So, I saw this do-it-yourself automotive head's up display and it made me smile. For those of you who haven't kept up on these things, having a display embedded or projected onto a windsheild of a car has been talked about for decades. This low-tech approach is not perfect for all conditions of course. It works great if dynamic data wasn't required and the lighting conditions are right. Even with these limitations, it does remind me that often we overthink solutions when a workable and cheap idea is right in front of us!

Reminds me of the story (perhaps urban myth) that NASA spent millions of dollars developing an ink pen that would write in the zero-gravity conditions of space, all the while believing themselves to be clever and technologically-advanced. Meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, Russian cosmonauts were just using pencils. Whether it is true or not, it is a good reminder that technology should be relevant and add real value.

So, while the folks at the car companies figure out how to put more electronics into our dashboards, I might just print my maps out in reverse next time and try this approach.

Publish a website where the URL is an incomplete sentence. Get people to pay you $1 to have their name on a personalized site to complete the sentence. Make a million dollars. Why didn't I think of it?

Actually, makes me wonder what other sites could be started up in this fashion. Perhaps some of these are real, but here are my ideas:
[name].isajerk.com
[name].iscool.com
[name].isthesmartestpersonIknow.com
[name].blowsmymind.com
[name].hasagreatproduct.com
[name].takesgreatpictures.com
[name].makesmusic.com
[name].isgrateful.com
[name].lovesgardening.com
[name].lovesU2.com

Now, some of these could have more features than a "certificate," perhaps even getting into syndicated web content. The "lovesU2.com" could be linked in to a band fan club or the like. Sounds like a new business opportunity. Anyone? Anyone?

P.S. I learned about this one from Andy Wibbels who is andy.isreallyawesome.com, apparently.

"Interested in learning advanced business concepts, but don't have the time or money for a traditional MBA program? Business schools don't have a monopoly on worldly wisdom - if you care more about increasing your effectiveness at work than a diploma and a few lines on your resume, the 'Personal MBA' is for you." - Josh Kaufman

The Personal MBA is a online community that is reading 33 business books on a variety of interesing topics. I can personally recommend many of the titles and others on my"to read" list. Look at the manifesto for more details.

So, here is a thought. Get a group together at your work. Get your employer to pay for the books and some meals for the group meetings (this would be A LOT cheaper than tuition reimbursement for a real MBA program) and shared your own business school. Classmates could write papers for each other to critique. They could devise their own presentation assignments and reference hand-outs. Doing two books at month (and two meetings to discuss them and present out would take just a little over a year, if you went straight through. I think this could be a lot of fun and a very practical way to broaden the thinking and improve the business acumen of an entire group. You could even print certificates at the end!

If you do this, you can go ahead and call it the "Davis School of Business" if you want.

Writing books are all the craze now-a-days. I've heard that 75,000 books are published each year and it is easier than ever to do it yourself. There are now a host of companies that will allow you to self-publish and print on demand. Some popular ones include Xlibris (owned by Random House), BookSurge, cafepress, or iUniverse. To read on how to approach a project like this, see Seth Godin's Advice to Authors.

I have a friend, Jerry Dawson, who a few year's back published his own book, Sales 101: Princples in Action. I recently asked him about the process and I thought I would share his insights here.

What made you want to write a book?
My sales experiences were varied enough and I thought what I had learned was worth sharing.

How did you go about writing and publishing the book?
The self-publishing process is the same as going through a traditional publisher, except I had total control over the content, length, and organization of the book. I worked with BookSurge, which was purchased by Amazon, which provided great exposure for the book right out of the gate. That said, it is left to me to market ths book. I have been marketing the book mostly by giving copies to friends and associates. The response to the book has been very positive. I spent under $1,000 to publish the book and get the first 100 copies. Although I have yet to turn a profit, the book is selling.

What was the most surprising thing about the process?
Just how hard it was to write the book. I spent over two years collecting my thoughts and writing up small snippets and then hours and hours of editing and re-writing to complete the book.

What advice would you have for other would-be authors?
Only to focus completely on what you are writing about – get a good editor so you don’t waste words – solicit the opinions of others when appropriate – keep it simple.

One of these days I will write and publish a book or two. For now, the ideas go into folders and I blog on. If you are like me, but don't want to wait, you might check out Andy Wibbel's program entitled "Write a Book in 45 Days and Other Ways to Blow Your Own Mind." As he so aptly put it: "shut up and write" and sometimes a little structure is what we need to get us going.

