Jason’s Fresh Produce

I want a roomba-esque bot that tools around the (giant) parking lot at work and looks for under-inflated tires. Phase I robot would simply mark said tires with a fluorescent paint warning the owner of the condition. Phase II bot would go ahead and perform inflation, possibly by using OCR to simply read the proper PSI from the tire.
Here is a good article that explains the surprising value of proper tire inflation: http://www.cmu.edu/cmnews/extra/050921_tire.html
In short, it could save every individual hundreds of dollars per year in gas costs, which multiplied throughout the population means LOTS of money as well as reduced pollution from emissions as less fuel is burned.

My friend Brian claims we are 50 years from a driverless car. If he’s right, I need something sooner.
Since we already have remote-controlled drones, I propose giving my current car a remote control.
We already outsource everything else to India; why not let a trained and licensed Indian operator drive me around for $1/hr. I’ll take a nap or read while he navigates traffic for me.

The poorly named “cubicle” is a 3-sided structure that serves as the daily dwelling for many a wage slave. The lack of a fourth wall not only gives lie to the name, it makes for a lack of privacy.
What every cube needs is a door. And that door needs to be hinged to swing inward–not dangerously out into the aisle. Last but not least, that door should be a whiteboard. Because in addition to privacy, a good cube rat needs more functional surfaces on which to write.

Two baby invention ideas:
1) “Toy Tower.” This tall columnar storage unit has an open top area in which to place toys, and a vending machine-style output at the bottom from which to collect them. Put a toy in the top, and the weight/unit sensor (or resistance hinge) spits out one toy at the bottom. This ensures cycling through toys and incentivizing putting toys away.
Idea 2: “Toddler track:” This modular set of bumpers lets you set up different play areas or routes for your crawler to travel.

find the perfect research collaborator for you based on SCIENCE! Answer these questions about your techniques and we’ll match you based on this guy’s research: http://insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/index.php/Kellogg/article/collaboration_and_creativity

have a monthly contest where users submit game design ideas. most voted idea gets produced, and winner gets a copy of the game

An online “entrepreneurs club” where one must pass tests to get certifications. Without certification, the entries are “read only.” With certification, one is allowed to contribute to the business ideas in his/her field of expertise.
The goal of the site is to start up businesses, and profits come from taking a share of ownership, and/or for charging a finder’s fee for common start-up needs like legal help.

As sites like Gizmodo give up on Kickstarter (http://gizmodo.com/5897449/were-done-with-kickstarter) and as the number of projects skyrockets, there is an increasing need for independent review of the project ideas and the project teams.
If some sort of online periodical could review new projects quickly and meaningfully, I think you could drive a lot of site traffic, as well as maybe some “review fees” from the projects themselves.

Adjustable sunglasses. Using two polarized lenses (which are never perfectly polarized), you could vary the amount of light that gets through the lenses from about 50% (lenses aligned) to about 0% (lenses perpendicular).
Nerd niche.
Good for eclipse viewing.

I think “life without possibility of parole” is a stupid prison sentence. In fact, I think any sentence without parole is stupid. It removes most of the incentive for rehabilitation. It sends the signal “there is no value for you behaving better than neutral.”
So prison becomes a double cost to the economy–we must pay to house a criminal, and also lose his productive value. Why not instead incentivize the criminal to be more productive? Particularly if he can somehow compensate those he wronged?
The current prison system is a lose-lose, but it could be a win-win.