# Someone Needs to Invent **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 31, 2022, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689 "2022-01-31T16:20:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/141 "2022-02-08T20:11:31Z")
> [@velomont](#): > > Standardized connections for ceiling and wall mounted light fixtures - something like a camera’s bayonet mount so that installing a ceiling or wall light fixture, or ceiling fan would just be push and twist. On a similar note, I want a room bus. Since the wires have to run to the outlets anyway, just dispense with the outlets and run a slot around 3 sides of the room. The slot would be about a quarter inch tall, two to three feet above the floor with a rubber flap. The hot side of the bus would be about an inch in, recessed on the upper side, with the neutral on the lower side about a quarter inch in from the slot, with a plug that is just a flat blade you slide into the slot. No more outlet multipliers, because you can plug in anywhere. > [@El\_Famous\_Burrito](#): > > Someone needs to invent… **an alternative to window screens**. Or at least transparent window screens. My aunt bought a storm door, mostly metal but with a window in it. When you opened the window, by sliding it down into the door, the screen, attached to its top edge, rolled down it its place. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/142 "2022-02-08T20:55:48Z")
With the antihistamine/nasal spray I use, there is always about a sixteenth of an inch left in the bottom because the little plastic tube won’t keep suction (once, I held onto seven or eight of them, jimmied the tops off, combined them and had enough for three more weeks). They need to make a little reservoir in the bottom of the bottle (I use a brand with brown glass) so the tube can stay vertical until the last bit collects there. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/143 "2022-02-08T21:02:22Z")
They need to un-invent the modern USA mustard bottle; which appears cleverly designed to actively prevent you from ever getting all of the mustard out. The angle of the neck prevents any tool from getting at the shoulders, and since the bottle is normally used upside down some of the mustard collects there, and determinedly stays there unless I’m about to make something requiring both mustard and liquid just when the mustard container’s close to empty and so can wash the mustard out with the vinegar or whatever. I suppose I could cut the bottles open, but they’re hard slippery plastic and I’m a klutz. Old mustard bottles didn’t squeeze, but you could get all the mustard out. Half the time the squeeze technique gets me a blast of separated liquid, anyway, because I don’t use the mustard every day. I can’t find it sold in the old bottles any longer. ---
**Author:** ![Tierce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@Tierce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tierce)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/144 "2022-02-08T21:13:06Z")
> [@teelabrown](#): > > Someone needs to invent . . . a surface or a coating to which spray paint will not stick. Public and commercial buildings could be coated with it, and sprayed-on graffiti would just bead up and roll off. I recall reading somewhere about a city subway system (NYC? Can’t remember) that came out with subway cars with a polished metal finish for precisely this purpose. The vandals obligingly switched from spraying paint to breaking windows. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2022, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/145 "2022-02-09T12:34:50Z")
**Handcuffs**. I’ve been watching **COPS** on YouTube recently. Many interactions involve the police screaming “ON THE GROUND, ON THE GROUND”. Then four or five police pin him down, find the crackpipe in his pocket, and handcuff him. But every time the handcuffs seem to be the most difficult part of the equation. A struggle to get on, then they need a key to “lock” them from becoming too tight. Many times they need to use two sets. If it turns out the person isn’t arrested, removing them is tough. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/146 "2022-02-10T21:16:17Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Old mustard bottles didn’t squeeze, but you could get all the mustard out. Half the time the squeeze technique gets me a blast of separated liquid, anyway, because I don’t use the mustard every day. I can’t find it sold in the old bottles any longer. Just shake that thing really well, then shake the mustard down towards the spout _ **before** _ you flip open the cap. Don’t do this if you’ve let the bottle sit out at room temperature for a while first. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/147 "2022-02-10T21:44:11Z")
If I remember, I shake it, including at room temperature (why would that matter?). That does take care of the separated liquid; I just don’t always remember to do it. And the extra nuisance of doing it cancels out any advantage from having a squeeze bottle instead of the old style, anyway. Plus which, it doesn’t help with the problem of not being able to get the last of the mustard out. There’s always still some clinging to the inside of the shoulders where a tool can’t reach it. The old style bottles, designed for you to stick a knife or spoon into, were shaped differently, and I never had that problem. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/148 "2022-02-10T22:04:34Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > On a similar note, I want a room bus. Since the wires have to run to the outlets anyway, just dispense with the outlets and run a slot around 3 sides of the room. The slot would be about a quarter inch tall, two to three feet above the floor with a rubber flap. The hot side of the bus would be about an inch in, recessed on the upper side, with the neutral on the lower side about a quarter inch in from the slot, with a plug that is just a flat blade you slide into the slot. No more outlet multipliers, because you can plug in anywhere. Isn’t that how track lighting works? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/149 "2022-02-10T22:09:49Z")
