Thursday, April 21, 2005

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April 21--my earliest Minneapolis date for first lawn mowing of the season. Close to the beginning of the season down in Indianapolis. 9:57:40 PM    comment []

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Business Idea for Google: Domain Hosting Hmmm, I wonder if Google has any interest in the hosting business?...Probalby not, low-margin and potentially service-intensive. Still, think about it... -According to articles I have read, their cost of network services is stunningly low. They are the Wal-Mart/Sam's of large, dedicated data-centers. So they meet pre-requisite #1 of any volume business, which is to have a defensible cost advantage. -They have entered other seemingly mature, low-profit businesses with a revolutionary approach. -The opportunity is there. I have blogged about the shocking infrequency with which people obtain their own domain for email. Even many of my super-geek friends default to using their ISP's domain. Cost really isn't the issue--Verio is down to $10/year for domain registration, and UCVHost is I think $25/year for about 20 Mb. Part of the problem is that it is inconvenient, part is that people don't really know it is so cheap. -Google already has some consumer tools: Blogger and Picasa. -Unlike most competitors, they have the advantage of not needing to advertise. I think Google could make a big splash if they packaged: -EFFORTLESS domain registration and email creation -Good server-side spam-filtering -Simple home-site creation (using Blogger) -Good photo-sharing (Picasa) I think they would need to charge for this. Which certainly goes against their business model. They could give it away free the first year, then charge after that. Of course, being very up-front about how much they would charge. 9:51:41 PM    comment []

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Good Design Reduces Need for Raw Space I have a fragmentary theory of home architecture...I think very good design might be substituted, to an extent, for pure size. For instance, I seem many three-car garages where the third bay is devoted not to an automobile, but to a pile of stuff. The pile is usually fairly haphazard. A decent-sized two-car garage, with a high ceiling for overhead racks, an accessible attic, and some other thoughtful storage knick-knacks, could store more stuff, better, in less space. This applies elsewhere, too. Better storage in closets (two rows of hangers, for starters), and you don't need so much space. As I said, this is just a fragmentary theory. The generalization probably is that better design would reduce the raw space required. I have maintained for quite a while that living rooms and dining rooms tend to be vastly under-used. The former even more so here in MN, where three- and four-season sun rooms are popular. And every bad should have storage (drawers) underneath. Another good space-utilization idea is to have front-loading washing machines, and a laundry folding shelf above. Voila, 10 square feet of space out of thin air. 9:51:39 PM    comment []

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Winona, MN has enacted a motorcycle noise ordinance. Not nearly strict enough for my liking, but a good start. 9:51:36 PM    comment []