All ideas: (click suns to rate or comment on ideas)

1		Lollipop cough drops: to prevent choking on normal cough drops that might be inhaled when sucking in air before a cough, cough drops could be made as lollipops with paper or plastic sticks or rope loops.	E-mail
2		Car companies should build new, hybrid vehicles for the postal service, thus keeping the auto industry alive, replacing the aging postal service fleet, and putting the bailout money to constructive use.
3		IPO auctions: companies lose money when their stock prices rise just after their initial public offerings. Companies should auction their shares to the highest bidders instead of the current practice of fixing a price and choosing buyers by lottery.	E-mail
4		Use an internet homepage rotating tool like Whatpage. Link to several free click-to-donate websites, and each time you open up an internet browser a different click-to-donate website will appear.
5		Printing passport sized photos on self adhesive glossy paper sheets will be really helpful to the user, as mostly we are required to stick them onto something.	E-mail
6		Heavy buckets of water are very difficult for older people to carry. The manufacturers should add removable wheels so that the buckets can be rolled, then lifted.	E-mail
7		Applicants to universities should submit a business plan for their chosen career, showing their research into job prospects for their field. This may prevent some painful surprises on graduation and may steer people to better paths before it's too late.	E-mail
8		For online jigsaw fans, certain puzzles will have a "bonus" piece (or pieces) mixed in that would be added to others collected from various other solved puzzles to form a new puzzle.
9		A device on your television that, when you are watching a television program and you channel surf during the commercial break, will alert you once the commercial break is over so that you can go back to your show without missing any of it.	E-mail
10		Digital vehicle traffic accident recorder: a small, digital camcorder mounted into vehicle front grill would record for 30 seconds, allowing visual recall of collision causes.	E-mail
11		I can safely paint out of reach places without a ladder. I simply superglued a paint brush to the end of a light weight pole. Works like a charm!	E-mail
12		A high efficiency wood burning stove with a built in heat exchanger to limit the amount of heat that goes out the chimney. When the stove is burning properly the stove pipe to the chimney is cool enough to touch.	E-mail
13		When a 17 year old child gets a driving license, allow him to only operate cars fitted with GPS monitors to record where they are going, and how fast they are going. Monitor is merely a cell phone equipped with GPS system. Perhaps $250 for 6 months.	E-mail
14		Emotion and logic are both needed for action. Logic alone can show something is true, but so what? Logic gives no motivation to act on truth unless there's a principle to motivate action: an "e-motion".	E-mail
15		Put shampoo and conditioner in one bottle, in separate ends with a separator in the middle so that it doesn't mix, and doesn't take up as much room in the shower. Have pop cap lids on both ends.	E-mail
16		Vending machine manufacturers should program their vending machine dispensers to rotate past 360 degrees, like 380 degrees, then go back 20 degrees to a neutral position so that your chips or candy will fall down every time.	E-mail
17		Aerogel made of rice husks for insulation and other applications: Green Earth Aerogel.	E-mail
18		Bubble Wrap, Pop and Smell: Popping bubblewrap is relaxing and stress relieving. Combine it with a smell, known for its stress-relieving properties, which is released when popped, and you have a product that delivers double the stress relief in one go.	E-mail
19		Meta behaviors: some personality characteristics affect whole classes of behavior. For example, some people are more flexible in changing their behavior to get along with people; some are more sensitive to sensory input in general; etc.	E-mail
20		Make non-shaded but polarized glasses for driving at night so that reflections on the road from lights, especially when it's rainy, won't make it hard to see the lane markers, etc.
