Taking the Long View
noodle: How do you identify an idea that has the potential to become a long term business?if you can answer that with accuracy, let me know :)i think the best way to make it happen, though, is to do exactly what you said you don't want to do -- build some widget thingeys.  work on things that interest you in the short term, that are meaningless and you could throw away for something new.  maybe these individual meaningless things can morph into something meaningful.  if they don't, you can ignore/trash and move on.if you sit and wait for the perfect thing you might wait forever.  don't just spin your wheels, pick a direction you want to go and start driving.just my $0.02.