My Good Idea: Deadbolt Lock Monitor

Concept: Remote deadbolt door lock that reports its lock/unlock status My kids play in the basement all the time.  During their adventures, they occasionally go out the basement door to get to the back yard and they inevitably leave the door unlocked when they come upstairs. That door can go days before we notice that it’s [...]

My Good Idea: TiVo Open Source

Concept: TiVo embraces hackers and they join forces to make their box more valuable There’s a lot of debate about whether TiVo can whether the storm, with cable providers locking them out. Well, their survival does seem tenuous unless they can figure out a way to make the masses clamour for the cable guys to give them a [...]

My Good Idea: The Portable Invisible Fence

Concept: A no hassle, no set-up invisible fence you take with you. I have two dogs who would love to join my posse when we set off for a picnic at the park. But it would take the Dog Whisperer and a small fortune in fees before I would even consider letting them off the leash [...]

My Good Idea: A Gentle Alarm Clock

Concept: An alarm clock suited to the process of waking up Let’s face it, no one really likes to wake up in the morning.  The actual process of waking up (making the physical and cognitive leap from dreamland to daytime) can be difficult even downright traumatic for some. For those in the latter category, the experience during [...]

Facebook & Blackberry: A Match Made in Heaven

It’s all over the news and the blogosphere, but it’s worth noting here.  While it’s not my good idea, it’s still worth noting.  Facebook and RIM announced a new Blackberry app to manage Facebook profiles via BB. An actual applicaiton people, no more logging into your BB browser with it’s limited functionality.  This is an interesting take [...]

My Good Idea: Bluetooth IM Presence Agent

Concept: IM client recognizes when you step away from the computer Let me preface this by saying that I realize this is another Bluetooth post.  I have Bluetooth on the brain, but it won’t be the sole focus of this blog. If you’re like me, you rarely log off your IM client or set your [...]

My Good Idea: Bluetooth Light Switch

Concept: Bluetooth enabled light switch turns on/off when someone enters or leaves a room In this day of green everything, this is an idea whose time has come.  The concept is simple.  A bluetooth chip would be embedded into a normal lightswitch.  Consumers could easily swap out their normal switches with this new “smart” switch.  Since [...]