DISQUS

eaves.ca: Spark Interview on VanTrash – The Open Source Garbage Reminder Service

  • davedonovan22 · 2 months ago
    Hi David - congrats on the interview. I checked out the vantrash site --- I like the look of it.

    It struck me that it would be cool to use that sort of neighbourhood map feature for the Queen's Ghetto, where students could maybe give their house a condition rating, post rent information, etc... to create some accoutability for the crappy landlords there. The idea is that students could gain an information advantage over the landlords so that they are not taken advantage of, or at least that they could provide some information to other potential renters ("If they're only paying $x for a good house, why am I paying $y for a terrible house?). I could see the effect as being forcing landlords to raise their standards to compete with better landlords.

    I don't have the technical background to start up anything like that, but it seems to me like somebody should. Whaddya think?
  • awsamuel · 2 months ago
    As the beneficiaries of the Notification & Analog Group Garbage Ejection Reminder service depicted above, I have to warn you that VanTrash lacks several essential features that my mother currently offers.
    1. Failsafe: my mom likes to perform surprise checks at our house on garbage day to make sure we remembered. If we don't, she does it herself the next time. Can VanTrash do the same?
    2. Observation: when my mom takes out the trash for us, she typically offers insights on the volume of wine bottles in our neighbours' trash, the person who threw out the perfectly decent-looking sofa, etc. Can I suggest incorporating Google Streetview imagery to offer similar levels of insight?
    3. In addition to garbage reminders, my mom lets us know about upcoming PD days, tax deadlines, lack of food in fridge, etc. Can I suggest enhancing the VanTrash notifications to include notifying you about everything you should know about, ideally via Google Wave?