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Is there an item that you wish someone would invent? Or perhaps you have invented something yourself. Lets swap thoughts. They can be real (wow!), imaginary (if only!) or humorous (he he he). But please no stupid ones.
I’ll begin:
If only someone (maybe the shabbos lamp guys) could invent a shabbos guitar! Just imagine! Kumzitzs on Friday Nites would never be the same again! If only…
Shabbos guitar? Why not kosher pork or electronic wings to fly with.
“Why not kosher pork”
Isn’t there something like that already (the barbosa or something like that???) In any case, Bacos tastes like bacon, so I am told. How different could pork be? Personally, I have never had the consuming desire to eat it, but if a kosher version were available, why not? The issur is on the specific chazir, so if it is not chazir, it is not assur. We don’t have to try to second-guess the R”SH”O as to why He assered pork. it is enough that He assered it. But He did not asser enjoying KOSHER meat.
A pencil that I could dictate my notes to.
How about telekinetic muzzles that you can put on people by snapping your fingers?
A cordless phone with a wire (so it won’t get lost) – a rotary dial cell phone would also be great
Someone once tried to explain to me how they now had an instrument which can’t be Assur on Shabbos. It basically uses some sort of magnetic frequencies and it creates music by passing your hand in the air between them. I don’t know if it’s Muttar on Shabbos, but it sounds like a really cool idea regardless.
many things! but first thing i want to invent is wire-free EVERYTHING in the hospital. would make nurse’s live’s MUCH easier. but its kinda hard to give IV’s without tubing….. oh well
anything named after me would be fine
A device that you can attach to your wrist that automatically calculates your caloric intake. It would beep once the day’s allotment has been reached. It would also be ok to use on shabbos.
A non-muktzeh Kindle or Nook. I have so many books on mine that I can’t read on Shabbos, even though that’s my best time to read.
Teleportation booths all around the wrorld- go in, type where you want to go- and presto, you are in a different booth that could be mile away (and you still have your sanity after being dispartmentalized [if that’s even a word] and being put back together again.
A machine that feeds us Kol Hatorah Kula without having to learn it.
A device that would allow anything I’m looking for to beep, like you can search for the cordless phone by making it beep, or call your cell phone if you don’t know where it is.
Something that would keep your home tidy, do your cleaning and washing, put the kids to bed and prepare your meals. But it would be something that you could have more than one at a time so not something that you have to marry first…
Imagine.. I wouldn’t have to go to the well each morning for a bucket of water..
Imagine.. In middle of the night I could just flick a switch and my entire environs become bathed in light..
Imagine.. I could talk to my friend from the next village without have to ride a whole day’s worth..
Imagine.. I could just sit down on some chair and find myself transported miles away in just mere minutes..
Imagine.. They came up with a computing device to sum a group of numbers.
Imagine.. Saving one’s voice on something for posterity.
A machine to constantly warn you when you are about to do the wrong thing. Sort of like a constant reminder to the fact that we have a purpose in this world and and not to stray from it. Sort of like the 6th constant mitzvah- lo sasooroo
not a mod: that has already been invented – by dr middos…
Truth is it really HAS been invented. Its the yetzer hatov. This is what calls us and warns us every time we do something that we shouldnt. If only we would listen out for it more and follow it.
a gadget that you programe to add hours to your day, so you schlep out time and travel as needed.
A chometz-seeker. Like those lawnmower-like treasure finding gadgets.
Just run it over the place and it will beep when it finds the chometz you missed.
The flux capacitor.
I am starting a company where you come to me with your invention and I come up with the relevant halachic material stating why people are obligated to buy your product. Obviously, we will charge less for a chumra then for an out and out issur, and less for a plain issur then for, say, a chiyuv kareis. I think I’ll make a lot of money. Sam, interested in a job?
Shticky Guy: sometimes we don’t realize its the yetzer hara thats talking- we rationalize too much. So what would be really awesom is a machine that lets you know its you yetzer hara or yetzer hatov talking.
“Shabbos guitar?”
Done already. The Maccabeats have figured out how to simulate musical instruments with their voices.
