I'll meet new people at the airport

Have you ever thought why we don't think of airports as the perfect place to meet new people? We use them as transit areas or places to shop and eat mostly on our own. I believe it would be a great idea to turn airports into spaces where people can expect to socialize. For example, why don't companies that offer speed dating services operate at airports? Wouldn't you like to have the option to spend some of your transit time meeting someone new from another country? Sometimes I imagine how wider and more meaningful our circle of friends, dates and acquaintances would have been if airport space was designed to have venues where passengers can take part in group activities with people they meet for the first time. Just a thought.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

The end of book publishing

Executives in the publishing industry fear eBook distributors such as Amazon (kindle) and Apple (iPad) will spell the end of their business by eating into their market share or by precipitating a devastating fall in book prices. While Amazon, Apple and their ilk are formidable enemies, the final death blow to traditional print publishing will not be given by eBook distributors. It will come from printer manufacturers. The invention of home-use printers which allow consumers to not only print but also bind books from home fast and reliably and for less than $9.99 (the cost of buying an ebook on Amazon) will spell the end of book publishing as we know it.

Imagine it. Ebooks along with a custom cover of your choice are available to download online. With a click of a button consumers can then print and bind the book from home. The book will look and feel exactly the same as if they had bought it from the bookshop round the corner. For the cost of an ebook or less, consumers can have the paper version of it printed and bound at home. No shipping cost, zero delivering time.

Everyone predicts eBooks are the beginning of the end for book publishers. I am not so sure. Ebooks will compete fiercely against traditional books and will eat into the market share of traditional book publishers. But, mark my words, the end of traditional book publishing will take place only when fast and reliable home-use printers are introduced in the market.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

The unexpected benefits of not naming a product

I know it's crazy not to name a new product but does that mean advertising it with no name can never work? I must say I don't know of any product that wasn't named something before it got launched and for good reason. But some moron executives love to explore every aspect of an otherwise unnecessary dilemma. So what if a company didn't give its new product a name and went ahead and advertised it anyway? Sounds crazy? Yes, but hold on. For a start people might talk about how stupid it is that the company didn't name its product and that's a risk, but so long as they talk about it, they will have to call it something. In trying to figure out what to call it or how to refer to it, they end up asking questions or thinking about what the product is about. That means they end up paying attention to your product and isn't that the ultimate goal and prize in advertising a product? :)

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Can you help prove an Italian superstition Wrong?

In Italy we omit number 13 from the national lottery. We are convinced 13 brings bad luck. The level of clinginess to the conviction makes me mad. 13 brings bad luck. Yeah, right. Less numbers in a lottery means marginally higher probabilities to win and that is bad luck in Italy, because if you are Italian, you play the lottery to enjoy good luck, not to win money. It's only natural that we do everything in our superstition to eliminate "bad luck" from the game!!

To prove the myth wrong, the government could change lottery rules and require that the winning combination always includes number 13. If you are worried Italians may lose their sleep when they buy a lottery ticket with the number 13 in it, well they will, for a few minutes, and then go right back to dreaming they are the ones to win the lottery.

Don't take too seriously my suggestions if you are not superstitious yourself. In the absence of number 13 in the lottery, however, the government should consider announcing winning tickets on the 13 of every month or make Friday the 13 the day when multi-million-euro jackpot tickets are drawn.

If people start spreading fantasies that those lucky jackpot winners had a tragic fate later in life the government can threaten that if people continue to spread such stories they will be the ones to win the next jackpot!

That's a threat no Italian can easily ignore. If the threat is dismissed, it means people agree to be bought off by the government and Italians are known to have a very bad relationship with bribery and corruption to the point that they perfectly resist to it by totally yielding to it. If they pay notice to the threat, well they won't, because what sane Italian will ever refuse millions of euros in order to say that he doesn't believe the superstition is true.

