... Interesting Ideas, Hare-brained Schemes & Fever-induced Madness...

There's been stuff flowing into and out of my head for years, mostly just fanciful junk or crazy ideas but occasionally some marginally useful items do crop up and this is where I'm going to list them down, saving them for future reference when I need them.

© 2008 October: Car-window Aircon
Ever had to sit and wait in a car for someone?  Would have loved to keep the car airconditioning running but balked at the high petrol costs and worried about carbon monoxide poisoning, so you sit with the windows open in the muggy tropical air, frantically fanning yourself with old parking coupons?  This is the solution for you!  Small and compact one-size-fits-all portable window aircon units!  Car-window Aircon units are built to fit at the top of your partially wound down car window gap!  Don't fume and steam in your car anymore.  Keep cool with refreshing water-cooled air, blowing straight at you!

Car-window Aircons run on rechargable batteries that recharge when your car is running and only require a topping up of the water reservoir that is used to help cool the air cycling through the system.

© 2008 February: Sub-Cycle
("Light" versions for users between 45-60kg in weight)
("Regular" versions for users between 60-75kg in weight)
("Heavy" versions for users between 75-85kg in weight)
No money to buy a submarine?  Can't scuba dive?  Can't even snorkle but want to see what's under the water surface and explore coral reefs?  Now you can with his nifty Sub-Cycle!  The Sub-Cycle is a regular bicycle on land but comes with a "Clear Plexiglass Bubble" attachment that instantly transforms your bicycle into an underwater craft.  Come in two versions, either with snorkle attached, or with compressed air canisters for deeper dives.  The Sub-cycles are made with sealed air-filled tubes for added bouyancy and are carefully tailored and calibrated to match your body weight by an additional air bladder.
(See illustration)

© 2008 February: Vehicular Size Related Tail Lights
Ever driven long distance on a major highway at night and seeing two tiny unthreatening pinpricks of lights ahead only to be unpleasantly surprised to see a huge lorry/truck rapidly looming up fast to fill your windscreen causing you to either swerve or start breaking hard?  Or the no less dangerous reverse, to see extremely large blindingly bright headlights rushing up behind in your rearview mirror only to find a little car with an impatient driver trying to zip past you? 

Vehicles should be regulated with standardise limits on size and intensity of their vehicular lights.  The larger (and therefore greater mass) the vehicle, the larger should be the corresponding tail lights which ought to highlight not only two tiny points on the vehicle's lower rear, but also all extreme edges of the vehicle, especially if the vehicle is wider than the average car.  Conversely, a maximum limit on the intensity of headlights should be imposed so as not to blind the driver and/or cause the driver to panic and potentially endanger himself and his passengers.  Drivers should be given as much visual informational cues as possible while on the road so as to be able to make effective decisions whilst operating what is essentially a dangerous and fast moving object.

© 2007 July: Moonshine Lamp
Using either a simple pin-hole camera or a reflector telescope mounted onto a equatorial mount with tracking motor, provided you have a clear view of the moon, this simple projector lamp with take the bright moonlight and project it directly onto a wall/ceiling in your home!  Makes for a nice in-door romantic lamp or simply as a ultra-cool deco conversation piece.

© 2007 May: Kitchen Sink Lightsaber
Attach a simple nozzle ringed with coloured LED lights (Blue, or Red or Green, etc) to your kitchen sink tap.  Generate electricity to power the LED lights with a simple water wheel within the nozzle.  Everytime you turn on your tap, the LED lights will light up the stream of water jetting out of your tap!  Beautiful!

© 2007 Feb: Cool Cuff-links
Square gold/silver cuff-links embossed with the wearer's Chinese name seal. Beautiful, meaningful and simply the perfect gift for that man who's already got everything!

© 2006: Gimbal Car-Wheels
Usual round "ball" wheels mounted on a 2 pivot gimbal, the car becomes omni-directional, allowing for ease of parking and maneouvering. A simple stepped directional lock would suffice to ensure the "ball" locks in forward motion at higher speeds for safety. You'll never need to worry about parallel parking again!

© 2006: Laser Projections
Using a simple LCD lens or equivalent in front of a laser pointer, you can project words and simple graphical images with your laser pointer.  This LCD is programmable using a USB download link to a computer so that your projection can be modified to suit your needs!  After changing your projection, unplug the USB link and then go crazy projecting your laser text/graphical message on walls, ceilings etc!  Lots of imaginable uses for this very versatile gismo!

© 2006 August: Tropical Vertical Air Circulation (Project Cool Singapore)
Every tropical country is sitting directly underneath what is essentially a temperature weather zone just above their heads.  A mere few hundred of metres above ground level, air temperatures drop rapidly into the 20+ degree celsius range.  What if we could design our cities to tap into that well of natural cool air?