A fold-up car when you are cruising around all blocks up down right left and there is just no parking to be found!
A gadget with which you can beam into someone’s brain to make him or her think something you want them
to. For example, if you know someone who is very annoying and talking about it with them hasn’t changed them at all, to be able to beam into his head and make them understand that they are annoying so that maybe theyll have a chance at being friendly and social would be awesome!
This has to be the ultimate home-toy invention… a use-at-home bubble-wrap-producing machine! Imagine being able to produce your own sheets or rolls of bubble wrap whenever you feel the urge. You could pop away to your heart’s content! Ooooh if only! I know you can visit virtual bubble wrap sites where you pop away on your computer screen, but you cant beat the real thing!
A device that would allow anything I’m looking for to beep, like you can search for the cordless phone by making it beep, or call your cell phone if you don’t know where it is.
This is something I’ve thought about often. The way to do this is to make remote-enabled stickers to attach to any item. Then you have a remote which you program with the description of the item, and which will beep faster or slower according to location, like the hot-and-cold game. Of course you will stop misplacing things. (But heaven help the person who misplaces the remote…)
thehock
I’ve been wishing for such an invention since forever. Let me know when you have it out-I will be the first to head out and buy one…as soon as I find my glasses and car key.
hock:
I’ll go ahead and invent the remote to find the remote (to find the remote to find the remote to find the..)
Sam2–
“Someone once tried to explain to me how they now had an instrument which can’t be Assur on Shabbos. It basically uses some sort of magnetic frequencies and it creates music by passing your hand in the air between them.“
Google “Theremin” for such an instrument. It’s nothing new. The story of the inventor is fascinating – cold war, defection, kidnapping – and worth a read. For those who listen(ed) to secular music, the Beach Boys’ song “Good Vibrations” used it extensively.
computer777-
thehock-
BSD-
“A device that would allow anything I’m looking for to beep, like you can search for the cordless phone by making it beep, or call your cell phone if you don’t know where it is.“
This too already exists!
Google “Ultra 8 Wireless RF Electronic Locater – SI676FUN”
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My invention idea:
A device that can be used to pay for parking that would work similar to e-z pass.
Using this device would save you from having to walk to the parking pay device, inserting cash or CC, then walking back to your car and putting the ticket in the windshield.
It would also save you from expired meter tickets. It would NOT save you from parking too long in a time-limited metered spot, or illegal parking.
Here’s how it would work:
1) Open an account and receive a device for your dashboard (just like e-z pass) that’s connected to your credit card.
2) The device would only be valid for license plates that you register, making its theft useless for the thief.
3) When you park in a metered spot, push a button to start the billing cycle. The appropriate amount will be deducted for each time period the device continues to run.
4) A built-in GPS will be used to determine the parking rate, based on boro, street, time, etc. This info will be available for the owner to see. The GPS will end the billing once the vehicle is moved, the hour changes to non-metered parking, or a manual “off” button is pushed.
5) A hand-held device used by traffic agents will determine if you’ve set your device to pay for parking (or perhaps just a green LED to indicate it’s been set?) If you haven’t set it, you’ll get the same ticket as you would have for an expired meter.
6) If you’ve overstayed the legal duration at a particular parking spot, you’ll also get a ticket.
7) For those who prefer to pay by cash or CC, they can continue to do so (just like the “Cash” lanes that coexist with e-z pass lanes).
ICOT: The parking device you’re suggesting already exists in Israel.
uneeq-
Humph.
Back to the drawing board.
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This isn’t an invention, but a suggestion for improvement:
Valet parking at simchos in Brooklyn usually means street parking, possibly several blocks away.
If the valets had small motorized foldable scooters available, it would increase the range of parking spots they could use and also speed up the cars’ retrieval process after the simcha.
The scooters should be foldable and have electric motors, to minimize noise and mess. They will need to include something to protect the car’s mats in rainy weather.
Another “parking” idea:
A small printer should be available to print out a tiny street map (index-card sized) showing where a guest’s car is, for those who prefer to just go get it themselves when they leave.
1) A GPS unit that allows you to actually program your trip street-by-street, if you so choose.
