Just by reading hacker news daily, you will build up ideas and skills (to build skills I recommend going through the more tutorial-based posts on HN). Most people don't even know what HN is, so you're already a step ahead of them.

I'm guessing you're into programming so pick a few languages and learn them in your spare time - http://stackoverflow.com/questions/194812/list-of-freely-ava...

For idea development, keep reading posts on HN, TechCrunch, GigaOM, VentureBeat, etc. Spend a few minutes daily writing down words / trends you notice for startup ideas / startups that are doing well and others that are doing bad. As you do this more and more, you'll start to notice really great trends, and you can iterate on them. Also for ideas, go through your day and write down every pain point on a sheet of paper (the writing part is important, typing it in isn't as useful!). As you build up both pain points and trends, you'll get the hang of mixing / mashing ideas!

I find HN, Techcrunch are great for technical trends. But in terms of ideas, I find "regular" forums to be a better bet. Reason is b/c you want to create something that targets a bigger audience. So I would recommend broadening your horizons, hang out in places like CafeMom, Pinterest, Sparkpeople, etc.

Go thru the grocery store, or a souvenir shop, or even watch ads on TV. Look real hard at what's selling: much of it is paltry rehashes of old ideas (or outright crud) executed with little more than sheer will.

I watch little TV or other ad-driven media. I was amazed, after a long absence, by a movie-preceding ad for macaroni and cheese. 90 seconds of big-screen viewing time, produced at a cost of millions of dollars for...cheap pasta and powdered cheese food? That's not ideas, that's not execution per se, that's sheer force of will. Ditto for cheap trinkets sold anywhere. Ditto for frigging Spongebob Squarepants. That's hiring an accountant and an ad director and filling in the blanks they give you.

As I wrote in the prior thread: pick something and do it. It's not about brilliant ideas or clever execution, it's being relentless.

If you take a moment to watch an entire episode of Sponge Bob Squarepants, you will discover that it's is a brilliantly crafted show. For one, it layers humor for three target age-groups. Kids love it, but it's also full of sexual innuendo for their parents. And like all shows in the Nickelodeon tradition, it seems to be written primarily for stoned young men aged 12 to 25.

... or by stoned young men aged 12 to 25.

Seriously though, it pales in comparison to its stylistic forefather Ren & Stimpy, but it's still a really solid show.

As long as you never get the idea that you could get ideas, you can live a happy life...

Indeed. My misery comes from one brilliant idea after another, only to see each one on store shelves 6 months later without my involvement (and nary a notion of how to start).

Both ideas and ability can be developed through hard work. Ability comes through effective practice; ideas pop-up naturally as you're exposed to new systems, and think "I could do this better".