Airbnb Plugs the Hole

So you've read of Airbnb landlords getting some stick from the big cities. If you want to have a tenant for less than a month, you need a hotel license. Most communities say the minimum lease term is a month. Nice - so why not just set the price low and claim the guy is renting for a month and then kick him out after a couple of days (the real stay) for "bad" behaviour?

What's new? Airbnb will buy a limited number of hotel licenses and "sell" them to you when you need to let a guest stay for less then a month. So simple and worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Simple Gizmo Hands Dell the Projector Market

How many times have you seen someone get up and turn the lights off and then on again during a powerpoint (or other app) presentation?

Now, Dell will sell you a gadget that the handyman can install into the light-switch in 5 minutes and you'll be able to hit a button on the projector remote to turn the lights on and off without leaving your seat.

So simple and worth $200 million a year to Dell!

Inferring User Intent - Can Apple Do This? See

I've run into this before and had to Google it again... if you don't have scroll lock set, the arrow keys pan the sheet instead of moving you from cell to cell.

Question is, like they detect that Caps Lock is ON when you're typing a password, why couldn't the Excel see that I used the arrow key and then the scrollwheel and then the mouse to move to a different cell and suggest that I set Scroll Lock?

Is Apple smart enough to do this?

Paper that Changes Colour

I checked some material out of the library today and it asked if I'd like a receipt with due-date.

I thought - how about something that gets exponentially redder as the due-date approaches - maybe options you can set on the screen - no change until within 5 days, etc.

Then, at T-4, it's light pink, at T-1, it's really-really red.

How do we accomplish this and keep it cheap? Then you could just put the receipt on your fridge and not miss it since most fridges are white.

Transoms that Protect

Okay, you wonder - suppose, just suppose the bad guys have figured out that my ADT sign is a dummy and was installed by the previous owner? It's not that hard to get full-access to the house in that case - get in through the transom, unlock the door to the garage and then open one of the garage doors. The really smart crooks will wear some kind of uniform to make it look like they're delivering something and bring in a large box with straps as if they're leaving a dishwasher or something. How about, if you could spread a spider-web across your transom - material so thin it doesn't detract from the aesthetics, yet, when someone tries to go through the web, the web just sticks. You've had this happen to you at some point - a spider's dropped from the ceiling - the start of his new trap - and you're the first prey - and you're cussing and getting that stuff off you. Except, in this case, you can't break the web - because the material is so strong for its thickness that, if you try mechanical force to break it - you just end up extruding more out of the source - which is something your homely spider can't do. For one thing, the brash bandido might not even be aware of this new whisker and still be tethered by the time he gets back to his car - in which case, he's left some evidence there as well. Once he starts driving of course, the mechanical force will overpower the extrusion rate and he'll be free. But, maybe you can throw in some property that'll make the stuff flouresce under a black-light. All we need is a revolution in materials. How unsafe I suddenly feel in my own home.

RFID in Lawncare

So trivially simple - lawnmowers already hog a tonne of power - why not a few more milliWatts to be tag-aware - when you don't want them chopping off sprinkler heads and dissecting drip-irrigation guts, just stick a tag that you can get from HD or Lowes. Jeez. Why must we wait for the Japs and Israelis to invent everything?