Innovation Incubator

1. A website that highlights positive and feel-good news stories. We
were talking about either making this a site on its own that pulls
together positive stories or a site that gives journalists ideas of
positive stories to cover.


2. A site that covers local and state election candidates, listing who
they are and what they stand for. We found that more people aren't
involved in local politics because of a lack of knowledge on the
issues, so a website with candidate profiles for local elections could
serve to get more people involved.


3. A site targeted at senior citizens that focuses in on technology
stories. There was a study that said that a large number of seniors
are online now, but they don't know as much about technology and are
more susceptible to spyware, viruses, etc. This website would help
seniors get information and resources to help them stay prepared.


4. A "Best Week Ever" type of show for the news, that would take clips
from news programming. Either users could make the mini-movies
themselves, or it could be put in the hands of the developer to
deliver something that covers the news in a witty but informative
fashion that appeals to younger viewers.


5. A website that covers Division II and III college athletics,
supplied by correspondents at each school, who would write/film/edit
their own pieces and upload them. Other publications (college or
otherwise) could use the stories/videos with permission as well, to
gain a bigger audience.

1. Free Clinic/Healthcare guide using Google Maps

This is going to be an application/platform that uses Google maps to
direct you to free clinics and doctors that operate using sliding
scales. I don't particularly know the technical side of things, but
I'm imaging you would input a zip code (yes?) that would then tap into
the Google map system to show where and list the location of the
clincs/services.

How big of a problem are we solving here? Michael Moore recently
produced a film, "Sicko" on the healtcare industry. Check out the
trailor from YouTube. I
think this is a testament.

What's out there like this? If you just do a simple search for "free
clincs" + "healthcare" several sites will come up listing sites for
individual states (this would be greatly reduced if you clarified your
search by state, however). Ones that I find don't include map
locations. Check out below:

Iowa:
Connecticut:
This one is for all of the US.

Gives you a couple of examples of what's out there for databases. The
idea of "sliding scale", to my understanding and Christina correct me
if I am wrong, is that while you get the same coverage as others, what
you pay for your coverage is based on your income? I believe this
would pertain more to actual healthcare plans, but I'm assuming there
are clincs who also require you to pay less based on income?

What we want to do is make a site based on all of this ... you can input
where you are and these plans will pop up for you?

Some things we came up with tonight:
In terms of sliding scale: the goal would be to find clinics who are
willing to advertise the fact that they cater to this form of
clientle.
Visually appealing: videos, photos ... basically the site needs to be
simple, yet credible.
The idea of public service: we need to find the balance or goal of
clinical standpoint vs. educational standpoint ...
Compliation of the database: to me, this is the huge "?" right now as
to how this will get accomplished. Something I will look into in the
upcoming days, but I wanted to get this posted tonight as I know my
group is starting to exchange ideas.

I think Jordan's right ... the idea of this being a public service is a
huge plus right now. My main concern is keeping it credible (like
Christina say, everything up front) and professional. People like the
whole rating thing ... is this something we want to include? Or keep is
strictly "factual?" I'm also pretty clueless in the technological
aspect of this, so if someones more familiar with the whole idea of
how such things work when you input a zip code to retrieve such info,
let me know .... I'll look into in the meantime.

2. Controversial Topic Debate Site

The idea I've taken on to reasearch is to create a website where users
post their personal arguments on a controversial issue. The arguments
(or persuasive essays) can be read and voted on by other users. The
top-rated pieces (one from each side of a topic) would then be
displayed in the most prominent spot on the page.

Hopefully the most intelligent and articulate arguments would rise to
the top, promoting the value of cited factual information along with
responsible and respectful speech. Irresponsible and flawed arguments
would most likely miss out on votes and fall into obscurity.

I think that the value of a site like this increases as we approach
Election 2008, as moderates or people 'on the fence' are constantly
being exposed to flashy presentations of each party's political ideal
without being shown the bigger picture (the logic to the oposing
side's ideals).

On a smaller scale, this model could be used by communities as a way
to measure public opinion. (Ex. The topic may concern tearing down a
local historical building in favor of building a new shopping center,
and people would post either being for or against the construction)

The technology to make this possible exists (if I'm understanding it
all correctly) on SourceForge.net with an application called Free
Vote. Many sites use various voting techniques, so I think we're safe
to say this can be made into a reality.

The style of voting, instead of being like digg, would resemble
amazon.com product reviews. A user would read one of the arguments/
persuasive essays on the site and then be asked, "Was this article
helpful to you?" and answer yes or no.

There is also the potential for video postings instead of written
articles.

Potential Problems/Questions for the Mixed Groups/ Stuff to Think
About

1) How does the site manage to stay political in it's content, how
does it not degenerate into a debate of Pepsi vs. Coke?

2) Is the chance to be the number 1 rated contributer/debater enough
of an incentive for people to participate?

3) Would you personally use this site?