> [@El\_DeLuxo](#): > > Someone really needs to invent an insta-freeze cooler that works just like a microwave oven, but in reverse (with cold instead of heat), with which you can chill your drink in ten seconds, make a tray of ice cubes or a frozen fruit treat in a minute, and freeze large items like roasts solid for deep-freeze storage in five minutes. You could even use it to make your own applejack and ice beer! And, please, make it cheap enough that us poor folks can afford to buy one too. Unfortunately this is extremely unlikely due to a fundamental difference between heat and cold: heat is the presence of thermal energy, cold is its relative absence. You can’t “add cold” to something, you have to remove its heat. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/150 "2022-02-10T23:40:21Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Isn’t that how track lighting works? Similar. But I am talking about replacing the wiring in the, that goes from outlet to outlet, with a single bus, recessed into the wall, into which you could plug your TV, your computer, floor/table/desk lamps, your vacuum cleaner, a drill, whatever. The wiring has to be in there anyway, for the outlets, so why not just make it an open bus (with a long dust flap). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/151 "2022-02-10T23:47:49Z")
I suspect that would make the safety inspectors nervous. Small children find ways to electrocute themselves too often, even with the normal outlets. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2022, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/152 "2022-02-10T23:48:29Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > Just shake that thing really well, then shake the mustard down towards the spout _ **before** _ you flip open the cap. Or instruct your scullery maid to do this, if you have one. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/153 "2022-02-11T01:13:57Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > The wiring has to be in there anyway, for the outlets, so why not just make it an open bus (with a long dust flap). We had two parallel slots running the length of our workbench. This was back in the 60s, so it was Bakelite™ (hard brown plastic), no flap, no safety precautions. But pretty handy… also, if you were using an electric drill at one end of the bench, and wanted to drill something at the other end… just sliiiiiide the plug all the way down the channel! ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/154 "2022-02-11T04:07:55Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > But I am talking about replacing the wiring in the, that goes from outlet to outlet, with a single bus, recessed into the wall, into which you could plug your TV, your computer, floor/table/desk lamps, your vacuum cleaner, a drill, whatever. The wiring has to be in there anyway, for the outlets, so why not just make it an open bus (with a long dust flap) I suspect that would increase the number of people who try to plug 30 different things into one 15 amp circuit. And then wonder why the circuit keeps blowing. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/155 "2022-02-11T05:43:01Z")
I’ve seen power strips like that, just two long parallel open slots. Back about '76 or so, the beauty shop across the street from our house had a couple of them. I was taking a high school electronics class then and thought they looked pretty dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/156 "2022-02-11T14:39:01Z")
That was back before most electronics had ground pins on the plugs. These days most items have three prong plugs, at least in the US anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/157 "2022-02-11T14:50:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > A smartphone keyboard app that detects accidental touches. Just delay closing the keyborad for a short period, and then don’t close it if the person keeps on typing. Somewhat relatedly, a feature where if the area you’re touching on your device had a change of content in the last 0.2 seconds or something, it doesn’t count—or better yet, goes to what was there before. No more getting redirected by ads that popped up just as I was trying to open a link, or accidentally signing up for notifications from some random website that has no business sending anybody notifications in the first place… ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2022, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/158 "2022-02-12T17:16:38Z")
> [@steepone](#): > > There is no vent tube, it just blows out of the front of the dryer, like this one I’ve never seen one like that in the US, what a great idea. Translate some Australian for me, does the 4.5 kg mean the weight of the clothing you can do at one time? We generally just use cubic feet over here. > [@Bonum\_Legatum](#): > > I’d like to have a flashlight button on my car’s remote control fob. You’d think that would be a no brainer, especially for people in northern climes where it’s dark when you go to work and dark again when you go home. My wife has a tiny cartoon character attached to her fob. Squeeze it and it lights up for about 10 seconds, plenty of time to do what you have to do. ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/159 "2022-02-13T05:35:15Z")
[quote=“mordecaiB, post:158, topic:958689, full:true”] > [@steepone](#): > > There is no vent tube, it just blows out of the front of the dryer, like this one I’ve never seen one like that in the US, what a great idea. Translate some Australian for me, does the 4.5 kg mean the weight of the clothing you can do at one time? We generally just use cubic feet over here. [/quote] Yes, that’s the weight capacity, both washers and dryers are rated by weight here ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2022, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689/160 "2022-02-13T07:35:10Z")
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before: Somebody needs to invent a way to make pop-up facial tissues actually, y’know, keep popping up for the whole box. Kleenex® has tried multiple ways to do this, never successfully. By time a box is half used up, the pop-up tissues will always start falling back into the box. They’ve never solved it to this day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/someone-needs-to-invent/958689.md?page=9)