The web is truly in a great place right now. Every day you can see dozens of new applications launched that required countless man hours to make. The nuances and specificity of them is beginning to boggle the mind. The sheer quantity of people on Earth capable of writing a web application is amazing.

In fact, as a web developer it’s somewhat daunting. You can have a thought like “what if I made a tool to keep track of when my next oil change comes due?” and a few seconds later realize that dozens of apps have beat you to the punch.

Sure, you could maybe improve the interface, make it prettier, promote it better, integrate it with Twitter, etc. But it seems like there’s nothing left in big chunks that isn’t a minute improvement on a small facet of something else.

Let’s skip to another subject for a second.

In 1997 NASA, in conjunction with the European and Italian Space Agencies, launched the Cassini-Huygens space probe. It had a far-reaching set of goals, most of which seemed more optimistic than legitimate. It’s track was outward from Earth- taking a layman’s tour of our solar system as it became accessible by coincidentally calculated orbit.

After near-space tours of Earth’s moon, Venus, and Jupiter, Cassini was en-route to one of Saturn’s moons named Enceladus. By this time it was 2005, and Cassini had already discovered three new moons of Saturn, tested General Relativity and made countless other minor discoveries leading to better understandings of our close corner of the universe. Keep Reading

When do you get your ideas? I mean literally, in the middle of the night? During your work hours? While eating dinner with your family?

My husband snorts at me every time we’re in the car and I turn my purse inside out looking for my notebook. I’m usually in a panic to jot down the idea I just had- but that’s me; if I don’t get it down in a hurry, who knows if I’ll remember it later. (I quite possibly have memory issues…)

My ideas aren’t always directly tied to work- in fact, most of the time, they’re not. (I’m one of those who has to really step away from the monitor a few hours a day.) But if I try, I can steer them in that direction eventually. Keep Reading

“All successful businesses start as an idea in the back of an insane entrepreneur’s mind. They start with a single storefront and a single product. All successful businesses start with a single customer. And no matter what — no matter the size it is aiming for nor the type of business it is looking toward — all successful companies start with something simple and quaint (even if it doesn’t appear that way).” – Dustin Curtis

Realizing you have nothing original left to say is a heavily depressing emotion- especially when your job depends on your ability to generate content. But don’t worry- a writing marathon could be just what you need to dig up some ideas you didn’t even know you had. Not just for writers, this strenuous exercise applies to… well, everyone who can type who needs to come up with ideas. Keep Reading

So you have an idea, huh? You’re only human. You forget stuff. But this idea could be your next big thing, and the ticket to early retirement… Or maybe not, but you should probably still write it down. Now.

You can pick your poison for taking notes on what goes on in your noggin, but if you’re normal, picking up a pen probably isn’t your best bet. You type faster than you write. Penning flat out takes too long. Plus, there’s a chance you won’t be able to decipher your own handwriting later… Keep Reading

Silly grammar mistakes. People referring to a page within a site as a completely different website. Being blamed for something I didn’t do, or not being given any credit for something I did. Not feeling 100% confident about my own work. Oh, and oysters.

These are things that bug the ever-living crap out of me. Up until about a year ago, I just let them bug me- and shook them off. I thought that by not letting them get to me, I was being the better (bigger) person. Keep Reading