Newsmap: Newsmap is an application that visually reflects the constantly changing landscape of the Google News news aggregator. A treemap visualization algorithm helps display the enormous amount of information gathered by the aggregator. Treemaps are traditionally space-constrained visualizations of information. Newsmap’s objective takes that goal a step further and provides a tool to divide information into quickly recognizable bands which, when presented together, reveal underlying patterns in news reporting across cultures and within news segments in constant change around the globe.

What will the music of the future sound like? Will the way that people access music have an effect on the content of that music?

Another good one from Idea a Day: “Create a rating system for product packaging which evaluates ease of opening. Given that many products are absurdly difficult to open – CDs, milk cartons, blister-pack electronics, for example, the rating system might encourage more user friendly packaging. The rating organization could be either commercial or non-profit making and would allow use of a ‘Ez Open Seal of Approval’ for those products that qualify.”

Competing for share of consciousness: “The largest percentage of the market you are ever going to attract occurs at the very moment you begin to lose the customer who made it happen.”

Anil Dash’s unsolicited advice: “It doesn’t matter if you thought of it first, or if your idea is better. If you didn’t do anything with it, if you didn’t push it, then don’t come complaining when someone else get noticed for it, or gets attention for it, and their effort succeeds.”

Speak Up on purposely amateur design: Would Google benefit from an overhaul? Could its value rise if it presented itself to the world in a more, well, presentable manner?

Great idea on Idea a Day: Launch a web based news service that gives an alternative view of major news stories but with a positive and more realistic spin. For example, in the event of an air crash the site would give statistics on how many airplanes had taken off and landed safely that day. This would help mitigate the sensationalism that dominates today’s news by reminding us all that the world is generally a pretty great place.

Industry change eyed at music conference: Don VanCleave, president of the Coalition of Independent Music Stores, on the relevance of local record stores: “All that content is out there but nobody’s telling people what to listen to, what’s next, what to buy, what to download. You can have millions of choices, but without some kind of a filter it’s very tough to get turned onto anything new.”

Can’t stop the music: Arcane licensing deals haven’t prevented the growth of many new sites offering a wide selection of quality music downloads.

Living Room Film Club, a Click Away: “Netflix not only changed my routine, it also turned me into a different kind of movie watcher. Culturally, I am no longer the same person.” The flat-fee system elicits two responses: more frequent renting, and more adventurous renting. To justify the cost, you watch more films. But since four films per month averages out to the cost of four films at Blockbuster, every subsequent movie is, in a delusory sense, free, and therefore there is no risk.