www.romanvenable.net:  Clark's Weblog



Sunday, December 5, 2004
I Wish There Were An Easier Way To Give Software

I use lots of software I download from the internet and pay for online. It's not truly 'shareware' because it's crippled in some way, or has a limited trial period. Recent examples are NetNewsWire for RSS-reading, , MarsEdit for blogging, Sticky Brain for remembering, Missing Sync for syncing with my Treo. Just this morning I found Mail Factory, which looks like it might be a fun app. to use with a Dymo Label Writer.

What if I wanted to give one of these as a gift? Some would say software is very personal and that just because I like something doesn't mean someone else will, and that that's what trial periods are for. Perhaps. But if I did want to give a license code to a game or application, there's no easy way to make that a gift. What I'm envisioning is a service, by Kagi for example (as they're the ones that seem to accept payment for most such software), that will print the name of the software, its web site, and the registration code on a gift card that can then be tucked in a holiday card and given as a gift or stocking stuffer, or even mailed as an e-gift (like an iCard). Call it the 'Software Gift Card'. Any takers? Apple? Some Shareware alliance somewhere?

Categories: Ideas, Software
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It is no profit to have learned well, if you neglect to do well. --Publilius Syrus


Sunday, September 19, 2004
Why blogs can be right
"How can any news organization research department hope to compete with the largest pool of subject matter experts the world has ever seen? We are a
  • totally networked
  • dynamically interactive
  • mutually vetting
congregation of legal experts, physicists and mathematicians, futurists, military experts, grammarians, historians, political analysts, linguists, geographers, economists, sociologists, doctors, philosophers, computer experts, communications and media specialists, and skilled practitioners of every discipline under the sun. We are a research department to die for."

[Via American Daughter.]

Categories: Ideas
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At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid. --Friedrich Nietzsche


Saturday, September 11, 2004
Self-warming ECG Pads?

If you've ever had surgery or another medical procedure requiring monitoring of vital signs, you may remember the cold ECG pads which had to be applied to your skin. I've often though that it would be nifty to invent a conductive gel that, when the plastic backing is removed, heats up so the ECG pad feels warm (especially that left limb lead). This is the kind of thing one thinks of in private practice, I guess (as opposed to the the academic thoughts of academic anesthesiologists). Well, the makers of KY Jelly may have a solution. KY has a 'Warming Ultra-Gel' which 'Creates a gentle warming sensation on contact'. Make it electroconductive, slap it on an ECG pad, and you've got a winner.

Categories: Ideas
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It is more tolerable to be refused than deceived. --Publilius Syrus