The List

Click the links below to read more about these projects, I backfill code snippets and photos as I come across them.

Domain	The Skinny
iphonerobot.com	3D plotter for using iphone over the internet using Lego NXT, Ruby and a webcam
colorblindr.com & colorblindsimulator.com	Similar to iCapture, enter your URL, receive screenshot processed to simulate protanopia, deuteranopia and tritanopia. colorblindr would proxy flickr and simulate colorblindness on all your photos.
ikealist.com	Build detailed shopping lists for ikea using Javascript bookmarklet that parses meta-data on ikea.com while browsing
4kft.com	Google Maps mashup for cataloging hiking trails in the white mountains. Google Maps overlayed with USGS top maps. (Pre "Terrain" option) Community includes ride share and gear exchange.
iphonecapture.com	iCapture but for iPhones, see also iphonerobot.com
lostcroc.com & foundcroc.com	Lost and found registry for Crocs®. Monetized by selling replacement individual crocs. Croc® Tattoo registry would help lost crocs find their way home quickly.
footerfetish.com	Community dedicated to cataloging and discussing the fine art of implementing the underappreciated website footer.
infotrike.com	Pimped out custom tricycle roam touristy areas of major cities providing a mobile internet cafe. Operators make recommendations and give directions to visitors in multiple languages. Monetized by GPS targeted advertisement displayed on the screens while inactive and coupons printed on directions. Franchise-able and subsidizable by chambers of commerce and tourist departments.
lunch-specials.com	An aggregator of lunch specials by geographic region this site would help people choose a destination and provide advertisement for businesses. Specials are received via fax, SMS, or email.
thembta.com	Back in 2006, before the big mbta.com redesign this was to be the home of a community driven redesign and google map mashup.
nevoc.org	New England Waste Vegetable Oil Cooperative intended to provide a community rich with know-how and resources to make SWVO attainable to the masses.

"Hello. My name is Dan. I am a problem solver."

Another problem "Solved"

A relaxing Sunday drive to enjoy the scenery turns into a multi-hour brainstorming session to come up with the end-all be-all yard sale sign template.

The gaudy, illegible shreds of paper decorating the telephone poles drives me crazy. So after a some time ignoring my wife, my screaming children the speed limit signs I announce "I have an idea..."

..So everyone has a yardsale or garagesale at some point in their lives right?

Imagine a website that all you have to do is fill out a simple form; date, time, address, garage vs yard vs moving sale.. Then the site generates a mulit-page PDF comprised of..

• a hand full of signs -- these will be the most readable yardsale signage known to our species
• a map labeling which intersections to hang your signs at based upon weekend traffic patterns
• an optimized driving route to take with you when hanging up your signage
• a sign for each intersection with clear directional indicators
• each sign has the address/intersection and GPS coordinate of where it belongs printed on the back

Then of course all of this information gets dropped into a RSS feed and a google maps mashup accessible from an iPhone rendering the signs themselves obsolete.

Here I am, I've taken a minor annoyance at worst, found a way to fix the problem once and for all and distribute to the world using the internet. I'm doing 50mph in a 25mph zone.

Back to Reality

The reality is, I don't have time to do it. Even if I did have time, there is no way to monetize it never mind alert the world I have solved a problem they never realized they had.

Now I have yet another "idea" rattling around in my head. I'll probably buy a domain name for $8 called ezyardsalesign.com before the night is over, mockup the key components. Lose 2 hours reading the googlemaps blog. Then crawl into bed feeling guilty about everything I've neglected.

I'll make crazy promises to myself to keep motivated.

• I'll put off my own yardsale until I can generate the signs using this website
• I won't visit a yardsale who did't use my product

Subsequently...

• I will cringe every time I see a yardsale sign.
• I will cringe every time I trip over something I wish I could just sell at my own yardsale,
• I will avoid googling "yard sale sign maker"
• I will cringe every time I see good signage driving to work.

Over the past 5 years I have accumulated dozens of these "projects" and it is debilitating. I'm afraid to innovate, afraid to commit, afraid it will all just end up as yet another burden.

Resolution

So I have decided to do a spring cleaning. I will have a Mental Yard Sale.

I will spill the beans on the projects listed below in hopes that someday a) someone will tell me it has been done, b) someone just does it themselves, or c) someone hires me to do it. This will take some time and I will do my best not to re-kindle any of them.

• I will not develop this concept into a facebook plugin.
• I will not forge my own wiki framework to accomplish this
• I will not spend more time modifying wordpress than writing about these projects I want to be rid of

"Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats."
-- Howard H. Aiken