One of Cloudbrain’s summer interns has just launched his first iPhone application: iSkip.  The program is deceptively brilliant and something only a 17 year old high schooler could come up with:  iSkip simply asks you how sick you want your mom (or dad or boss) to think you are (“not feeling so well”, “under the weather”, “about to die” etc.) and then it transforms in to a vary convincing and high-tech looking thermometer which you hold to your head while it “reads” and displays your vitals.  Brilliant.

Once even more impressive is that this is John’s first application and he taught himself the iPhone programming language in just a few weeks.  He now has an application for sale ($0.99) in a store that reaches millions of people every day and a revenue sharing deal (70/30) with one of the world’s largest electronic manufacturers.  Anyone with an iPhone or iPod Touch can use their computer or phone to buy his software and Apple sends him a check in the mail.  And all this took him three weeks to set up.  And he isn’t old enough to vote.

Click here to dowload iSkip

Read about iPhone apps making millions of dollars.

UPDATE: iSkip is available for FREE for today only (February 10th)

This brief 3-second clip from Pepsi’s “Refresh” Superbowl ad caught my attention.  What a contrast these two frames show.  We don’t have spaceships, flying cars or time machines, but the world has changed a lot in the last several decades.   A lot has been written about how mobile devices, instant communication, the internet, location-awareness etc. etc. is going to change the world.  And it will.  It already has.  This is just cool.

Watch the commercial:

A new Facebook application / business idea: SaveAnAlien.com.  The story-line is that a comet is soon going to hit a far off planet (there’s a countdown on the site) killing all 10 million aliens, all of them unique and cute (randomly generated by computer algorithm).  You can save one, unique alien by “adopting” it and moving it to safety in Antarctica (i.e. on your Facebook page).  Your unique and cute alien can then be digitally added to your photos, cared for and printed on t-shirts (that cost $$) (as well as do other cute things that cost $).

I think this is a great use of the viral nature of Facebook and they have a revenue plan built-in that’s not advertising.   Way to go.

Check it out.