Arguably then, the most powerful threat the government can make in order to put the superstition to the test is to choose everything in relation to the lottery in terms of number 13. As I've said, jackpot total winnings can have number 13 in them, they can always be announced on the 13 of every month with a preference for Fridays, and whoever is really against that, is welcome to be the lottery's winner and then refuse to take the money if they actually believe in the true power of the superstition...

http://www.thinkaloo.com

I need some help/ideas with my thesis

Since I came up with the following idea for my term paper, I'd appreciate if you could give me your comments and feedback. I would like to argue that humans decide the length of a word based on the frequency of use of that word in every day talk. The more often a word needs to be used, the less syllables it will have when you compare it to words that are not destined for use on practical, every day needs. The reasoning is that, it's more practical and easier to communicate in shorter words to get more work done through the day. Shorter words facilitate faster human interactions. I want to argue that this logic is universal across all languages. Any help, ideas on how to argue this are greatly appreciated. If you are a non-English speaker and your native language has a daily vocabulary which is unusually polysyllabic, please let me know about it, thanks.

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Order duty free online and pick up at the airport

It's such a great idea, I wonder why it took us so long to try it. A time saver for people who have very short stopovers. Do the shopping online, pay with your credit card in advance and simply pick it up at the airport. I don't think many people will disagree this is a great idea. If I was to predict which retail businesses will see an increase in sales over the next few years, duty free shops that offer online shopping would be the ones to bet my money on. A site which covers every duty free shop from every airport in the world will become the next eBay success story. eDuty.com? :)

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Can we make luggage pick up more comfortable?

It's unrealistic to expect that, in bending to pick luggage up, people will always know to bend their knees first. The risk of applying undue stress on the spine or even injuring it by bending over too much will always be there. So what can we do to improve the design of the baggage claim carousels? We could control the level of comfort by setting the height of the carousel to a better height but what is a better height? People have differing heights and one height can't fit all. One option would be to design the carousel to come in a gradient of heights as it circles around and let people stand in the area of the carousel whose height best matches theirs. Another thought to improve the experience of picking up luggage is to take advantage of the tilted surface of the carousel and allow the protective bar that prevents the luggage from falling off to open and close with the press of a button and have the luggage drop directly into the trolley.

http://thinkaloo.com

Is this financial innovation, exploitation or what?

A bank comes up with a computer algorithm that figures out how to sequence the checks somebody's written for more money than they have in their account in order to charge the maximum possible number of $37.50 in overdraft fees. I understand that banks need to charge overdraft fees, what I can't accept is banks manipulating charges and calling that financial innovation.

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Telepathy cameras

I'd like someone to invent a camera that takes snapshots by telepathic messages. Both hands are full. There's no time to grab the camera, turn it on, adjust settings, take the snapshot. By the time I've gone through it all, the moment's gone and won't come back. I resign. For the upteenth time I'm experiencing the tele-pathetic limits of modern photography equipment. Does telepathy exist or not? Is it a real phenomenon? I don't know. All I know is that the moment's gone and won't come back. I'm pretty convinced though that if telepathy did exist, it could have at least helped me capture it.

http://thinkaloo.com

Sexy Earthquakes

A senior Iranian cleric says women who wear revealing clothing and behave promiscuously are to blame for earthquakes. I believe he should be arrested for treason. The cleric just revealed the most powerful weapon the West can use if it ever gets in war with Iran. Instead of toppling the country with soldiers, missiles and nuclear weapons, the West just needs to smuggle an army of escorts, porn stars, miss universes and private muscle therapists into the country to spread promiscuity. According to the cleric, "When promiscuity spreads, earthquakes increase"

It's so sad that the West is not taking such statements seriously. Not only from a military point of view. Let's think business here for a moment. The cleric's statement can be read from back to front too. If earthquakes are increasing, that's because promiscuity is spreading. If promiscuity is on the rise in Iran, that means demand for sex is on the rise which suggests business opportunities are opening up for the adult industry. Too bad that only professionals with Middle Eastern names can benefit from it.

