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Today's Ten

If you read yesterday's entry, I wrote that I would attempt to think of ten original ideas for at least three days. I believe today is, on the whole, a little more original than yesterday's ideas, but I still have far to go. In any case, here are today's "ten."

1. Recycle used plastic grocery bags as lining for wood chip beds in landscaping.

2. Start a business in which mechanics use mobile mechanic shops to travel to people with a cars in need of repair, which will preclude the need for these people to have their cars towed.

3. Eqiip drones with a device that emits a scattering electromagnetic pulse to follow and then disable vehicles or other mechanical devices. This will allow law enforcement to end a police chase remotely. In addition, equip drones with a noise-making device to disable criminals in a location that is difficult to reach.

4. Embed honing microchips on the inside bands of wedding rings to allow their owners to find them when lost.

5. Incorporate a ticketing option into grocery stores. Reserve two or more checkstands specifically for appointments. When a customer enters the store, he or she estimates the amount of time it will take to shop and makes an appointment with the checkstand for that time. If he or she is within five minutes of that time--whether early, late, or on time--that person will not have to wait. If the person does not come, the checkers at these checkstands may take customers from other lines until the next appointment. Checkers would display a sign clearly designating this checkstand's purpose to inform customers that would otherwise use it to stand in line and wait. Those customers who make an appointment, but who are not on time when checking out, would simply stand in line as normal. The store manager would need to set clear guidlines so that a customer who is late would not be angered.

6. Incorporate devices into vehicles that detect the scent or presence of alcohol, marijuana, or other substances that are illegal while driving. Wire this device to the ignition of the vehicle so that the car does not start if these scents are present. Include an override that can be used once in case of an emergency, but that must be reset by a mechanic or even by police. If police reset the device, the owner must be able to verify that an emergency was present.

7. Create a phone "listening" service in which callers call just to talk to someone. The person on the other end simply listens. These individuals would be volunteers and would be trained not to judge callers.

8. Attempt to bring tube socks back into fashion by recruiting participants online to wear them for one or more months. The participants would include people in all or most of the country's major cities, and would begin to wear the tube socks at the same time.

9. Introduce a search engine that automatically fact-checks politicians during televised debates and speeches. Introduce an option to display the results live as the speakers are speaking.

10. Install generators on bicycles that can be charged by the rider's pedaling and then detached and used to power lights or other small items.

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