4) How can we discourage video submissions from rising to the top
solely for their aesthetic quality, if they aren't truly the most
intelligent argument contributed?

3. Campus Connection

Audience:
College students

Reason:
To link campuses through their student-based and student-run
applications that are available online.

Logistics:
This would basically be a Web site dedicated to each student's
personal interests, but based solely on campus publications whether it
be in their geographic area (ie: Michigan or even Mid-West) or their
divisions (Big Ten, Pac 10, Ivey League, etc.) Also, it could be
broader geographically, but narrower in interests (sports,
environment, crime, campus relations).

It would show headlines or maybe even full texts of big articles from
different schools as narrowly or broadly as chosen by the user. The
user could then say they wanted more articles like this or less like
that, working in a similar way that stumble and digg work, so that the
Web site may better serve the user. It would suggest articles based on
the user's interests and its shared interests with other users. Not
every article would be of the user's taste, but in what newspaper does
someone read every article. And the more it's used, the better it
would get to know the user.

Sports will be a major draw to this Web site. College student are
obsessed with college sports. It would be a unique experience, one
I've never heard of to be able to automatically have a place where MSU
students can read about what U of M is doing to prepare for our
slaughterhouse football game that takes place every year (we're
usually the pigs).

But it would also serve as a linking tool for clubs. Interested in
Black Caucuses or LBGT groups at different schools in your broader
area? News about those groups would pop up as well.

Purpose:
To promote campus news and student publications. Student publications
are all about self-promotion, which is how I think we'd get them to
agree to have RSS feeds on their articles. Eventually most articles
will anyway, this is just the beginning of the game. It would give
exposure to talented writers, breaking stories and well run campus
publications through one solitary Web site. Many are already available
for free online (see www.statenews.com).

Think of how many people would have read the articles from Virginia
Tech on the day of the after the shooting if they were linked with
other campus publications? Or articles about U of M's constant battle
with how they chose to accept students to their university. Yes, we
read all about the articles in the New York Times or Yahoo News or saw
them on TV. But sometimes seeing someone directly affected by an event
write a great piece is better, even if they are still in college.

Problems:
-RSS Feeds
-Contacting campus publications and/or journalism schools for
promotion
-Man-power - getting the publications to participate because some
effort would be needed
-Interest - Would students outside of the journalism schools be
interested in seeing how other publications at other schools work?

Advantages:
-Money from advertisers would be no problem.
-As Facebook has shown, advertisers are very interested in getting
18-25 year olds to buy products.
-Linking campuses through the internet
-Promotion of small or large student publications.

4. Message Board Headlines

A little while ago I read that the Official Clay Aiken Fan Message
Boards had been suspended indefinitely because its members were in a
raucous debate over his sexuality. This fanbase, whom I had presumed
to be kind and mild-mannered, had created a civil war so uncivil that
they had their message boards, their mutual space, their bookmarked
church, taken away completely.
And then it was up to my imagination to decide how it came to this.
What was said? Who had evidence? How brutal does a Claymate get?
That's the story I wanted.
Things happen like this all the time on message boards, in the dark,
dusty corners of the internet. Granted, it rarely rises to the forum-
banning fervor of Aiken's boards, but there's drama in any message
board, even in (or perhaps especially) the most random and harmless.
What I propose is a site focused entirely on bringing news stories
through the narrative dialogue of message boards. I'm thinking as with
Digg or Reddit the main page will be only headlines, voted most
interesting by the participation of users. The Number 1 headline could
say, "Growing Pains achieving low ratings on Nick at Nite." Persuaded
by curiosity, viewers click on the link and would be taken directly to
the message board thread, and would be treated with this actual
conversation:

-

Guys,
I always thought this was a cool show. The chemistry between the cast
and characters works well. In fact, this was one of my favorite 80's
sitcoms, along with The Cosby Show and The Hogan Family.
Why are the ratings so low? I'm surprised that people aren't so
interested in this show, which had some good moral messages and
generally was well-acted. (Although I do think Joanna Kerns overacted
at times.) Yet Ion is temporarily dropping it, and reports are that
its not doing well for Nick at Nite. Any ideas as to why?
Jack

-

Let's be real. Most shows that start in the early time slot on NAN get
bumped. Family Ties, A Different World, etc. I am not even shocked
anymore.

-

That's exactly it too!! Because i feel bad that i've not been able to
catch growing pains EVERY day... and i planned to watch it everyday and
even tape it, but since i'm at college, i've always got club meetings
or homework or something going on keeping me from the ONLY thing i
would actually watch on tv... so, i'm sorry fans that i have let you
down, but it will be ok, SOME network has to give it a chance!!!!

