# Things you take credit for **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 28, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074 "2010-05-28T15:34:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Belrix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ed655f/32.png) [@Belrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Belrix)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/21 "2010-05-28T20:24:04Z")
I just made a permanent change to Google Maps. There was a road marked that wasn’t really a road. Once there was an intention, I think because there’s a bridge, but the road was never put over it. I clicked “report a problem” and they apparently agreed and the road is gone today! ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/22 "2010-05-28T20:51:43Z")
Twice now I’ve e-mailed Scott Adams to tell him of management buffoonery that happened at my husband’s then-employer, a giant biotech. Both times they made it into his strip. The last one was particularly egregious: management at the biotech was told they had a quota to meet of finding noteworthy fault with at least one-quarter of their staff during reviews. Mr. Adams twisted the idea a little to have the pointy-haired boss trying to find fault with one-quarter of each person, as he wasn’t clear on the concept. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/23 "2010-05-28T21:03:32Z")
I can’t find anything to make the connection, but I SWEAR someone stole my sophomore year of HS for My So-Called Life. Down to the blunt haircut dyed a red not found in nature and secret makeout sessions with the unobtainable guy. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/24 "2010-05-28T21:48:53Z")
The [AN TLQ-17](http://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/systems/sandcrab.htm) can monitor one radio frequency at a time but can rapidly scan a classified number of frequencies until it detects an active signal. Frustrated by traffic splintering off into 2 or 3 separate frequencies as a defensive response to intrusion activity I found a way to manipulate the equipment in such a way as to allow for monitoring of 3 frequencies simultaneously. As a result I single-handedly shut down opfor activity within minutes of commencement of hostilities. The mock battle involving 2 Army divisions was scheduled to take place over 3 days. When my jubillant/frustrated commander asked me what I’d done I explained, “Sorry ma’am, classified operational procedure.” I got bawled out for being insubordinate and was given a medal for being clever. Ended up writing a SOP outlining the procedure which was distributed to my counterparts on at leat two other posts. Also, I invented the question mark. ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/25 "2010-05-28T23:19:19Z")
> [@Belrix](#): > > I just made a permanent change to Google Maps. > > There was a road marked that wasn’t really a road. Once there was an intention, I think because there’s a bridge, but the road was never put over it. > > I clicked “report a problem” and they apparently agreed and the road is gone today! I reported something like that a while ago - a bridge at the end of the street I grew up on that’s been gone since at least the early 90s (as long as my family has lived there). I checked just now and they’ve fixed it, so I’ll take credit for it. ---
**Author:** ![Rafe\_Hollister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/fbc32d/32.png) [@Rafe\_Hollister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rafe_Hollister)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/26 "2010-06-02T21:42:53Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Not to diminish Tyler’s accomplishment, but wouldn’t the more traditional sequence have been catch-tag-step? > > Either way: Go Tyler! The rarest achievement in baseball! That would be the more feasible procedure, but these are 8 yr. olds with sketchy baserunning skills. Tonight at the game I’ll make sure & tell Tyler that **KneadToKnow** thought it was great! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/27 "2010-06-02T22:20:04Z")
I am a smallish woman, living in a very snowy climate. The kind of snow that means you have to shovel a path out to your car _before_ you can begin to clear it off. At that time, the largest implement available was about 2 + 1/2 foot long thingy with a 4 inch brush on the end. This meant it was impossible to push the snow from the roof of the car off, you had no choice but to pull the snow toward you. Short as I am, this meant I would get covered in snow and the path I had dug would as well. I did this a couple of times and then decided the tool was woefully inadequate and I could invent something more useful. And I did. I found an old soft broom, ripped the head off, repositioned it and duct taped that sucker on real good. Then I found an extra broom handle and duct taped it to the end, creating an extremely long and funny looking device which could not be stored inside. But, I could stand in one spot and push all the snow off the car without getting covered in it or having to dig out my path repeatedly. My husband thought it was hilarious and gave me heaps over the thing, but it worked, and he used it too. We kept it in the driveway leaned up against the house. And I more than once caught the neighbours eyeballing it. A couple of years ago I bought a similar item, only with a clever telescoping handle, at a hardware store as a Christmas gift. But I invented it, I’m pretty sure. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/28 "2010-06-02T23:25:40Z")
I invented [the tactical shooter](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_shooter). ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/29 "2010-06-02T23:43:27Z")
I am the guy the Worlds Most Interesting Man looks up to. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2010, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/30 "2010-06-02T23:46:08Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > Back in the mid-80’s I had a job in mail order. A co-worker and I would have daily discussions about customers that made you want to bang your head against the wall. So one day I took piece of cardboard, cut it into a circle, wrote “Bang Head Here” on it and stuck it on the wall. > > Fast forward about twenty years and several jobs later, I’m walking past a co-worker’s cubicle when I see he has the exact same thing tacked up on his cubicle wall. Well, it wasn’t cardboard, it was a sheet of paper with a circle drawn on it and looked like one of those things that was photocopied about a million times (back before office glurge was all done by email). I stopped and said “Hey, I invented that!” I invented a similar one, only my paper was stuck on a letter spike. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/31 "2010-06-03T03:04:04Z")