So, that is my advice to would-be-authors. Start already!

The following idea was passed along from Todd Hudson of The Maverick Institute from a presentation by Luke Williams with frogdesign at the Portland WebVisions conference in July.

Traditional brainstorming doesn't work. Why?

1. Traditional brainstorming doesn't generated that many ideas. Luke'sexperience is that the well runs dry in about 20 minutes. We've all experienced that uncomfortable moment when the room goes silent.
2. The ideas aren't really that novel. Yeah, a few weird ones emerge,but overall low quality.
3. Only a fraction of the ideas generated get used. Not an efficientuse of time and creative energy.

So, what's his technique?

• STEP 1: Decide on a focus area. Define the problem you're trying solve or product you're trying to develop. In our workshop he told us to think of an educational handheld product for preteens.
• STEP 2: Break up into groups of 2 to 4 people. Small groups generate more, and more novel, ideas than big groups.
• STEP 3: Assign each group a different random word (a noun) to generate associations. Use a dictionary. Pick of a page number, column numberand the number of a word in that column. Go there. If it's not a noun, read down until you reach the first noun. Our word was WHEAT.
• STEP 4: Have everyone individually start writing down their assocations with the random word. Mine were BAKING, WAVING, FLOWING, SEED, STALK, BREAD, HEALTHY, GROWING, ORGANIC, MACHINERY, FARMING, OUTDOORS, FIELD, BIG, EXPANSIVE, SUNNY, HARVEST, etc, etc. Do this for about 5 minutes. Then, share your associations with the group.
• STEP 5: Use these associations to generate fresh ideas about the focusarea for 10 to 15 minutes. Do this as an individual at first. Write each idea down on a post-it note. For example...SUNNY --> Solar powered unit that teaches kids about light, photons,etc.HEALTHY, ORGANIC, BAKING --> Product that teaches kids about nutrition.You can stick a sensor into food and it does basic analysis, e.g.,sugar content. Or you can enter in what you're eating and it will tellyou all about it....
• STEP 6: Have everyone present their ideas to the group and let newideas emerge as part of the discussion. Write these new ideas on apost-it note.
• STEP 7: Select another word or find a random object (he gave use a black desk stapler) and repeat steps 3 - 6. Generate new associationsand use them to generate more ideas. You'll be amazed how many novelideas emerge in round 2!
• STEP 8: Have each group present to everyone their random words/objects,the associations and product ideas that resulted. Write down any newideas generated by discussion on a post-it note.
• STEP 9: Place all the ideas into one of four categories

1. Specific Idea - Well formulated idea that offers immediate value.

2. Beginning Idea - Good potential that needs to be developed

3. Concept - General way of doing things

4. Approach - Very broad, general direction.

• STEP 10: Turn 'Approaches into 'Guiding Principles' that can be usedover and over.
• STEP 11: Turn 'Concepts' and 'Beginning Idea' into 'Specific Ideas' bylisting what would have to be done to make them more useful. Forexample, what technology obstacle would have to be overcome to make anidea practical.
• STEP 12: Rank all the 'Specific Ideas' through some voting process and start implementing!

I can't wait to use this technique. Try it and let me know how it works. Better yet, we could try it here if someone could suggest a problem to solve.

The other day I got an email from my husband saying that I had left a load of laundry in the dryer, with a dryer sheet, and had neglected to turn it on. By the time he found it was something south of "fresh" and he was re-running it. Oops!

This made me realize that perhaps there was a technology that I needed, that I had previously considered "technology for its own sake." Specifically, the internet-enabled washing machine and dryer.

Apparently Whirlpool has teamed with Panasonic and Microsoft to create a washing machine that can send text messages or emails. Perhaps if I had gotten a reminder email, I might have salvaged this load. How does one get to be a beta tester for these kinds of technologies?

Now, if I can only send an email to have clothes gathered, sorted, and a load ran and dried. I guess I'll just have to keep hoping for a maid with a Blackberry.

I have ran across several interesting photo manipulation services online recently and wanted to share them with you. Enjoy!

Turn yourself into a comic book:
Artist Lina Chen turns your photo into a black and white drawing at www.Digi-Portaits.com. The before image on the left becomes the illustration on the right for around $100.