Have there been any great ideas that you wish "Had been my idea?"

The self-chilling can

"Well, you can't buy this one yet -- and when you do, it'll be housing your drink -- but it's a pretty cool bit of technology to look forward to. The I.C. Can is a self-chilling beverage container that will soon be wrapped around a lot of the sodas we buy everyday. When this hits production, you won't need the fridge or cooler to chill your drink. You'll just twist the can. The self-cooling mechanism drops the temperature of the drink by 30 degrees Fahrenheit (16.7 degrees Celsius), instantly. So, no more lugging a cooler to the beach, park, pre-game tailgate... "

The can should drop the temperature in 15 seconds, and only add about 10 cents to the price of the beverage.

NC <><

1.Full size world maps.
2.stringless kite.
3.Notched tires that will smooth out speed bumps.
4.Portable parking space. Two rolls of yellow (sticky one sided) tape.
5.A can closer

Please contact me if you wish to share the wealth.

BUT !

I'm still working on Braille Speedometers

Seriously, folks, I have one. It has a transparent high-impact plastic barrel, in which you can see the copper wire windings, and you charge it by shaking, so that the ball magnet whips back and forth within the coil. Gives a good light, too, and
!NO BATTERIES!
I hate batteries, they're terrible for the ecology. But I plan to get an electric car next time, because - there are worse things!

quote:

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Originally posted by babthrower:
Seriously, folks, I have one. It has a transparent high-impact plastic barrel, in which you can see the copper wire windings, and you charge it by shaking, so that the ball magnet whips back and forth within the coil. Gives a good light, too, and
!NO BATTERIES!
I hate batteries, they're terrible for the ecology. But I plan to get an electric car next time, because - there are worse things!

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Bab, this requires some added explanation I can see the magnet/coil combination generating electricity, but without a rechargeable battery to store the electricty, it could only light something while it was shaking, which would make it hard to aim the light anywhere.

I produces L.E.D. light, so it also has no bulb. I'm perfectly happy with it.

My husband says I have a weakness for gadgets: I recently bought a shredder so I can mush up newsprint pages from the TV guide each day (I tear the pages out at the end of each day's viewing so it's easier to find my place next day) and personal correspondence (the rest goes to recycle) and add the mush to compost. He just shook his head over the shredder. But he likes the flashlight!

It's quite effective light. I checked weird noises from the chicken house the other night (we have raccoons and the occasional bear that are no respecters of chicken privacy) and found I could investigate the bushes behind the chicken house and merging into forest with the light quite well. Turned out the chickens were just having nightmares.

You can see the flashlight at www.hammacher.com and search 'batteryless flashlight'.

so the explanation is that the electricity is stored in a capacitor. very cool idea!