-

This is news I would have never read anywhere else and the response
from the people to whom it matters most. It's better than 1,000
interviews, and the story is right there in two pages of gripes and
tears. There are hundreds of unusual, interesting communities like
this that exist in the neglected crannies of the internet that need an
audience. I've found a message board for Christmas decoration
enthusiasts (headline: "New Icicle Hangings on Sale") and a completely
weird role-playing message board about dragons. (headline: "Slade
Jinketsu cannot make his appointment with Malthus") Actually, you
really have to see this one:

http://p102.ezboard.com/To-Malthus/fdragonsgatefrm42.showMessage?topicID=177.topic

Our assignment calls for us to "involve new forms of news in the
public interest" and to "engage news consumers in new and unexpected
ways" and I feel that drawing attention to these totally weird and
entertaining (and maybe sometimes informative or endearing) stories is
a fitting way to accomplish that goal.

5. Narrowcasted Morning News

I've had this idea as soon as they mentioned what the project is and
I've explained it a little to a couple of you guys. The demographic I
want to reach is 18-45 I know that's a large spread but as long as the
person regularly uses a computer it should be a problem. The problem I
want to solve is decrease in readership. I think the problem is there
is information saturation. Essentially people read what they are
interested in. So give it to them. . I want to narrowcast written
news like cable is narrowcasted. I also want to change the delivery
method. It's cheap and environmentally responsible. The way I want to
do it is very simple. A program takes feeds off of the wire and local
news stories. These stories are put onto a cd/rw this should save
the expense of the newspaper and be a lot easier on trees. A cd/rw
can be used hundreds o f times I won't say thousands cause you'll lose
it or scratch it first. That being said. I also want the news story
put on the same cd with audio so you can listen to it on the way to
work. Last of all I want the cd to have everything in word so you can
print it off. If there is any room left over I would like to put
pictures the average cd-r has 800mb of info that's almost a gig. With
all the stuff I mentioned I doubt half of the cd would be filled. For
advertising I would like to have the newspapers deliver the cd/rw and
the label can have graphic art on it. I'm not sure how well I
explained it but please let me know if you have any questions.

1. news overload click on photo and it gives you news from a photo


2. who cares news on facebook application based on your personality
and profile you can see the people who have the same interest you
could comment and even make new friends


3. tool to report news finding the missing holes in the story like a
plagarism news search find some of the missing facts


4. location based news just what is going on in your community we are
still developing it


5. news highlights changing the news dimmer or lighter emonews in
other words reporting the news in different tones and how it would
effect the community

If you guys know who these groups really are (group numbers, institutions, etc), let me know so I can update these posts. - PTL

(1) geoalerts - each news story will be tagged with coordinates for
where the story took place. (possibly more than one set of coordinates
could be used if a story has more than one relevant place) The user
can create a customized map (by drawing shapes on a map) of areas he/
she would like to receive stories about - for example home, work,
school, former homes. When stories happen in those areas, the user
will receive an alert (email or SMS) in the Google Alerts style.

(2) storynodes - a new method of providing instant context to a news
story. The idea is that readers or reporters will link together
existing articles, so that you can trace the history and evolution of
a news story. The path of a story may fracture, and you'll be able to
trace those divisions. When a reader or reporter links a story with an
existing one, the new story will be displayed as an off-shoot of the
previous story and be connected with the context of that story as
well. The relationships between stories will be displayed visually in
a sort of node matrix. Rolling over a node will pop up a text box
displaying the first paragraph of the article and link to the full
text. Visually, stories with many links will become larger,
identifying them as major nodes. It's a bit difficult to explain (and
to think about and develop), but here's a rough sample of a screen
shot created using the powerful image software Paintshop:
http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c249/BoomerPetway/storynode.jpg

(3) virtual news quiz - creating a system for news quizzes than can be
implemented at multiple levels (children, teens, general adults, adult
trivia buffs). It rewards users for paying attention to the news, and
offers prizes from sponsors. It could also be a competition between
friends or among all the players. (Many details to be worked out...).
Would most likely be in a virtual world - Secondlife, etc...

(4) Cellphone and web-based citizen journalism app. I envision this as
a free, downloadable app that walks citizens through the citizen
journalism process, prompting them to upload a photo or video, write a
headline, transcribe a quote and provide relevant information. The
program should have a bit of flexibility - allowing advanced cit
journalists more freedom in the process. For example, new users might
simply be asked the who, what, when, where, why questions and their
answers will form a rude informational format for transmitting news.
Meanwhile, more advanced users might be given the option to write a
traditional news story, but may still be reminded of how to craft a
lead and body paragraphs. The goal is to take the mystery out of
producing a news story, therefore encouraging those who are reluctant
to participate because of fear of the unknown or a lack of basic
skills.

(5) news on social sites - MySpace news was a failure. Facebook's
'news feed' has nothing to do with the news that happens outside your
circle of friends. Perhaps adding a news agency's news feed into
Facebook or allowing users to create stories to share within Facebook
would be a good idea. We aren't sure where we want to go, we just know
that it is an area that needs to be addressed.