeCamp, an unconference for the footwear-obsessed.
  11. Blackout ribbon: Avoiding grim news and spoilers There have been some horrific stories in the Canadian news recently, involving a combination of homicide, dismemberment, and some kind of atrocity towards children.
  12. The Genzlingerizer: An app to enhance offline reading (and an IFTTT workaround) This morning I read a travel story about cruising the Mississippi via steamboat. It's the kind of piece I often flip through in the Sunday Times…
  13. 12-Step Social Media Scanner & Intervention Bot Imagining a 12-step bot that constantly scans people's social media feeds for signs that things are out of control, and then tweets you the location of your nearest AA, Overeaters Anonymous or Shoppers Anonymous.
  14. YouDrawIt: The shopping engine that lets you drive As anyone who follows me on Pinterest will have noticed, I've been spending a truly sick amount of time looking at sandals over the past few weeks.
  15. Butt-crack mural: Rethinking self-judgement This post was an exercising in suspending self-judgement: in this case, the judgement that a giant mural stitching together butt-crack photos is an unshareably bad idea.
  16. Rain swag for the farmers market It would be awesome if the Vancouver Farmers Market Society sold umbrellas at their market booth. If you were at Trout Lake this afternoon you know the source of this inspiration.
  17. NameRater: A search tool for evaluating a possible name change Wanted: a search tool that evaluates the search engine visibility of your prospective married name, or the name you are considering for your baby.
  18. SinglesMob: An app for turning parties into mixers Envisioning an app that lets you blast your single friends with the news that you are at a party with a lot of single guys (and not enough women) or vice versa.
  19. Take these ideas...please For the next month, I'm committed to sharing almost every one of my ideas -- no matter how valuable, and no matter how terrible.