We could integrate into our cityscape architecture macro-level city planning to channel air through out city streets to minimise still air pockets.  In our skyscrapers, we could attempt to shield off and vent hot air exhausts from kitchens and aircondioning units away from ground level and together with proactive mechanical systems which draw air from the cooler tops of buildings down to ground level, create a vertical cyclic air flow which continually brings down cool air from above and releases hot air high up above the living spaces.  With the clever use of windpower or solarpower generators, we could even make these cyclic systems completely self contained, almost perpectual motion machines.  This would make every single tropical city, a true living paradise!

© 2006: Modcube the Modular Cubic Shelves
Modular cubes to form shelves, chairs, tables, partitions & cabinets...  The whole system consists of only two standard units, the modular cube and the connector rubber plate.  Combine them in any combination you like to form any shape you like.  Sick of the old arrangement?  Dismantle it and reassemble into yet another combination!  This is one piece of furniture that will never go out of style!
(See illustration)

© 2005: Secret "Aircon" Vault/Safe
Remove the internal unit of the wall unit aircon leaving the bracket and external aircon box still sticking outside your wall. Construct/Install a sealed steel vault/safe within the now empty space and replace the internal aircon cover to conceal your secret vault/safe. Your secrets are safe, and no one will ever know!

© 2004: Call-back Fish Feeder
Use a flat tray large spaced holes larger enough for fish food (the round type) to pass through.  Place the tray on top of your fish tank.  Scatter fish food around the holes so that the fish food would fall in through the holes when the tray is shaken.  Put a spare mobile phone into vibration mode and set it onto the flat tray.  When you want to feed the fishes, just call the spare phone's number to cause the phone to vibrate, hence causing the fish food to drop into the water and feed the fishes.  Now you can feed the fishes once or even twice while away from home!

© 2003: Auto-nailpolish Applicator
Develop a quick-dry paint/ink similar to that of ink-jet printers, but that will only be attracted/stick to calcium based nails and is instead repelled by skin.  Then install small wells of your coloured paint/ink into small narrow tubes where you can then just one by one, stick your fingers into the tube and withdraw it with the paint/ink only coating your nails.  Wait for it to dry, then wipe off excess paint/ink from your skin... and voila!  Instant, perfect nailpolish EVERY SINGLE TIME!

© 2002: Passenger-in-Container Aircraft
Create large standardised container/cabins the width of the aircraft. The larger the aircraft, the more number of containers/cabins it carries in a row from front to rear. Passengers are simply guided into their 1st class, business class or economy class container/cabins with no fuss of air-bridges or aircraft ladders or runway buses. Checked in passenger luggage is locked into the compartment directly below the cabins. When all passengers are checked into the cabins and seatbelts are buckled, lifting cranes not unlike cranes for container ships at harbours, simply lift/slid the passenger cabins onto the aircraft, fitting directly into the hollow aircraft-chassis and locked in place in a train. Airlines can play with multiple configurations and passengers now no longer need to transit in so many different areas just to board an aircraft!

© 2001: Chinese Wine Glass Jue
Clear glass or crystal wine glasses in the traditional Chinese Jue (3-legged with sprout) style. Makes for the perfect conversation piece. Imagine the delight and surprise on your guests' face when you serve them their favourite wine in these ancient works of art!

© 2000: The Perfect Bookmark
Take a simple post-it note and stick it vertically along the side edge of your book backcover. Then fold it inwards to mark the page you are reading. It'll never fall off or make unsightly paperclip marks on your book, it's even a great place to jot side notes... and it's cheap too!

© 1999: No-shake Bookpage-illuminator
Clear malleable latex sheet that can remain in contact with the curve of your page/map/paper, with embedded LEDs along the top edge to illuminate the page. Light with travel through the thin latex sheet through partial "total-internal-reflection" and illuminate the entire page more or less evenly. Comes in normal white-light or red for nightvision reading. Rolls up for easy storage. Powered with 1 or 2 nos. AAA batteries. Now your whole page is evenly lighted, allowing you to read anywhere, even in a moving vehicle!

© 1998: Roller/Blade In-line Skates
Ice-skate blade with bolt-holes for interchanging with wheels of an off-the-shelf in-line skate chassis. Switch between road and ice with ease!

© 1997: Car Table
A simple raised edged square table fitted to sit in the space between the two front seats of the car, supported from the 4 corners by 4 stiff but adjustable hanging hooks to the 2 headrest supports on either side. Perfect for those long distance driving excursions!

© 1995: Removable Car Roof Bike/Surfboard/Ski-rack
Horizontal bike-racks clamped onto the metal roof of cars with large industrial suction clamps. Easy on, easy off with no unsightly permanent attachments to your lovely car!

© 1993: Potty Bell
Ring a bell outside the toilet every single time a certain target person goes to the toilet to do major business. Do this without fail for about 1 year. Said target should be well conditioned by the end of the training period and will feel the urge to potty everytime he/she hears a bell rung. Very deviously fun! XD

This also serves as notification of copyright for some of these ideas. Not all the ideas are copyright-able of course, but if these ideas have not previously been published, I hereby claim intellectual copyright over these ideas. If any of these ideas have a prior copyright, please do let me know and I will delete them and relinquish my claim to the IP.