Archive for the ‘Inventing’ Category

Somebody Stole My Invention Idea! (Part 2: Bacon Alarm Clock)

Monday, December 28th, 2009

A few months ago I had the idea for a thing called the Bacon Alarm Clock. It’s just like a regular alarm clock but instead of buzzing or beeping, it cooks you bacon. I thought it was a neat idea, albeit somewhat impractical. Where does the bacon come from? Does the alarm clock have some kind of fridge inside or do you have to remember to keep putting bacon in it? If the latter is the case, I think it would be best to feed each piece of bacon into the clock like a change machine takes dollar bills. In any case, I don’t have to worry about it because somebody beat me to it.

Why do people have to keep doing this to me? Is it because I’m too lazy to actually build my own invention ideas?

I think there’s still room for improvement here, though. Nobody wants to have to remember to refill the thing with bacon every night. I think a better idea would be a little fridge where you put in like a week’s worth of breakfast, then a machine somehow cooks you a full breakfast each morning. I just don’t know how exactly it would work. It’s a tough egg to crack.*

*Sorry.

Somebody Stole My Invention Idea! (Part 1: Bike Generator)

Monday, December 28th, 2009

Several years ago, I had an idea for an invention. You know how ice cubes dilute your drink as they melt? Well, why not make plastic-coated ice cubes that don’t do that? I told my friend Al about this idea and he said, “Dude, my brother’s girlfriend has those.” Looks like somebody already had that idea.

Now it’s happened again, but with a way cooler invention (no pun intended). I had an idea for a product that would mainly be targeted toward touring (long-distance) cyclists: a generator that attaches to your bike. It’s powered by pedaling and/or braking and it can charge your cell phone, lights, whatever. Well, turns out somebody just came out with a product like that and their implementation is way better and cooler-looking than mine would have been. Crap!

It’s called the Copenhagen Wheel and you can read about it here. It doesn’t just generate a tiny amount of electricity to charge your cell phone. It can actually power your bike. It has GPS. I hate these people.

Hopefully nobody steals my Bike Perimeter Light idea before I figure out how to make it work. Other inventions of mine to keep an eye out for: Land Boat, Water Car, House Car and Hot Tub Bike.