did you ever invent anything or create something original?

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i am constantly inventing stuff or trying to improve things or creating new stuff. my one decent idea, which i briefly sold online, was something called a flannel board t-shirt. remember playing with flannel boards when you were a kid, with the felt pieces you could rearrange? well, i had an epiphany to put it on a shirt.

the moveable pieces fit into a pocket on the sleeve. the pocket was actually a second, miniature, flannel board. one design was a tic-tac-toe (noughts & crosses), and the second was an undersea design. i made them for both kids and adults. i mostly sold them to college students lol.

i sold a few of them, but i couldn't be bothered to really market the idea, and my one-person sweatshop was not fun. so i gave it up. i don't mind sharing the idea on the interwebz in case someone else wants to use the idea. i don't mind.






have you ever innovated or invented something, or created something interesting? i'm going to bed soon, but if you have anything to share i'll be coming back to the thread tomorrow.

I've created a carrot sandwich, back in 1996, when skinny Ray Davies of The Kinks was my role model.

Just looking back to that time, cracks me up. I had no concept of body types, back than. I know better, now.

well, the tic tac toe shirt is very cool. i would think pre-teens would love it....for one season at least. lets see if anyone runs with your idea. next year i bet some shirt manufacturer will sell about 10 million of them.

about 40,000 years ago, i created a laser effect using prisms and large diameter dryer vent hose that had a small mention in 'laser and optronics' magazine. photo prints using very high contrast paper looked so bizarre. the next year, electric light orchestra used something very similar. a few 'band people' knew what happened. my worth to them went up so i can't complain.

The wheel, turns out someone had already thought of it.

Love the fuzzy felt T-shirts, that is a good idea.

No. I'm the type of person who thinks that art projects, no matter how creative and original, are just clutter in the making. I also dislike the idea of selling to people things they don't really need.

I probably have at least 5 "original" modifications on my car at the moment starting with my manual shift knob on an automatic car, my quick disassembly dash, hood latch and fuel door latch cable delete, lightened stock fenders, DRL->turn signals, etc.

a carrot sandwich? that actually sounds really good! i would love to try it if you would ever share the recipe.


hahaha thanks! i think if it were ever going to be a trend it would have already happened - it was about 3 years ago i originally made the shirts. i could definitely see preteens wearing them.

that is a bittersweet story about you laser effect. i'm glad you saw a bright side to that. it seems like a situation where you could have gotten litigious, so i totally respect that you took a different perspective.


that is hilarious! i know you are kidding, but i actually invent things ALL THE TIME and think i have an original idea, then i find out it's already been done. thanks, btw.


hahaha interesting! i had never thought of it that way at all!


wow, cool! do you find you invent stuff more to improve the design, or to make it more aesthetically pleasing?

When I was ten, I found out that the only alcoholic drink that actually freezes is beer, so I came up with something called the beersicle. It was like a Popsicle, but made of beer.

Many decades ago I worked on a team that developed a compression algorithm for terrain data acquired by radar. With this algorithm a cruise missile could compare its current position with a compressed terrain map and guide itself to target. This was used prior to the GPS based aiming system. I figured our terrain guidance algorithm led to the death and destruction of many people and much property during the first Iraq war.

I have blood on my hands and I am proud of every drop.

ruveyn

wicked idea! i did not know beer could freeze! (higher water content?)

i am soooo going to try this!

Lets just say that i learned that if you have an idea that could be patented, don't go around telling everyone about it.

To name but one, when working years ago in a dead end temporary job at the rat factory, I devised and installed an improved air filter for the high-rise mouse units.

I do make some small visual improvements but I would say that all my original mods are done more out of function. Things that reduce vehicle weight, things that let me skip steps on disassembly, etc. My manual shift knob is really the only original mod that is aesthetic.

I built a simple anti-static device for working on computers that works with the wrist strap.

that sounds really useful! satic is such a big problem with our dry heated indoor air and proliferation of carpets.


did it filter the air going into the units, or out of the units?