Kid puts 2% of his future income on auction on EBay !

A kid called Ron Steen put up his 2% of future income for auction on EBay. There is a piece about this auction here. I think this is a great idea! Even if EBay removed the listing (perhaps because of legal issues around this deal), the idea may have future in education loans market! How about education loan providers start providing loans based on what is the potential future income! MyRichUncle does look at the student criteria including SAT score, credit score, programs of study (which is one indicator of future income), but if the student's goal of future income is also considered and is tied to future incentives from loan company, then it might motivate the students to work harder.

Something like this would not have been possible without EBay! Now that is a real use of technology!

Verizon's Fuel cell technology for Indian rural areas

CNET news has images of the Verizon fuel cell project, which is the largest fuel cell project to power Verizon's call-switching center in Long Island (NY). Each fuel cell produces 200 kilowatts of power, enough to power more than 50 single-family homes. Also, the excess hot water produced is used to heat the building, cutting the fuel need to half.

Something like this is needed in Rural India to solve the problem of electricity and offset the rising cost of fuel. India should invest in such technologies for its good and the greater good of the world!

Who will buy YouTube?

Seamus McCauley in his blog Virtual Economics commented on the earlier posting by Russell Shaw at ZDnet about who will buy YouTube.

Here is what I think about YouTube. Certainly YouTube has value for sites like EBay. YouTube can provide a platform for EBay sellers to put their product promotion videos and demostration of how to use the product, alongiwth their auctions. When I visit EBay, I want to SEE how the product I am interesting in (e.g. a VOIP phone) will be used. Think of that as a demostration or product use. EBay can even let the buyers upload the video of the product use alongwith feedback. This will be a very visual feedback about the product.
For that matter, YouTube should even explore the possibility of any product manufacturer putting up their product use demostration, so buyers can just go their, see how to use and troubleshoot the product. These manuals can be searchable, e.g. what is that indicator on my car dashboard? It can even serve as pre-buying comparision guide for potential buyers, where they can watch the product use and decide whether to buy or not.

Credit Card with Display on it

InCard Technology's Card with Display is something that I think has great potential. If the card can store multiple card numbers and other valuable information (e.g. my bank account numbers to start with, my subscription information for my magazines etc) and can protect using a pin code, I will be the first one to get one. Imagine the impact of this! Going to grocery store, bringing up the card to use on display (balance information etc) and then swiping the card.
Wonder if they can tie it to my cell phone and I can point my cell phone to it and get the latest vendor coupons right there, and save some bucks as well.
Thinner wallets!

Peddling Pot through Craigslist

Seattle Times has this story about Pot peddlers using sites like Criagslist to sell drugs. Apparently, the quantities sold are very small and only very few dealers are doing. However, it is forcing the law enforcement agencies to monitor these sites for such activity and in future, will require more Internet savvy police officers. Unless the traditional form of crime goes down to compensate for rising Internet crime, more cyber-law enforcement officers means more taxes.
And I thought I was saving money by buying things online!

Using Postman's phone to talk to Son

When I was young, my family would wait for postman to come and deliver mail to us. Now, postman comes with phone and a mom in Bihar can talk to his paddy laborer son in Punjab using postman's paid wireless local loop phone.
In this age, when time is the most precious thing, writing letters will decline, even in rural India. So, using postmen to take the phone to most poor areas of India is a good deed as well as new revenue stream.

Using Internet to chase away Mosquitos!

Korea Times carried this story few days back. Empas Spokesman, the company that developed this application, said - "We employed radio frequencies in the range between 200Hz and 600Hz, which irritates female mosquitoes in the spawning season''. He also added "It is only the female mosquito that you need to worry about since only she dines on animals or people. Male mosquitoes dine merely on nectar. Then missions are completed by keeping females at bay".
Keeping the female part makes perfect sense to me (because then you do not have to worry about male).

I can imagine the use for this in India! Even if there is no electricity, people can run the laptop on battery for few hours, raise the volume to full and huddle next to laptop!

Changing Africa with Cell Phones - Buying new TV for Cell Phone Minutes

Washington Post carried this In War-Torn Congo, Going Wireless to Reach Home. Here in congo, minutes on a cellphone are a commodity that can be used, bartered or sold for cash. While M-commerce has still not picked up in all parts of the developed world, Africa is leading the way with new form of barter trade, using cell phone minutes.

The article quoted one of the cell phone user saying -"I went in empty-handed, but I could still buy something because I had my phone".

And I could not pay for my library dues in United States of America because I did not have cash or check book. But I had my cell phone.

Computers on Wheels project

Computers on Wheels project of Stockholm Challenge. From the project website "In the era of globalization, where impersonalisation in trade and commerce has become a norm and where recognizing the voice or face of a client or a service provider had become a rare incident, COW offers unique possibility of human intervention that is culturally sensitive for knowledge enhancement in remote rural areas. It combats the adverse effects of globalization by providing adequate access to information, so that rural communities do not become isolated from the global economic and political world and makes it possible for them to possess the freedom to choose their own destiny."
I first came across this porject here, and started thinking about possibilities beyond what the project's current focus is. I am sure the project will help fuel the imagination of Indian rural folks to come up with other uses, including Mobile Mechanic that can diagnose vehicle problems (trucks, cars and motor bikes gone bad on the road in remote villages).

Yes, I do have potatos!

Grameen phone in Bangladesh has a successful Village Phone program. From there web site "The program facilitates women borrowers of Grameen Bank to the GSM technology through the village phones. They become effectively mobile public call offices. This not only provides rural poor with new, exciting income-generating opportunities, but it also helps to enhance the social status of women from poor rural households."
Mobile phone has allowed these village people to feel more empowered. For example, in my home town of Panipat in India, a street vendor who would earlier come and stop at almost every door and shout to indicate his arrival and wait for people to come out and buy vegetables, often wasting his valuable time and still missing out on many potential customers, now just gets a call from each house that is interested in the vegetables that he has on that perticular day, comes stops on those houses first and then, if he is left with anything, would go on usual route.
Saves so much time for the vendor! Because time saved is money!