Duration Inc.: a million and one ideas

amillionandoneideas

Duration Team: Happy Holidays

posted by jess on Tuesday, December 25, 2007 at 11:57:08 AM

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ThreadsZilla

posted by Jay C'Hova on Sunday, August 05, 2007 at 05:40:24 PM

Picture this ...

You walk into a boutique, maybe the size of your living room. The boutique is filled with displays of clothes - a shirt here, pants there, a dress on a manniquin. You like the shirt, you think it's "fly". You take out your mobile device and "read" the shirt's QR code.

Your phone then downloads a bunch of information that states the following - available colours, fabric description, more pictures, a style guide, price, delivery information, washing instructions, about the designer, etc. You like it, your thumb presses the button that says "buy".

On the back end, it's really just a website and database, nothing fancy. The information is all stored in a database that can be access by any web-enabled device - GPRS / 3G / Wi-Fi phone, web browser, etc.

Here's why I think ThreadsZilla rocks:
1. For the consumer, they can get all the information they want about a product without having to ask anyone. They can also just buy it via their phone and not have to wait on line at a cash register. And they don't have to carry bags all around the place - the items get delivered to their home.
2. For the store owner, they don't need rack space, they can concentrate on display space. They can store their inventory in a cheaper location offsite. They can cut down on sales people and training. And they can add more value to the sales process by giving more correct info and create upsell opportunities.

A primer on QR Codes - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_Code

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Harry Potter vs Star Wars vs Lord of the Rings ...

posted by Jay C'Hova on Monday, July 30, 2007 at 10:06:10 PM

Who's older? Dumbledore or Yoda or Gandalf

Who has more facial hair? Hagrid or Chewbacca or Gimli the Dwarf

Who's a better sidekick? Ron Weasley or R2D2 or Samwise Gangee

Who's a bigger pain-in-the-ass? Neville Longbottom or CP30 or Merry and Pippin

Who's a better big brother character? Sirius Black or Han Solo or Aragon (aka Stryker)

Who's more evil? Voldemort or Emporor Palatine or Sauron

Who's a bigger geek? Harry Potter or Luke Skywalker or Frodo

Who's a darker and more misunderstood character? Prof Snape or Lando Kalrissian or Boromir

Who's a better villain? Wormtail or Darth Vader or Gollum

Who's more wrinkled? Prof McGonagal or Jabba the Hut or the Tree People

Who's a more annoying CGI character? Doby the House Elf or Jar Jar Binks or Gollum

Who would you like to punch in the face? Draco Malfoy or Young Annakin Skywalker or Bilbo Baggins

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6 Things I would do if I was CTO of a company

posted by "JLuv from up above" on Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 01:53:03 PM

1. I would make all technical staff - developers, architects, designers, support, etc - read the following two books: (1) "Good to Great" by Jim Collins; and (2) "Built to Last" by Jim Collins. Technologists always have a hard time comprehending the business aspects of their technology decisions and tasks ... those 2 books should clearup any confusion. Also understand the business. And not just what the company does but the landscape upon which the company operates under - the end users, the clients, the competitors, the vendors, the economic impacters, the political factors, sovereign risks, currency risks, environmental risks, etc.

2. Treat the superstars like superstars. Superstars get more perks, get more leeway (forgiven more easily), get more rewards. Everyone in the technology group from the newest newbie to the most senior person MUST aspire to be the Michael Jordan / Tiger Woods / Beyonce / Brad Pitt in their department.

3. Everyone must understand the importance of the person sitting next to them (and everyone down the row). The corollary, everyone must understand their responsibility to the person sitting next to them.

4. Keep an open mind and be aggressive thirst to learn new technology and new methods and how it can help the company. Knowledge share and mentoring will be rewarded.

5. "Need For Speed" initiative. I stole this from another CTO, but it makes alot of sense: use business technology and enhanced processes to reduce latency by 25% or more in all interactions with customers and suppliers. And to achieve that in six months. And to promise to cut another 25% in the following six months.

6. Mobilize everything. "Mobile" is the future. So every technology decision made must consider the Mobile factors.

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ideal cooking

posted by jess on Monday, June 25, 2007 at 07:52:33 PM

has anyone ever tried making your very own creamy pasta sauce?

- whipping cream
- dairy milk
- garlic powder (for lazy people like me)
- powdered cheese

if you're wondering if this is going to be an entry teaching you how to make your special pasta sauce, nope, this ain't it. for those who are in and out of the kitchen often, you might have had this agonizing pain of having to stand by the steaming stove for long periods to stir your sauce (or porridge) just so that it doesn't stick to the base of the pot and everything doesn't start boiling over your pot.

well... why don't someone invent a cooking pot that has this auto-turning fan-like thing at the bottom of the pot, generated by the heat current produced? it may not even have to be a built-in fan-like-thingy, it could just be an add-on item! now, do i see light-bulbs bursting up?

this "fan" can have a diameter that is almost similar to the hosting pots' and gradually decreases at the top. this is to make sure that nothing (as far as possible) sticks to the base and edges of the pot. this "fan" should also have alternate openings like that of an egg-beater on each blade so that the food doesn't get stuck in between and to ensure that it cooks and stirs well. in this case, you will not have to stick yourself to the stove when you are making anything that requires constant attention (stirring, that is). this freed up time could be used to prepare other dishes at ease or even, catch your television show!

not bad, aye?

question is... what should the blades be made of? how should the aero-dynamics be determined so that this blade, when sat into the pot, can spin with the heat current generated within the host?

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