Report lost items, gain good karma !

'Real value of a item is known only when one loses it ', was a line which I read recently in one of the books.The real value of that line can be appreciated if one has been in that situation !


A recent SITA Baggage report 2011 stated that mishandled baggage cost the airline industry an estimated US$ 2.94 billion and other survey indicated about 50,000 laptops are lost in US airports every year and 65 % of them not claimed or returned to owners.

This is where the innovative service provide by Turly Tag caught my attention.
An anonymous tagging system has been developed to prevent the permanent loss of personal possessions when they go missing.By registering online with Turly Tag, customers receive several tags and stickers with a personal ID number. If they lose an item that has been tagged, honest finders are given the opportunity to go online or call the Turly Tag hotline and find a solution for the owner to be reunited with their lost possession.

What impressed me the most about it was the tagline used to market it ,"Good Karma,a little easier '.
Can't this be used beyond just finding personal posessions ..I can think of many more uses of this concept !

Converting unused dollars: Ideas for Social Innovation

Every day there are thousands of public transport travellers in cities across the world who have unused fares in their travel cards or equivalent tickets.
Is there a way to monetise these unused small currencies and use it for a noble cause ?
Recently I came across this article where few students from New York university have designed a system which can be used to convert unused dollars for social causes.

MetroChange has designed a kiosk to be placed at busy subway stations throughout the NY city — “especially those where tourists and occasional users of the subway transition out of the subway system, transferring to an airport or regional train service”. Commuters and travelers who have a small amount of unused value remaining on a card can swipe that card at one of those kiosks, where the value will be recorded and transmitted to a central fund .

MetroChange from Genevieve Hoffman on Vimeo.

For me this is a brilliant idea which could be shaped up from this basic level to several interesting applications .
My ideas on we could use this in other areas:

Sure, lot more could be achieved with things we waste !

'Way I learn is the Way I am taught..'

There has been a lot of debate on how Indian education system is nothing more than rote memorization.Many tend to agree without taking the credit away on some other aspects like Mathematics learning where Indian system seems to be advanced than the Western counterparts.
A deep dive into this issue leads to the question on the way in which the subjects are/have been in schools.
But , today we have tremendous opportunity to use technology to make education highly interesting and giving the right "learning experience" to students.
The video supports my point of view ,

Museu da Vida - Interaction Cubes from Mariana Duprat on Vimeo.

The question however that needs to be answered is how can such innovative learning methods be brought to all type of students , not just the privileged ones..
Nevertheless , I would have definitely learnt Chemistry better through such methods :-)