Quick, fast and easy.  You are a musician.  You appreciate the reach of social networks, but do not have the time to keep after accounts on several different sites.  On the other side of the isle, is the die hard fan.  They would want nothing more than the ability to decorate, or update the page of their favorite band. Any established act has many such fans.  The problem is, Facebook, MySpace (did I just mention the m-word?) and the like do not allow for this to be handled in this way.  There are tiered roles on Facebook, for example, but decoration of the page is near the top admin level, (not that there is much decoration possible on a Facebook page anyway). 

The solution would be a decoration / content role, that would be available for certain users.  The band could allow these users the role, and they would be able to add content, decorate the band page, and a small addition built into the site could be at the lower corner of the screen, “XXX is the user responsible for the current page layout”  This could be done on a month by month basis perhaps, and could be set up as a reward for ultra fans of a particular musician.  The musician gets to have fresh content, and an easy to manage system of encouragement for fans to participate further.  The fan gets to have a really cool opportunity, if he or she is interested.  The social networking site would get to have increased traffic as a result, so it would easily be worth building the option into the API.   Everyone wins.  

Look to Tunegrow to be the site offerring this first in their 2013 launch, and in a dynamic and intuitive way.   🙂

This is a big deal for some folks, and surely some unpleasant stuff for the lot.  If there was a quick and effective way to eliminate the blood suckers from even being an issue, no matter where you were staying, I know some folks would buy in, but you would just have to prove it.  Perhaps you could prove that such a thing worked with a time lapse infomercial or just a time lapse youtube advertisement on the cheap.

Either way, it would go a little something like this.  You would bring a small travel bag, the size of a bowling ball bag with you into the room.  Inside it would be a special sheet, a 6 inch wide elastic/velcro belt, and a 110 plug in adapter.  Upon entering your room you would just pull everything off of your bed and set in the closet. You then take out the sheet, a california king size fitted sheet. This would fit a king and could also be used on queen, it would just have extra material. After covering the bed with this special sheet the hotel guest would then take out and apply the velcro belt. It is designed to wrap around the outside of the matress, pressing against the flat outer face of the matress. The sheet could have a velcro portion at various points to accomodate this belt, and make applying it easy for one person to do. After the belt was applied it would be connected to the 110v plug in, and that could then be plugged into the nearest outlet. The velcro belt would have a simple electric blanket type of heating wire running through it. Bed bugs, if present, would not be able to tolerate the raised temperature (heat is what hotel chains typically use to drive the bastards out). So you could be certain that once this device was setup on the bed, you could lay atop the bed and no bed bug would disturb your sleep.

I did consider a power outage or a failure to the heating element. The solution for the heating element outage or just a general power outage woud be an alarm that would sound when it sensed element failure. Now concerning the power failure, I know it’s possible to lose power. The solution here would be a small battery powered alarm built into the power adapter, such that if the power ever did go out for longer than 5 minutes the alarm would sound, and you wouldn’t worry about falling asleep and being attacked in your sleep if the power did go out.

This is not a product for everyone. This is a product for those who lose sleep at the idea of bed bugs and just the possibility of exposure to them.

Now, the sheets and blankets are a slippery slope, if you truly look thouroughly at the situation. You could easily put the sheets and blankets into the hotel dryer for 10 minutes and eliminate any would be hangers on, but you run into a problem when you fall asleep and a bit of blanket flops off the bed, providing a hypothetical ladder for some bloodthirsty traveller to navigate past your protection onto your carcass. Now, is it likely that they will be able to crawl past the heated belt area? No, but it is posisile. The solution would be to tuck the linens into the belt so that they would be far less likely to ever contact the floor,

The pillow? Well look, a pillow is a troubling bedfellow. A big bag of material that your typical foul organism thrives in. I would recommend having a microfiber pillow cover anyway, on any pillow you use, whether it’s at home or in a hotel. Just include 4 large cases in the kit, and instead of a zipper at the end, you would want a ziplock style seal.