21		Stores should have a small strip of one-way mirrors around the inside, where an armed guard could hide, even if a robber knew he was there, somewhere. A thief couldn't take hostages since he wouldn't know where the guard was (he might be behind him).	E-mail
22		To increase lending, better guarantees are needed. Personal guarantees can be dictated as videoclips, perhaps notarised. Personal guarantees address the problem of no title books. In traditional societies, guarantors' assets are well known.	E-mail
23		Office cleaner's duties could extend to turning off non-critical electrical appliances (computer monitors, lights), thereby reducing that office's green footprint.	E-mail
24		Meter to monitor power usage (watts/amps) per outlet. Variation to be uses at circuit (fuse) panel to trace hi-use circuits. Could be simple analog or digital/programmable to compute cost of use. Could be separate attachment or built into outlet/breaker.	E-mail
25		Pet rental: service to rent dogs, cats, and other pets to people for an hour, a day, a week, or longer. This would let people decide whether they like and can handle pet care and would reduce abandonment.	E-mail
26		Olds: a service to report news on old events. News often ignores items after a crisis ends. But people may still wonder what happened weeks, months, years, or decades later. Olds would follow up items that were in the news but now are ignored.	E-mail
27		Bluetooth headphones are most prevalent today for mobile phones. TV manufacturers should incorporate Bluetooth compatibility in TV sets so that head phones will work as cordless headsets.	E-mail
28		Road Rollers are too heavy for moving from one site to another. A lightweight but strong & high-power roller can use a tank of water or sand to increase its weight & capacity at site. The same road roller can be used for various weight categories.	E-mail
29		Focus solar energy (mirrors) to run a Stirling (heat) engine for pumping water or AC power, esp. in remote places. Use ambient air or nearby water for cold sink. Focus sunlight on water or molten salt reservoir for an even heat source (thermal inertia).	E-mail
30		Thumb print activation device on a credit card or ID/Access card. Card only works if your thumb is on the card.	E-mail
31		Create a flavorful dog food and cat food gravy/juice for fussy animals who don't like the cheap dry food, but will eat it with the juice on it.	E-mail
32		Just 5-10% of our party expenses can provide a lunch to more poor children than the number of guests. Try to donate after each party and have more smiling faces than just of the guests.	E-mail
33		Helicopter parachute. If engine fails, main rotor is fired away and a parachute is deployed. Tail rotor could be programmed to steady the craft, or it too could be fired away. Surely better than the alternative!	E-mail
34		Teach estimation for real-life: Fermi quiz (power of 10 estimates), budgets, taxes, should I buy insurance, how likely are coincidences, how much food to make for a meal. (math,probability,statistics)	E-mail
35		University students could start their own online job service. This would publish a complete department-wide list of students with their profiles and academics. From the published lists any recruiter could contact the students for interviews.	E-mail
36		Salted carpet: A carpet that you can roll out before it snows, that prevents the snow from accummulating. Perfect for steps and walkways.	E-mail
37		Teach practical history. Don't memorize dates. Generalize how people behave in similar events around the world over time: culture clashes, democracy movements vs. dictators, economic booms/busts, ethnic wars, development. Apply to future.	E-mail
38		Save lives of heart attack victims: put defibrillators in public places and train people in their use like CPR. See this New England Journal of Medicine editorial.	E-mail
39		Mark cell phone keys with Braille dots so that blind people can more easily use them.	E-mail
40		Portable wheelchair ramp
41		Instead of EPABX (Electronic Private Automatic Branch Exchange) machines, develop wireless telephone hubs, like computer network switches, intelligently diverting calls to specific extension numbers in an office. This would save much hassle for wiring.	E-mail
42		Sensors mounted on the sides of escalator can sense if somebody is using it or not (like infrared signal obstructed by body). If no one is using for say 1 min. it should stop & only re-start when someone is on it. This can save power.	E-mail
43		Teach how to handle money: calculate income taxes, how to set up an IRA, how to buy stocks, how to compare returns of various investments, life insurance, annuities, how to start a business, credit cards, loans, mortgage. (practical economics)	E-mail
44		Teach practical behavior: top reasons people divorce or stay married, or have children. Causes of spouse abuse & child abuse. Parent/teen relations. Recognizing and treating psychiatric illness.	E-mail
45		In order to encourage drivers to keep a safe stopping distance between vehicles, a detector could be fitted to the front of vehicles and warn when a safe stopping distance is not maintained for that speed.	E-mail
46		The buttons of TV remotes, phones etc. can be shaped as numbers and letters rather than being round, rectangular etc. New look and lesser faults when pressing inattentively.	E-mail
47		Teach how to behave in the legal system: what to do when police stop you or arrest you or if you are summoned or sued, what is bail, what is it like in jail, what to do if you're a victim of crime, how to survive in a mugging or rape.	E-mail
48		Build cities for people and bikes - not for cars! Bicycles should have their own lane with a divider between it and the road, and also have a separate stoplight system. This is in place in parts of Europe (example: The Netherlands) and works remarkably.	E-mail
49		Security device consisting of a pressure sensitive strip to go along the top of a wall. As thief attempts to climb over the wall, his weight will trigger the alarm.	E-mail
50		LEDs for flashlights. They use less power than incandescent lights but last much longer and are much brighter when several are bunched together.	E-mail