Better Control of How Search Results Are Optimized for You
Why?
For many of the things you search the web for, search engines will have an algorithm to show you what they think are the best results for you. Some try to deduct from information they have on your behavior (search history, clicks, etc.), what would be personally best for you. They also offer some simple options for more advanced search, like similarity or boolean operators. Wouldn’t you like more control in an easier way for better results?
How?
Allow the user more control over what he thinks is best. Allow him to say “I put more weight on anything by or connected to the following people when you are returning results for this search,” or “don’t show me anything that relates to an individual concept or a subject.” All of these options should not rely on me deciding what keywords are relevant or not, but more on a conceptual level. The algorithm should be able to deduce in a useful way what belongs to these concepts, people, situations, etc., without you having to “spell it out.”
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Choose a New Genre to Try Reading and Get Immediate Recommendations That You Will Like
Why?
There are so many genres in literature, and we tend to stick to only a few in our reading habits. Partly because if we try a book in another genre, many times we get disappointed and have a bad view of the whole genre. What if you could get to try something that you’ll have a much higher chance of liking?
How?
A recommendation service based on analysis of your current likes and dislikes for books you have already read in your favorite genres. The more the system knows about your taste in the genres you like reading, the better it will be able to recommend to you what you would more likely enjoy in a new genre you would like to try.
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An Infinite Twitter Game
Why?
For fun and as an experiment to see how far it will go.
How?
Start the game by choosing one of your followers, someone you know enough for this to work. Tweet the following text: “You are: [change to the actual real description of your follower] male, tall, live in NY, love cats, won a ticket to Hawaii. Is this you? Here are the rules: URL to the rules #infinitegame”.
The rules:
1. You cannot name the person you are hinting at.
2. You can publish the tweet multiple times to make sure they see it.
3. Use the hashtag #infinitegame
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Offer Prizes for Solving Problems
Why?
Many companies big and small don’t have and usually don’t need the in-house talent, knowledge, and resources to solve some of their problems.
How?
A website where companies can publish the problem they need to solve, and a prize for the first person or team that solves the problem. Anyone alone or as a team can apply and try solving the problem for the award.
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A Publisher for Self-Publishing Authors
Why?
Although anyone can self-publish today, and many do and make an excellent living doing so, the publishing side of it is very different than the writing side.
How?
Create a publishing house that specializes in self-publishing authors. Instead of the two current options – do it all yourself or give it all to the publisher – this publishing house is in between these options. It cooperates with the author and shares the work and duties, contributing the unique expertise needed like marketing, editing, etc., and also shares the income generated by the cooperation.
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