Again, not for everyone, but someone asked me for a solution to this issue, and that would do it. I think it would be a viral video if you made a presentation including a underwear gilded maiden time lapsed on top of a bed which was specifically shown with magnified video to have been overrun with bed bugs. Then at the conculsion of the time lapse, you could show that none came near the heated belt region, the top region of the bed was clear of any, and it worked reliably.

There, I’m done with that topic. It’s giving me the creepy crawlies!

Very simple.  Every song, every video, every news story, comes in a capsule of sorts.  A label/tracker and an ad allocation, would be combined with each individual song, video, or story; designed around the streaming model.  Each capsule of content could go out into the world freely and be placed into any legal player.  Preset ad choices would be assigned into the ad allocation, and would provide direction to the player, instead of the other way around.

Each time a capsule gets played, it reports back a central database, which organizes the data for the content creator and the advertisers.

A couple of things to mention.  Just because every bit of media comes with its own ad allocation doesn’t mean an ad has to play every time.  Paid stream services may not have any adds played with it at all.  The tracker just brings real accountability to the players. Currently the media goes out naked, and the content creators must simply trust that they are being paid properly and that the tracking and accounting is done correctly.  There are several agencies, ASCAP, BMI and SESAC who are independents, supposedly representing the artists and ensuring everyone out there who is earning from their music is paying up the pennies to do so.

An interesting problem occurs with this model.  What about the DJ, mix tape, remix, or mashup of a song(any time a song is modified from the original).  This would obviously take the song out of the capsule to whatever degree, making it a new work.  YES, it absolutely becomes a new work, and instead of foolishly trying to regulate and stifle such things, my model would embrace it and encourage it.  When a remixer makes a track he or she immediately does one thing.  They put their name or stamp on it.  It is their original work, on top of the original.  Currently the music industry feels that they are just taking from and using that original work for their own benefit, but in reality it’s a two part contribution that they need to start encouraging, and I mean down to sharing some of the dividends.

The system needs to make it quick and easy for modifiers to identify and log their remixes with the system.  The database would be able to report in real time how many versions were out there of the original, and how they all were individually fairing. The simple mind looks at this and is concerned with the immediate loss of a group of their plays and revenue becoming this “modified” variety, and the temptation is to say, “if I have to share a small percentage with these other people, then I lose money.”  The reality is, a large portion of those plays currently offer you them no revenue, because they are underground and not tracked.  Additionally, the fact is, a portion of those plays are to the credit of the modifier, who has a big enough group listening, to amount to some measure of plays.

Each time a new song comes out,  there would be a immediate remix contest.  This only adds to the overall excitement for a new release anyway.  Modifiers would have a direct connection to the artist, which would only provide another opportunity for networking of talent and possible collaboration.

Those entities, currently claiming to represent artists and gather up their funds, could find a new line of work.  Human beings running around tracking who is playing what song.  Does anyone think that is a legitimate product in today’s environment?  With tracking built into the song, along with add revenue preferences, and music recognition software that’s now standard fare in most cell phones out there, the computers can give not only a better, accurate number, but do it more efficiently.  That means exponentially more data, being handled more efficiently and at less expense than the current structures out there.  That means more money to the content creators.

On the news story or video end, the capsule model’s value is even more apparent.  The ad in it’s entirety is built right in.  And don’t forget to think of this capsule as a living, breathing thing.  What do I mean?  Well just like with the updating of software on your computer, these works will be stored locally as well as in the cloud.  The system used to play and store the works will also be set up to update the files with the current ads.  If the ad is only viable for a short period, or if it expires, it is automatically updated and the players do not concern themselves with anything inside of “the capsule.”

Lastly, the thought does come into play, “well isn’t it easier for the players to just play the ads they want, and not worry about updating a library of content?”  I say no.  We make the updating process automated, so there is no work on their part in the ad mechanism.  They simply play the song.  The software built into the system handles all the ad decisions, tracking, and accountability.  This puts the power back into the hands of the content creators, in a fair and sustainable way.  This is a win.