If we ever had doubts why our best porn stars can't make a career in Iran, now we know. It's not because they are not liked for their big boobs and voluptuous shapes, no, that's not it. It's because they cause e-a-r-t-h-q-u-a-k-e-s. It's not pleasure the Iranians are against, but fear of losing their lives after. What a drama. Solution? Profit indirectly by acquiring stakes in Middle Eastern companies specializing in XXX !!!

Now, if the cleric's statement is true, and I have every good reason to believe that he is truthful in wanting others to believe it's true, then we must be careful what the Iranians do with their promiscuous women. If they exile them in the West, that means they will, in effect, be smuggling a secret weapon into our own backyard which can be activated any time the promiscuous Muslim female takes her clothes off! And we can't ban this because we like promiscuity in the West.

I'm just praying for the survival and well-being of those promiscuous women in Iran who dare dress temptingly. I can only hope that the lunatic Iranian clergy will exile them in the West and not lock them in Iranian prison or bury them under the rubles. And I think we can accept them into our countries without fear of risking an increase in earthquakes in the West. That's because Iranian promiscuity is so modest when compared to ours. If we only train them in Western adult manners and smuggle them back into Iran, that can be a threat the Iranians can understand and take seriously :D:D:D

http://thinkaloo.com

What the Greek problem is all about

The way I see it the Greek economy has always been in technical default and thus in life support for many years now. We have been in life support for so long, we forgot about it and learned to live as if we didn't owe anyone anything. The only difference between then and now is that the hospital realized it's costing too much money to keep Greece on life support and for the first time there is discussion of pulling the plug. The patient is half-awakened by this talk but is not sure which is better. To stay on life support with the oxygen supply on economy or get a life without support but with the promise of experiencing it first-class again sometime in the future?

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Why is there no TV in the airport baggage claim area?

I wonder why we only see TV screens displaying news, entertainment or ads in a gate lounge but not in the baggage claim area. Baggage claim involves waiting and thus it makes perfect sense to have TV screens to entertain or distract passengers while they wait for the luggage to come out. The only screen we see is the one displaying the number of your flight and carousel. Boring. I don't buy the argument that people will get so distracted by a news program that they will forget to collect their luggage, or that they are so tired and eager to pick up their luggage that they won't bother to watch TV. They're already waiting there. Hello!


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Women-friendly gas stations

If I bought a gas station tomorrow, the first thing I'd do is put up a huge sign saying "Cleanest Bathrooms of Any Gas Station Anywhere." We're going greater distances and so need directions, and decent places to eat and drink, and clean bathrooms. Clean bathrooms with a clean baby-changing table and a working sink and a trash can that isn't spilling all over the floor would surely draw female drivers in. And no woman is going to sweat a few pennies in gas price if she is cared for otherwise. Gas stations persist in displaying most prominently the price per gallon, down to the tenth of a cent and forget that we don't always think that small. On the other hand, women most always think that clean.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Total amount coin display

I know most people will probably say this is unnecessary but I think most people will appreciate the feature if it became available. When I pay for something, my first instinct is to get rid of all the coins in my wallet. The problem is I don't always know the total amount of money I have in coins and I might find myself in the embarrassing situation to want to pay in coins, take them all out only to discover I don't have enough. It's a hassle and a waste of time. I propose an electronic display in the wallet that shows the total amount you have in coins and a breakdown of coin denominations. Instead of fiddling through with your finger to count, you just browse the display and know right away if you have enough coins to pay or give in change.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Rubik's cube party

Have you ever been to one? It's fun. Everyone's dressed head to toe in six separate clothing items in the six colours of a Rubik's cube - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and white. The aim is to switch socks, tops or pants with other partygoers until you're all in one colour. Just like a Rubik's cube. If you're throwing a party and want to impress with an original idea, try the rubik cube theme, it's quite fun.

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Hacked chopsticks for better grip

Even though this is not a million dollar idea, I don't understand why this simple trick isn't more widely used: I was eating at a friend's place and he had these chopsticks with little cuts at the end. The result? A grip that is 10x better, even catching peas was a piece of cake. Here is a little drawing.

