Vote for 'none'

I'll admit it, I didn't vote in the last provincial election. Frankly, none of the candidates are worth voting FOR, and no single one is so especially bad to vote AGAINST. But I'm expressing an opinion that is not being reflected in our government mechanism; to reflect my opinion we should have a 'none' candidate ('none of the above' for you multiple choice types) who gets all the votes that weren't cast or were protest votes. Now, if the leading candidate gets less votes than the 'none' candidate, then NO ONE is elected in that riding, and we all save money. We can extend this to say that these NMPs (Non-Members of Parliament) automatically vote AGAINST everything proposed, leading to ineffectiveness of the government and then people might actually care about voting, or getting better candidates, i.e. a POSITIVE feedback cycle. That's something we desperately need in governments the world over.

iPod to replace most switches/dials/etc. in your car

When will the car manufactures finally bite the bullet and just put an iPod in place of the often confusing console of controls found in a modern car? This would be cheeper, and more usable. In fact, software upgrades and customizations could open a whole new world for car makers and car modifiers. There are some other benefits too; standardization could bring down costs substantially, weight savings, space savings, and wireless integration means things like stereos can be placed anywhere in the car to benefit weight balance.

Give it a few years perhaps...

Separate Sales From Manufacturing to Unlock Market Efficiencies

In the presence of monopoly (single seller, i.e. Microsoft), monopsony (single buyer, i.e. Walmart) and vertical integration of companies (single owner of raw material production to manufacturing to end user sales), the market can be highly inefficient. You can greatly improve market efficiency by enforcing a separation of manufacturing and sales using a public auction of all goods transferred between them using standardized distribution costs.

Monopoly: Prevented from separate pricing for different distribution channels, i.e. Preinstalled vs. OEM vs. end user prices. This reduces pricing power of the monopolistic company and frees up market effects.

Monopsony: Any seller can purchase the manufactured goods at the same price allowing small sellers to compete with large sellers.

Vertical Integration: Any seller can get the manufactured items, so the exclusivity pricing model comes under pressure. Forcing a similar break between raw material producers and goods manufacturers would help greatly.

Other Benefits: You could tax at the auction level and remove goods and sales taxes (HST). This would be more efficient (less sources) and probably remove lots of black/grey market tax avoidance (i.e. under the table deals to avoid tax payment).