Never Underestimate Radical Vision

For the past month I have been working with some great developers to develop an application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This has been a great experience and I have learned a ton. After the grueling process of learning something totally different than my normal development path, BorrowMe finally is available on the iTunes Store for $1.99. The following is the application description:

“Who borrowed that DVD?” “Who loaned me this book?” “Who has my lawn mower?”

Sound familiar? We have the same problem; we like to loan things to our friends, and we like to borrow things from them, but have trouble keeping track of what went where. Our solution: BorrowMe. BorrowMe makes it easy to keep track of what you have borrowed, and what you have loaned. No due dates, no collection notices, just a casual arrangement between friends, sealed with a handshake and a smile.

Keep track of your valuables, but value your friendships with the following key features:

• Separate lists for items you have borrowed and loaned.
• Enter a new item, or select it from a list of existing items.
• Use an existing category, or create a new one.
• Friends can be selected from your contact list, or entered by hand.
• A list of frequent borrows allows for quick and easy entry.
• Take photos of your items, or pick an existing photo from your photo library.
• Easily mark items as returned, and see returned items on demand.
• Transfer loan information from device to device with an electronic “handshake”. This feature works just like a real handshake transaction. You borrow something from a buddy and want to track that item in BorrowMe. Your buddy needs to keep track of the loan in his/her BorrowMe. No need for both of you to enter the item. All it takes is one person entering the item as either a Borrow or Loan and then sending it via the “Handshake”. Your buddy just receives the “Handskake” and the item s enters his BorrowMe as the opposite of what you sent!

I think it is a great little productivity application I will use all the time. Go to the iTunes Store and try it out!

What do you think of this common sense plan to jump start the economy? After some feedback I will tell you who’s plan this is.

Common Sense Plan:

• INSURANCE
• • Insure the subprime bonds/mortgages with an underlying FHA-type insurance. Government-insured and backed loans would have an instant market all over the world, creating immediate and needed liquidity.
  • In order for a company to accept the government-backed insurance, they must do two things:
  • • Rewrite any mortgage that is more than three months delinquent to a 6% fixed-rate mortgage.
    • • Roll all back payments with no late fees or legal costs into the balance. This brings homeowners current and allows them a chance to keep their homes.
      • Cancel all prepayment penalties to encourage refinancing or the sale of the property to pay off the bad loan. In the event of foreclosure or short sale, the borrower will not be held liable for any deficit balance. FHA does this now, and that encourages mortgage companies to go the extra mile while working with the borrower—again limiting foreclosures and ruined lives.
      • Cancel ALL golden parachutes of EXISTING and FUTURE CEOs and executive team members as long as the company holds these government-insured bonds/mortgages. This keeps underperforming executives from being paid when they don’t do their jobs.
      • This backstop will cost less than $50 billion—a small fraction of the current proposal.
  • MARK TO MARKET
  • • Remove mark to market accounting rules for two years on only subprime Tier III bonds/mortgages. This keeps companies from being forced to artificially mark down bonds/mortgages below the value of the underlying mortgages and real estate.
    • This move creates patience in the market and has an immediate stabilizing effect on failing and ailing banks—and it costs the taxpayer nothing.
  • CAPITAL GAINS TAX
  • • Remove the capital gains tax completely. Investors will flood the real estate and stock market in search of tax-free profits, creating tremendous—and immediate—liquidity in the markets. Again, this costs the taxpayer nothing.
    • This move will be seen as a lightning rod politically because many will say it is helping the rich. The truth is the rich will benefit, but it will be their money that stimulates the economy. This will enable all Americans to have more stable jobs and retirement investments that go up instead of down.

  This is not a time for envy, and it’s not a time for politics. It’s time for all of us, as Americans, to
  stand up, speak out, and fix this mess.