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Online shopping tracking app

I love phone apps because they are often easier to navigate than going to the company website. What I'd like to see is a single app linking PayPal, eBay, Fed-Ex and UPS tracking, making it super easy to track online shopping and shipping. What do you think?

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Creative Locksmith

You are the town's best locksmith and you just moved into a new neighborhood. How do you advertise creatively so that people in your area find out you're the best locksmith to hire? Contact local shop owners and pay them to allow you to advertise the following message next to the "Closed" sign: "To open, call 1-800-Locksmith".

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Donate blind calls to charity

Isn't there a better way to make use of calls we did not wish to make? What if the first name in our list of phone contacts was a number that belonged to a charity and when that number is called the cost of the call is donated to that charity? With people forgetting to lock their mobile phones and accidentally calling the first person in the list of contacts, I think that's a brilliant idea. Instead of paying the carrier for a call we did not wish to make, we donate the cost of the call to a charity.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

The science of drink refill

It's interesting research. If it becomes a product it might lead to better service. In making a more general point I take some issue with the interactivity part of the glass. Don't most people want to interact with others and not with messages on a surface when in a bar? If it becomes a product I think it has to be extremely discreet, almost invisible and serve as an aid to better overall service without replacing or substituting humans!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG3_2lvoL8A

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Synchronized movie plot summary

A page or teletext message that explains what has already happened in the movie you couldn't watch from the start or summarize how it will end in case you want to quit watching before it's finished.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Free paper strips, useful or not?

I saw this at a Starbucks the other day. They are blank strips of paper and there is pen next to it that you can use to write down stuff and tear the strip. Pretty clever and useful! I haven't seen it in any other places so far.

I wish there was one at a bar when I wanted to write my phone number and give it to a girl whose boyfriend happened to be sitting not far from her. Uhhhhh :-(

http://www.thinkaloo.com

In panic we fall!

Something's not right and some things I can't understand... When we say a lot of people lost money in a credit gamble where do these losses go? Aren't the losses someone else's winnings? How is it possible that everyone is losing money at the same time? Unless people lost something they never had that should never bring us into the kind of recession everyone talks about, you know there's no money to go around any more. Where can the money really go? It doesn't just fly...Seems to me this global financial crisis is more a symptom of an economic transformation, the winners of that credit spree will decide the new direction of economic growth but who are the winners? News are full of losers but no one is pointing at the winners who will essentially be the new lenders. I think that is what we need to see more of in the news, stories of winners so that we know where to apply next for work and funding for new projects

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Deactivate roaming sms

We should have the option to deactivate receiving sms when roaming because it costs money. Receiving text message is free when not roaming but costs when roaming. Many times I am traveling and I receive advertising sms for which I get charged. It's only fair for companies to allow you to deactivate receiving sms when you don't want to and have them delivered when you're not roaming so you don't get charged.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Talent or Hard work?

What's more important for you to have...

For me it's obviously talent because even with minimum effort the results will still be more impressive than if I had no talent at all. No mater how much effort you put into something if you lack talent you are severely disadvantaged.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Let's be serious about dodging...

Let's punish politicians who dodge questions in important debates. Here's one way to do it. Since audience responses to candidate's questions are monitored how about we asked the audience to indicate whether they think a politician answered the question or dodged it? If the audience thinks the politician dodged it, the verdict is broadcast live and the moderator asks the politician to answer the question again!

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Thou shall hunt but not kill!

