Seeing this image of Dan Gillmor using iSight and iChat together gave me an idea: Creating a web-only, real-time news broadcast, using something like iSight and iChat to create the generic “anchor desk shot”, complete with infographics! (For example: 1, 2, and 3) The idea is that a second person (the picture-in-picture) would be the “production” computer, which holds the video and photos, and runs the show, switching the focus from computer to computer. When the focus is on the anchor, the production computer shows an infographic, and then when the anchor is done talking, the focus switches to the production computer which then runs a video or displays a photo. This idea may be really raw, and possibly not workable with iSight and iChat specifically, but I think it could be interesting, in a amateur/guerilla/Dogma 95 news kind of way…

It may be possible with iSight and iChat, but it would be sloppy, since that’s not what those programs were made for. My initial instinct would be to point the camera at the production computer’s screen, which would mean you would have to have it done very tightly and exact, or have a program that would display the imagery fullscreen with no loss. This is also not really something I have experience in, and I also don’t own any of these technologies so that I could try out or test such a setup.

Good Ideas: An amazingly excellent article by Erik Benson about ideas and manufacturing innovation.

An idea is a bet that information exists in a certain place, if you were to try to retrieve it. Retrieving it has a cost, but the idea is a bet that the value is more than the cost. A good idea is a bet that you win. For example, an idea would be that you should cut through the alley in order to escape your pursuers. Depending on how much you know about that alley, people might say you’re making a good decision or a bad decision. If that alley ends up taking you on a shortcut that allows you to escape your pursuer, then the bet to go through the alley was a good bet, and therefore a good idea.

Data I would love to have: albums sold to used music stores. Even if it was just a few charter stores as sample data. What I want to have is a sort of “staying power” index; a list that ranks albums by how many people still own them, not by how many were originally sold. I am never amazed at how many new albums are in the used bins, because they all contain 1 popular song and 11 other crocks of shit. I want to see what the albums are no one would ever part with. You could use the actual sales data to make a ratio vs. how many were sold back. Anyone run a used record store?

Idea Share: This page regularly offers ideas for books or stories or works in other media, from those who can’t act upon them. In all cases they are offered in the hopes that these worthy projects will find their way to someone with the time and wherewithal to pursue them.

An excellent idea, if such data was public: Launch a web site which explains which TV commercials are running at any particular time on any TV channel. Given that some commercials are popular, and that the public has no idea when they will be on next, the site would be a helpful shortcut. (See also: Yes.net)

Bristolz: Drawings and sketches of ideas from the Halfbakery.

mtaste: Steven Frank (of Panic Software fame) had an excellent idea of combining the concepts of music recommendations and Friend of a Friend to create a sort of automated system of “musical compatibility” with people. (See also: Audioscrobbler)

Emerging Technology: Notes from LazyWeb BoF: At this year’s Emerging Technology Conference there was a live freeform LazyWeb session, where people were just brainstorming and spitting out ideas and wishlists.

(Editor’s note: Yes, I wish I would’ve been there. Yes, I just got Amazon.com Web Services up and tested and working. Yes, I’m sending and receiving Amazon.com data. Yes, you better watch the hell out.)

Ideas on Demand: You’ve heard the stories about how chance, an accident or a mistake led to valuable inventions — penicillin, Velcro and Post-It Notes are just a few. But you don?t have to rely on fate to provide inspiration. You can create conditions that spark new ideas any time by using creativity techniques such as the novel prompt.

iTunes lyrics search & lyrics playlists thoughts by Brad Lauster: I’m the type of guy for whom lyrics are a really important part of a song. Song lyrics are a great source for inspiration and quotation, but finding the song a lyric came from is sometimes a pain… You know what would make it a lot easier? An iTunes plugin that added lyrics to the list of things matched in an iTunes search.