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Beaten to the punch thread

mandown

Poopdeck Repost
Jun 1, 2004
20,134
7,680
Transylvania 90210
I was just thinking how someone should make a Trump shirt/sticker/microwave-cozy reading:
Make America Hate Again

Knowing my tendency to poopdeck, I googled the phrase and found an avalanche of such goods. It reminded me of the time I was struck by my own genius with the idea for a band called Soundgarden... Only to a have a nagging feeling of familiarity that I'd seen or heard it somewhere before.

Post your own personal shame right here in this wonderful Internet thread. Expose us all to your flashes of brilliance, had moments after someone else had already capitalized on them.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,021
Sleazattle
Thanks to hybrids an VW my dreams will never come true.

A fleet of bio diesel food delivery vehicles fueled from recovered fryer grease and bacon. Said food delivery would be from restaurant that specialized in fired food and bacon. Delivery vehicles would stink of fried foods and bacon.

Such dreams may never fly farther than the bong shed.
 

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,147
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
when I was 6 or 7 (1989 at most), I wanted to be a computer manufacturer.

I used to draw desktop computers with CD-drives (I had only seen PCs with 5-1/4 floppy drives until that point), and with a VHS drive in them too.
I figured, one day, people would like to listen to music, and watch videos on the internet all day....

I became quite a visionary from hallucinating from chewable flintstones vitamins overdoses....
 

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,147
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
At age 8, I also tried to harness solar energy and tried to start a solar farm in my roof!

Since electric toys could move from having wires connected to each side of a battery, and since the fan would work once connected to the wall plug (coincidentally, from 2 holes in each plug).... I figured, in an impecable logic jump, that If I placed exposed copper wire to the sun, it would (somehow) gain enough electricity to drive a small toy motor or light a bulb i had stolen from the x-mas lights....

5 cm of exposed wire did not light up the bulb, nor started the eletric motor... so I figured I needed more exposed copper! So I got several extension cords, peeled the plastic and got like 15 yards of exposed copper wire and arranged them in the roof to "harness" all the sun´s energy, I was pretty scared about harnessing too much electricity (and tried my best not to touch the exposed wire as I had experience electrocuting myself with a 220v wall plug before)..... it wasnt until like 3 hours later that I figured my method had to be flawed....
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,021
Sleazattle
Back in the mid 90's work provided us with Cell Phones, Texting Pagers and electronic organizers. I had bought some of the first MP3 players on the market. I thought it would be real nice if all of those devices could be combined into one. Sure it would be pretty big but we had just moved away from those giant cell phones, wouldn't be any bigger than that.
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,800
8,383
Nowhere Man!
I have always sat back and waited for smart folks to do stuff. And then ride the fuck out of their coattails... I have done alright.
 

Westy

the teste
Nov 22, 2002
54,241
20,021
Sleazattle
Was at a party back in High School. A smoking hot girl who I worked with was being very flirty. I thought it would be a great idea to have sex with her. Fortunately a friend broke the news to me that she had already banged two other guys that night. I chose not to go for the dirty third.
 

Randomshot

Monkey
Mar 12, 2009
652
462
Ft. Collins
Around the age of eight, I jumped off many a roof with just a grocery bag as an attempt at a parachute...


Odly enough. Still have two functioning extemities dangling from me...
 

cecil

Turbo Monkey
Jun 3, 2008
2,064
2,345
with the voices in my head
I've often thought about automated gas pumps there is a sensor at the fill hole you pull up open window swipe card, once you turn off motor the sensor at fill hole sends signal to pump once they communicate the ignition is disabled so you can't start vehicle and pull away.the nozzle moved to fill hole.you car gets filled the pump nozzle resets in pump ignition is enabled and off you go
 

big-ted

Danced with A, attacked by C, fired by D.
Sep 27, 2005
1,400
47
Vancouver, BC
I work in engineering. Coming up with great ideas, planning my subsequent retirement to Hawaii, and choosing the colour of Bentley I'm going to get, only to realise someone else already has a patent on my exact idea is pretty much a daily occurrence for me.
 

Nick

My name is Nick
Sep 21, 2001
23,928
14,450
where the trails are
Too many years ago I had an idea for converting defunct Fotomat booths into drive thru cigarette and coffee shops, after a guy in Chicago set up and sold coffee and the newspaper out of a little trailer.


how many youngins here are reading this and saying "fotowhat booths"?
 

syadasti

i heart mac
Apr 15, 2002
12,690
290
VT
I know a mountain biker that actually did those drive through coffee shops in the Binghamton area - he eventually gave up and was working for a company that sells wood pallets last time I spoke with him.
 

maxyedor

<b>TOOL PRO</b>
Oct 20, 2005
5,496
3,140
In the bathroom, fighting a battle
My boss's son in law started working for us about 6 months ago because he's kind of a talent-less fuck up, shortly after he announced that he had a big idea that would make millions and wanted to do a presentation for us all to show it off. I sat through his 30 minute Powerpoint explaining why straws are the devil, and how we would reduce green-house gasses by like eleventy million percent is we quit using plastic straws, and he had the solution. He then proudly showed us his "invention" the stainless steel straw, and how he had done the math and we could make them for about $5 each. He was not happy when I showed him a 12 pack on Amazon for $6/delivered, still won't really talk to me, which is fine by me.
 

mantispf2000

Turbo Monkey
Aug 9, 2001
1,793
243
Nevada, 2 hours from Mammoth
how many youngins here are reading this and saying "fotowhat booths"?
Used to think those were the coolest things when I was a little'un........

That being said, while living in WA state, my then/now-ex-wife and I would drive by a certain 5-way intersection, and there was a closed-up drive-thru shop (don't remember what it was for). She had an idea of using it to open a drive-thru Greek-style restaurant, calling it "It's Greek to You". A few months later, we're driving by, and what do we see? A drive-thru restaurant called "It's Greek to Me". The owners did so well, they sold out each day for the first few weeks, and received a very positive article in the local paper.

Oh well.........
 

jimmydean

The Official Meat of Ridemonkey
Sep 10, 2001
40,942
13,135
Portland, OR
Not too soon after I had started riding motorcycles, I thought to myself: You know what would make the ultimate street bike? Take a GP superbike and strip it naked and make it comfortable, more like a sport tourer, but with crazy power and REAL suspension and brakes. I started my R1 project in November, Ducati released the Streetfighter not but a few months later. Still a great idea, dammit. And mine didn't have electronic nannies :panic:
 

jdcamb

Tool Time!
Feb 17, 2002
19,800
8,383
Nowhere Man!
seinfeld may have stolen my idea for combining mustard and ketchup in one bottle but at least that asshole didn't steal my awesome name for it...MATCHUP
Just not sure about the combination of Mustard and Ketchup is that sound of an idea. I tend to have distinct purposes of both condiments. Putting Ketchup on a Sausage of any form is blasphemy. Ketchup on fries is OK. Only a heathen eats a burger with mustard on it. Mustard totally overpowers the Cheddar slice, lettuce, tomato, onion, and bacon.
 

kazlx

Patches O'Houlihan
Aug 7, 2006
6,985
1,957
Tustin, CA
I should have had more motivation as a kid. We used to make pizza all the time with my dad as kids. I thought it would be so cool if there was a place like Subway where you could build your own pizza and have it in 5 min. Damn you Pieology for making me regret my inaction years later.
 

Blown240

Monkey
Nov 19, 2013
443
290
about a year ago I had the idea of a solar powered moisture meter that could control sprinklers based on how dry the grass was. Turns out they already exist.