Trying to localize the internet is like trying to organize a group of farm animals by specie, size, and age. It’s been missed 100’s of times… Directory structures, Keywords, and even alphabetically. I think facebook and linkedin are doing the best job of networking people, but we still need a way to network the businesses in the area, the houses for sale in the area, etc. There is big money in local markets and if you can think of a way to fill this gap, you can easily become rich and famous (okay… famous in the world’s geek-dom).

I think linkedin is a great start but even though most people are “linked” due to their locality, it doesn’t force us to be local.

      

Microsoft just released SSE, an extention to RSS format. Currently, RSS is like a one-way radio. RSS can push data to your reader but you can’t push items back to the reader. That means, that, you can read my blog using bloglines.com but you cannot send information to my blog.

SSE will allow two-way communication. It’s being written as a “revolutionary” format. Althought I never like hearing about things being “revolutionary”, I like the idea of SSE. I’ve only read of people talking about community calendars. But I like the idea of “online conversations”. If 20 or 30 people are interested in the same thing, they can discuss it through their blogs. The SSE format would allow them to have a large discussion. Uh oh… I feel a new buzzword coming on… How about “ConverLog”.

Check out a good post on SSE

Also, check out a Microsofts Web Site About SSE.

Because it is so new, If you can create a useful application based around SSE, I’m sure you would get many reviews and immediate fame. Good luck.

      

I found this article that speaks about why companies should use wiki. I think it’s interesting because I recently wrote an article on Wiki for What.

If you’re interested, take a look at this article. It states Kodak, Cingular, Disney, Motorola, and SAP are also among the notable companies with wiki success stories.

      

I live below my means… but some of my friends do not. As a matter of fact, some of my friends live above their means. They like to spend as much money as they can whether they have it or not. Now, at first glance, you think this is stupid. And, although it probably is, it creates a motivation. Sometimes you need real motivation. I’m a pretty motivated person without someone screaming at me.

This is the bad kind of motivation, but it works.

      

Inventions bring fame, while innovations bring fortunes. Inventions don’t solve a customer problem. Innovations take inventions to the next level by adding commercially viable technologies, elegant user interfaces, and focusing them on solving a customer problem. That is what innovation is all about, creating value by solving customer problems. — Don Dodge

I just read the House Democrats’ Innovation Agenda: A Commitment to Competitiveness to Keep America #1. It was a great read and I recommend you read it ASAP.

An agenda focused on innovation is very important and developing incentive programs are crucial to the implementation of the plan. I’ve always thought that raising awareness is the best way to develop support. In a situation like this, it would be interesting to see some real numbers when the agenda states “The rest of the world is increasing its capacity, its investments, and its will to catch up with us. We cannot ignore this challenge.”

I’m a full supporter of innovation awareness. But, it must be practiced at every level (schools, business start-up, and corporation R&D). Schools need to implement school programs, such as the EAST program, which allow students to be innovative. Competitions, extended learning opportunities, and group collaboration (between schools) help increase innovation. To do this, we need educators that are motivated and continue to push the bar. Our science, math, and technology classes need to be application driven and theory driven.

Start-up, knowledge based companies need start-up and operational capital. Individuals or corporations that intend to fund that capital need incentives. The cure to cancer is helpless if nobody knows about it.

Medium and Large companies need to continue to invest in R&D and urge cultural collaboration with foreign countries.

The talent, intellect, and entrepreneurial spirit of the American people have made this nation the leader in economic and technological advancements… America’s global leadership in technological advancement and innovation is being seriously challenged by other countries. The warning signs could not be clearer. The rest of the world is increasing its capacity, its investments, and its will to catch up with us. We cannot ignore this challenge. Americans again must innovate in order to create new thriving industries that will produce millions of good jobs here at home and a better future for our children.