Back in the dorm my freshman year in college at Kent State in January 1981, in a bull-session after a few beers, I invented the correlation between the Super Bowl winning team and the stock market, whereby if a team from the NFC or pre 1970 NFL wins the Super Bowl, the stock market goes up, and if a team from the AFC wins the market goes down. I was kidding, and using the correlation to demonstrate random luck. Experts now take it seriously. Silly experts. [Forbes magazine article on the topic.](http://www.forbes.com/2003/01/24/cz_jd_0124watch.html) ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/32 "2010-06-03T03:13:57Z")
Decades ago, I was a systems programmer for a financial company during early releases of an IBM mainframe communications package. Part of the system required coding entries for each terminal separately, including its hardware address. Because you usually had many identical terminals, you had to do some very repetitive and tedious coding. I came up with a simple add-on that would let you code a range or a list of addresses without re-coding duplicated information. An independent contractor who was in touch with the package designers at IBM was doing some related work at our company. He saw what I had done and thought it was a great idea. The next release of the package included a new feature that provided the same facility as my add-on. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/33 "2010-06-03T03:55:30Z")
I invented virtual bubble wrap, back in 1996 🙂 It changed the world as we know it. ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/34 "2010-06-03T04:04:33Z")
I’m trying to make this new saying happen. My best friend is really beautiful. So when we went to buy our new prescription summer shades, she chose this pair that really does make her look like a Hollywood star. I told her, “That’s not fair. You already winning the game on these women out here. Now you’re just running up the score on them.” Because, that’s what they call it in sports, right? When you are already winning by a large margin, but you just keep dunking on the other team, relentlessly? It had a ring to it, I tells ya! Now she and I and even my daughter have been using it regularly to describe when something is so great that it is just overkill! “Damn, this mac and cheese is delish! It’s runnin’ up the score!” Please help me make this a thing. Remember that it is a ghetto slang, so when you say it, try and say it with some soul and some attitude. Like, “Wooooweee, baby! You runnin’ up the \*score \*on 'em!” I will give an internet dollar to every doper that can work this phrase into everyday conversations. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/35 "2010-06-03T05:02:23Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > I invented virtual bubble wrap, back in 1996 🙂 It changed the world as we know it. You should make an iPhone app. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/36 "2010-06-03T06:38:42Z")
Richard Pryor knowing the mean joke: light a match…move it along the table between your fingers…what’s that? Richard Pryor running down the street. But that’s too good a story to drop off in the middle of someone else’s thread, I’ll have to tell that one some day. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/37 "2010-06-03T15:24:18Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You should make an iPhone app. A company in NZ did, using my graphics. After much legal squabbling they claim they’ve changed the graphics but I don’t have an iPhone so I can’t check. Fuckers. Several people have stolen my graphics and made Android apps, too. I have looked for developers to make my own app but been unsuccessful. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/38 "2010-06-03T15:34:49Z")
I remember coming out of the theater after seeing Return of the Jedi for the first time and tellign my Dad that I thought they should make a video game based on the movie (I was rocking an Atari 2600 in those days). I had the idea though that they could give you a light saber shaped controller that you could swing around to fight guys on screen. At the time I knew that what I was dreaming up was probably impossible, but I talked up the idea for months. So yes, I invented the Wii. ---
**Author:** ![Rib\_Eye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@Rib\_Eye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rib_Eye)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/39 "2010-06-03T17:28:36Z")
I used to post on the original Tuesday Morning Quarterback bulletin board where I referred to the Tennessee Titans as The Flaming Thumbtacks based on the team logo. Gregg Easterbrook adopted it as his nickname for the team and it has since spread widely around the interwebs. My grandmother invented the flip cap decades ago after waxing her wood floor and realizing to her dismay that she had left the cap to her can of Johnson’s Wax on the other side of the room. She wrote to the good people at the company with a suggestion that they tether the cap to a collar fixed below the threads on the spout, complete with a little drawing. She received a nice reply a couple of months later (just long enough for lawyers to do a little research) that said, “What a coincindence. We were already working on just such a device!” Now of course flip caps are on everything. Remember people, patent first, show after. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2010, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074/40 "2010-06-03T19:34:42Z")
Back in the olden days, when I was in high school, there was this black kid in my typing class who was passing around a petition to ask Band-Aid to make clear bandages instead of the pink ones that didn’t match his flesh. Later on, when they came out with those, I always wondered if that kid had been responsible. I emailed Publix a couple of years ago to tell them their Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl ice cream was nasty, and I don’t see it around any more. You’re welcome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-take-credit-for/541074.md?page=3)