Putting it as simply as possible, YouTube could easily be replaced.  They are geared around the “long tail.”  There are millions of videos stored and streamed that get minimal views and offer an overall negative revenue.  At the other end are a few videos that get millions of views and get YouTube all the revenue they get.  Meanwhile these earners for YouTube make insignificant percentages and many of the top artists on YouTube are not happy with their small cut.  Add to that, YouTube is behaving deviantly when they hide the feedback on videos from you until you open the video, (after playing their ad).

Don’t hate them.  Google is now at the helm, cracking the whip of profit.  The amount of storage and infrastructure to support everyone’s videos is beyond comprehension, and I still don’t think YouTube as a separate entity has yet to turn profit.

3 steps to replace them

1. Create a better, more honest interface that is merit driven, and actually driving the viewer toward better videos. (There’s more money there in the long run)

2. Provide the reward – and make sure everybody knows.  Pay out twice of what YouTube does, and give them a real slap to the face.

3. Get rid of the tail by taking care of the head.  Each minute of a video has to have a certain ratio of revenue return.  Videos that receive less than (lets say)1000 views are of no benefit.  The best way to set this up will be to piggyback YouTube.  If you have a group af videos on YouTube that average over 1000 views each, then you get in free.  WELCOME!  If not, you pay a fee and enter a trial period.  Can’t generate the views needed, and you’re out. If your thought right there is, “wait!  That’s not right!  That’s not fair!”  You’re right.  It’s not.  But here is the fact.  The fact is that we human beings have only a certain amount of time in a given day to take in content.  Year’s worth of video get uploaded to YouTube everyday.  Similarly, in music, there are millions of songs out there.  iHeart Radio brags in their advertisements to give you access to 14 million songs.  Well, at 4 minutes a song that’s 2500 years of music.  Do you want to go through it all?  You can’t!  The filter is the most important thing today. YouTube has no filter other than pushing you towards the revenue stream.   So yes, I say make it exclusive.  Viewers will know that the product here is pre-filtered and of a higher quality.  In keeping with that, you shut down the piracy.  The official video gets the plays, and only covers or remixes, or live versions can be listed alongside.  Get in good favor with content creators.  A beautiful touch would be offering a higher rate of revenue for those who pull their YouTube content in the move to this “NewTube”.

You create a better environment that has scarcity for both the content creator and the viewer.  What will happen? YouTube will have to cut the tail.  That will be the final straw.  They then become the MySpace of video.

Please see idea 45.  It talks about the industry of scanners for people to quickly scan through receipts, business cards, and various documents.  The issue I have run into is that the receipts occasionally have a crinkle or some other defect on the paper, and the software may screw up a couple numbers.  No bueno!  It does surely suck, knowing that you should go in and verify all the numbers.  Slows the process right up, and it’s another thing to worry about.

Enter today’s solution.  There is a bar code on most of your receipts today.  If not there is a transaction time and various data (including the fact that it’s YOUR receipt) on the receipt that identifies exactly what transaction it is.  My solution would be a feature available from your financial institution that would send your phone a list of all transactions in a particular format, and the software of your phone, that would put that list against the receipts scanned and in an instant be able to verify which transactions were scanned and saved correctly, and it could then tell you which ones had errors, and it could fix them.  It could then give you alerts on whatever it didn’t have a scanned image for.  Perhaps it could say,” you have no receipt image for the 175.00 in tools you purchased at the Home Depot on June 11.”  The second part of the app would be the ability to have an account with perhaps the Home Depot, who could provide you with data themselves, such as a check of the receipt for transactions you may have paid for in cash.  Just another way to provide you with what you want, (verification) and they would be more than willing to track such nonsense, since they want nothing more than tracking your shopping habits.  Obviously, if I was to be involved, it would be something you could set up and handle with anonymity.

Bam, sometimes the gems come long after I SHOULD be in bed.  🙂