If new and agile robotic game animals are invented would you support banning the hunting of real animals? I think robotic game hunting is a great idea because animals facing extinction due to excessive hunting will be saved. Hunters can hunt all year round and do it for the fun of the game and not for the kill. They can use laser rifles to shoot animals of all kinds. This is how we can perhaps produce perfect hunting conditions using robots.I can imagine huge hunting parks where the robots mimic the movement of the real animals using gps technology. The hunting area is split into two. One side is a habitat with real animals roaming freely and the other is its replica where robots roam. Each robot is tagged into a real animal whose exact movements it replicates with great speed and agility. If you looked at the two parks from above you would see two sets of animals moving the same and hunters using laser-rifles making normal-rifle sounds trying to beam into them. If we can produce perfect hunting conditions using robots, I don't see why we shouldn't ban hunting of real animals

http://www.thinkaloo.com

The future of conversation and mobile internet!

Mobile internet is great! We will all become addicted to it and soon we'll all be interrupting each other. Sorry, let me check what you just said. Hold on a second, I can look it up. Hey I can look it up too. No guys no, I'll look it up and I'm telling you it's not true. Yeah but did you check that one too? Cool, my friend just sent me this, like it? Like it but check out mine. Nice, hey it's time to go, nice meeting you guys, didn't talk to each other much but it was fun looking that stuff up. Next time? let's don't even come here, we can do it from home right? right. Impossible?? Yeah, wait till you get one too :)

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Multi-screens for mobiles

I saw the 3-screen laptop but I am not sure many people will use it. For one it adds weight. Foldable multi-screens make more sense for mobile devices which are much smaller and lighter to carry. I can see immediate applications. Say someone can make a video-conference call on one screen and browse the web or type email on the other. Multi-screen makes more sense on a mobile device than carrying a heavier laptop around

http://www.thinkaloo.com

What matters more?

Which do you think has a bigger say in our lives, the decisions and choices we make or events outside our control? Take the global economic crisis that's coming. Are the personal choices and decisions we make more important than the crisis itself in shaping the way we live our lives? At the end of the day...

http://www.thinkaloo.com

best halloween revenge gift

send a wig jammed with lice inside...also good for carnival and friends who are actors. you can do the same with a hat or cap

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Virtual-reality business!

Buy the virtual-reality rights to monuments, museums, rich people houses, events etc and set up an online business where people pay to visit places or relive virtual experiences. For example, you can now see online almost all artifacts on display in the Louvre using images or short video clips but a virtual 3D tour of the museum for a small fee is still not possible. Virtual-reality business has also tremendous educational value.

http://www.thinkaloo.com

the fastest chocolate cake ever (5min)

if you wake up in the middle of the night with a strong crave for chocolate cake try this super quick recipe. all you need is flour, sugar, cocoa powder, egg, milk, oil and a cup. first mix 2 tablespoons of flour sugar and cocoa, then add the egg, a bit of milk and oil and mix again. insert the cup in the microwave and warm it up for no more than 3 minutes! when it stops swelling it's ready to eat. super quick and simple!!

http://www.thinkaloo.com

Joe the Funeralman

so we hit economic disaster. depression is around the corner. investing in funeral services is the smart thing to do! crime, suicides and deaths go up during great depressions. that's usually good business for Joe the Funeralman. a great impression is when Joe gets calls for individual funerals only. a recession is when he starts selling group service with a discount. a great recession looms when no one can pay him and a great depression is when Joe the Funeralman goes online and pays for your virtual funeral. dudes, watch out for Joe the Funeralman!!

http://www.thinkaloo.com

obituaries! nice or honest??

please show me an obituary that says some bad things about a person. i bet there isn't any but if there was i would call that an honest one. why are we so nice to people in obituaries? does death deserve so much respect? bs! for every nice thing we include in an obituary we should also write a bad one. that's honesty. that's being fair to someone. if you think that's bs check the results below

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that's a joke!

talk gets boring need a good joke but can't come up with one? we could use tiny bluetooth earpieces to connect with our cell phone to get the funny lines. set the phone to be recording the talk. while the other person still talks press a button to do an online search for jokes. the keywords will be the last few words spoken till the button was pressed. perhaps a specially built database or site designed for this purpose might be necessary. before you dismiss this as useless imagine how impressive you could sound if you are a beginner in a foreign language :P

http://www.thinkaloo.com