2) A simple way to download driving directions from Google (where it is quite easy to do the above street-by-street trip planning) would also be nice.
Public restrooms should all have a way to get hand paper towels without having to touch the germy, wet surface of a handle that needs to be pumped to dispense the paper.
This can be accomplished via an electric eye, a foot pump, or the brown paper towels we are all familiar with from yeshiva.
There are other unsanitary / yucky surfaces in public restrooms too, but they can be worked around.
An automatic troll detector.
A translator program that would be able to translate rabbinic texts into English.
We can call it “Artscroll”.
ICOT, many restrooms nowadays (including in some yeshivos) have paper towel dispensers that work with a sensor. The problem is you can’t use them on Shabbos.
On a related note, I once saw a bathroom in a fancy place that had toilet seat covers that cover the entire seat and are replaced by pushing a button that makes it roll away like a conveyor belt and be replaced with a new clean one. Now we just need those in all public bathrooms with sensors rather than buttons…
Then there are those public towels that everyone shares at some sinks in Israel…
An electric chair that is also yotze one or all of the arba misois beis din.
a winter jacket that is also a rain jacket at the same time! We really need those in E”Y.
DaasYochid–
“An automatic troll detector.“
+1
With an ejection seat.
YW Moderator-42–
“…many restrooms nowadays (including in some yeshivos) have paper towel dispensers that work with a sensor. The problem is you can’t use them on Shabbos.“
I’m surprised a yeshiva would have that. What do people do on Shabbos?
“…I once saw a bathroom in a fancy place that had toilet seat covers that cover the entire seat and are replaced by pushing a button that makes it roll away like a conveyor belt and be replaced with a new clean one.“
Cool!
Just make sure that it’s really a one-way roll and not a belt that loops the same paper ’round and ’round 😛
“Then there are those public towels that everyone shares at some sinks in Israel…“
I’ve seen them here too. Yuck.
“
A translator program that would be able to translate rabbinic texts into English.
“
far too much of this already.
To sleep, perchance to dream. Inventions to take you to REM-land and stamp that tourist visa.
1. The soother: tranquilize a crying baby back to sleep.
2. The imposter: converts the mommy’s interrupted sleep time to quality sleep time so she doesn’t feel like the sleep-deprived monster she has become.
3. The player: gives students adequate sleep-equivalent time whilst allowing them to stay up to all hours gaming — er, studying.
4. The power napper: allows working people to turn 5 minutes with their head down on the desk after lunch into a refreshing and invigorating break.
5. The trainer: converts sleep interrupted by frequent breaks spent going to the littlest room into an uninterrupted vista. Allows users to drink more than just a sip after dinner, too.
6. The plug: converts the sound of your spouse’s snoring to your choice of the sound of Caribbean waves upon the beach, chanting of Eicha, cats purring, Rush Limbaugh, gentle rainfall, or professor of water sanitation on the history of flocculation.
7. The 24/6: Slumber the week away and wake refreshed for your holy Shabbos rest.
Artscroll is limited in the scope of what it produces. An employee over there told me that originally, they wanted to publish a digest of rishonim on each daf, but this was knocked down, on the grounds that this would basically take prestige and usefulness from rebbeim.
and limits are good.
A car that has sensors, cameras and everything needed so that you can just tell it where you want to go and it will safely get you there.
Wisey, Google has been working on that for a while. The Wikipedia article on the project says that Nevada, Florida and California have already passed laws permitting driverless cars.
@rebdoniel said:
“on the grounds that this would basically take prestige and usefulness from rebbeim”
That reason sounds very unlikely, given that the work on the ???? ????? ?????? predates the Artscroll shas and is in universal use.
Rabbeim would have no problems producing an interesting shiur, daf hayomi shiurim are increasingly popular despite many using Artscroll gemorahs.
Anyway, ?? ?????? ???? ???? and there’s always more to be said as evidenced by countless compendiums of chiddushei torah al hashas that are produces despite the ???? ????? ?????? existing.
More likely is that such a task is too huge, and they have to limit themselves to what’s possible, as you indicate. The ???? ????? ?????? is far from complete and a much larger work than the Artscroll shas.
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