Thoughts for summer research

I need to figure out what I'm going to do for a summer research project. I don't want to take a formal class because I'll be prepping for the Qualifying Exam. I don't want to squander the summer, either. So far, two applied projects are appealing to me:

1. Implement my heavy tail estimation algorithm on a scalable platform (most likely Hadoop). Having a truly working implementation would greatly increase the chance of getting this spring's work published.
2. Use machine learning to create a mapping engine that takes LIDAR and orthorectified photos and creates orienteering maps. Pretty much zero market for this (though it might get published just because it's an oddball app). It's just something that I think would be cool. Having spent 400 hours mapping Cuivre River state park a few years ago, the idea of an algorithm that would do even half of that is pretty appealing.