The plan the Democrats have laid out is large but I’ve highlighted a few things that they mentioned:

1. Educate 100,000 new scientists, engineers, and mathematicians in the next four years by proposing a new initiative, working with states, businesses, and universities, to provide scholarships to qualified students who commit to working in the fields of innovation.
2. Place a highly qualified teacher in every math and science K-12 classroom by offering upfront tuition assistance to talented undergraduates and by paying competitive salaries to established teachers working in the fields of math and science; institute a “call to action” to professional engineers and scientists, including those who have retired, to join the ranks of our nation’s teachers.
3. Create a special visa for the best and brightest international doctoral and postdoctoral scholars in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
4. Make college tuition tax-deductible for students studying math, science, technology, and engineering.
5. Double overall funding for the National Science Foundation, basic research in the physical sciences across all agencies, and collaborative research partnerships; restore the basic, long-term research agenda at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to conduct long-range, high-risk, and high-reward research.
6. Create regional Centers of Excellence for basic research that will attract the best minds and top researchers to develop far-reaching technological innovations and new industries, and modernize existing federal and academic research facilities.
7. Modernize and permanently extend a globally competitive R&D tax credit to increase domestic investment, create more U.S. jobs, and allow companies to pursue long-term projects with the certainty that the credit will not expire.
8. Bridge the “valley of death” that destroys innovative ideas before they become marketable products due to lack of financing and technical support by doubling funding for the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) and the Advanced Technology Program (ATP), modernizing the Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR), and fully funding SBA 7(a) loans to ensure that American small businesses have the resources and technical assistance they need to successfully innovate.
9. Reward risk-taking and entrepreneurship by promoting broad-based stock options for rank-and-file employees.
10. Protect the intellectual property of American innovators worldwide, strengthen the patent system, and end the diversion of patent fees.
11. Require specifically-tailored guidelines for small public companies to ensure Sarbanes-Oxley requirements are not overly burdensome.
12. Provide universal, affordable access to health insurance, beginning with a 50 percent tax credit and multi-insurer pools to help small businesses provide affordable and comprehensive health care coverage for their employees.

      

A company just created a php class that can be used to implement PHP and Google Maps. I’ve tried it out and it works great. I’ve created a little application that allows you to pinpoint multiple locations. Check it out. Be sure to read the directions.

Check out the RJ’s Phoogle Implementation. I’ve also used this little tool to find an acceptable color schemes.

NOTE: The design of this utility does not pass the design standards of iProv, LLC.

      

Microsoft has recently announced that it is opening standards for it’s Microsoft Office file types. Remember this conversation on college:

“RJ (this maybe you)! I can’t open my term paper. I just got home and just wanted to print it. What do I do!?!?”

RJ says, “What program are you working in?” (RJ already knows the answer to the question”.

“Microsoft!”

RJ responds, “What did the icon say?”

“Microsoft Works”

“Exactly”

This wasn’t just a problem with Microsoft Works but any program that wanted to open Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher) file. So, why will MS open standards now? I have no idea. Maybe they’ve seen the recent success of open standards. Maybe they want to start painting the “Evil Picture” of Google. It’s easy to hate the big guys. A lot of people hate Wal-Mart, Microsoft, or any other company that has a large market share. But, Google has somehow avoided this hatred. That’s a whole different study.

Maybe MS is being forced to open standards by litigation. I just thought it’s interesting that they’ve just decided to open standards.

      

Mainly… Tabbed Viewing

      

Yes, I hate fiction books. They’re entertaining but they are a complete waste of time. When I get done reading for an hour, I feel like I should have been doing something more productive. It’s the same reason I hate video games, movies, and television. I can get captured by them for days and not get a single thing accomplished.

With that said, I’ve been addicted to a fictional blook. Yes, that’s spelled correctly, it’s a blook. It’s the idea of a blog and each week a new episode is released. And yes, its an episode. It’s the first time that written stories have been able to apply the same type of “cliff hangers” that “24” captures. After each week you’re wondering what’s going to happen next. It’s well written and actually teaches a lot about the process of a technology company in the midst of going public during the dot-com boom.

Hey… it’s free! It will go to press soon and you can pre-order a signed copy.

WHY CAN’T I STOP READING THIS BLOOK!

      

While in Washington DC a friend invited me to join him and another friend at a party for Radio America, a conservative talk radio network. I spent a lot of time with many popular radio personalities including: G Gordon Liddy, Michael Reagan, and Ben Ferguson. I also met with the founder and president of Radio America, Jim Roberts. He’s very passionate about what he does and it glows with every speech he makes. I think Radio America is in good hands with operation and vision. I just hope they understand the ever-increasing impact technology has on their industry.

Even more at risk than radio is… printed media. But that’s another story.