Communication
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Background: Sometimes, getting technical support from a company requires making an actual phone call. Like the audio / voice kind that people used to do in old movies! Typically, one ends up in an “on hold” scenario in which soothing music is intermittently interrupted by the message “representatives are busy, your call will be answered…
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Background: There are many phone apps that provide neighborhood-focused local news updates in real time (e.g. “Nextdoor” and “Citizen”). This can make a person aware of every single burglary, car accident, “suspicious dog,” and other strange happening that may occur in their general vicinity. The issue: While this information can be useful, it often leads…
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Background: When on a meeting with video chat, people generally like to look at least vaguely professional / presentable, even if they just rolled out of bed 5 minutes before the meeting. The issue: There are two main problems in video chat for people who want to project a corporate-approved professional image: The background should…
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Background: Most laptops include a built-in camera, typically located just above the top edge of the screen. This type of camera is generally marketed as a “video chat” or “conference call” camera. The issue: When a person is on a video call, they tend to look at the image on the screen instead of directly…
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Background: In the post-online-shopping world, there are now nearly innumerable purchasing options for every style of item. If a person wanted to buy a particular style of baseball cap in the pre-Internet world, they would have the following option: Go to a store Purchase one of the, say, 4 or 5 suitable caps that are…
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The issue: Using your phone to read the news has three major downsides: You have to hold your phone. You could easily drop it! It uses battery life, which might be in short supply depending on how often you can charge your phone. A barrage of linked “clickbait” articles (with interesting photos) attempt to lure…
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The issue: Using a cell phone outdoors can present two main problems, as shown in Figure 1. Specifically, you may be far from a tower (and thus, get poor reception) and the harsh light of the noon sun may make it very difficult to read the text on your phone, especially with the recently-popularized “dark…
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Background: Online communities often have rivalries with one another, especially if the topics that they cover are extremely similar. For example, one could imagine a vicious feud between two different communities of saltwater aquarium enthusiasts. Proposal: Maybe we can harness and direct this mean-spiritedness in an interesting way that will, if nothing else, at least…
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Background: When you receive a message on a phone, usually the phone vibrates or makes an alert sound. The issue: If someone sends several short messages in a row (e.g. “Here is the restaurant:” “(link to restaurant address)” “We’ll be there at 7 pm.”) or if a conversation has several participants, your phone will be…
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Background: Moderating the comments section of any web site is a thankless and un-ending task. But what if there were some way to make it slightly easier? Proposal: Instead of just allowing any comments, we can require that comments be totally unique and never-before-seen. Once a comment is made, or an image is posted, a…
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