Computer crimes of another kind: Sadly it took someone’s laptop to get stolen to get this idea, but it’s an excellent one: create a beacon by having your startup URL be your own web site, but with a secret code attached to the end of it. When a person tries to use the computer, you’ll see it in your referrer logs and be able to track them down via their IP address (and thus real name and address) at that time of connection.

I am beginning to enjoy my array of available posting purgatories, along with the public transparency and cross-pollination of links and sources. Now I can have multiple levels of filtering, yet I (and everyone else) can see the original sources, such as my personal editorial process: scan all the content sources (bloglines.com/public/magnetbox), filter out the interested portions (del.icio.us/magnetbox), and decide what the general public gets to see (magnetbox.com).

I can’t help but think it would be amazing if content sources (news organizations?) did sort of the same idea, so that people could decide for themselves what level of news/filtering fits them best.

I would like to propose an idea to the record industry: I am willing to pay $0.25 to $0.50 more per CD if you quit putting that stupid security sticker across the top of a new CD case. This “security tax” would basically make up for the loss of revenues from theft that the sticker supposedly helps guard against. Removing one customer frustration in the CD-purchasing process might win you some customers.

(Side note: That sticker is sometimes useful, like looking at a row of new CDs from the top and being able to see all the albums’ information at a glance. So maybe the “security tax” might be a temporary campaign where the money raised goes towards funding the research and propagation of a new kind of sticker/system that is still secure, yet easier to be removed.)

Judging 2003′s Ideas: The Most Overrated and Underrated: At the end of each year, New York Times’ Arts & Ideas asks a handful of writers, scholars and other opinionated people to identify the year’s most underrated and overrated ideas. (See also: Curatorial culture)

The Year in Ideas: The New York Times Magazine looks back to find the most innovative, intriguing, mystifying and promising ideas of the year. (See: Billboards that know you, coincidence theory, GPS art, hit song science, and many, many more.)

Alternative compensation systems: Collectively thinking and proposing new ways to make online music downloading make sense for both the consumer and industry, including hashing out various issues and scenarios.

Inspiration: Where does it come from? The most impressive designs are those that seem naturally right, unimprovable, inevitable. (See also: The guts of a new machine, Necessity is the mother of invention, Vote getters)

mySociety: Our aim is to build internet projects which have strong, real world benefits, and which do so at very low cost per person served (with already an amazing number of excellent proposals).

Why Not? How to use everyday ingenuity to solve problems big and small. (See also: halfbakery)

New personal LazyWeb idea: Movie Friendster. Combine the concepts of Friendster and the Baconizer, using Amazon Web Services to create a visual map of people through movie connections.