Web site we like

By TOM ZUCCO

© St. Petersburg Times, published July 14, 2000

http://www.halfbakery.com

Business cards for the unemployed. Ads during phone calls. A REAL light saber. Cliff's Notes on the Bible. Shoes with built-in socks. Frozen toast. Hire-A-Stalker.

Of course these are half-baked ideas. That's the point -- and the beauty and the title -- of this Web site. Halfbakery is a communal database of ideas and inventions -- some ridiculous, some scary, and some pretty doggone clever.

What crook wouldn't want a license plate disguiser?

What insomniac wouldn't want a pillow that sings lullabys?

How about modern gladiator tournaments? (Oops, we already have that. They're called Republican and Democratic national conventions.)

The site is user friendly, and visitors can add an idea or submit an amendment to an existing idea. You can also voice your opinion about an idea. Someone suggested a kid-powered TV. Your child a little overweight? If the kid wants to watch TV, he or she would have to pedal a stationary bike that supplies the power to the tube. The kid stops pedalling, the TV shuts off.

"Video games, too!" wrote one visitor.

Not a bad idea, is it? It's only a matter of time before someone develops one of these ideas and makes a fortune.

Or maybe not. Someone else suggested road rage signs posted on highways warning motorists that there's been a high incidence of combative driving ahead. Like those falling rocks or deer crossing signs.

Okay, but what would the sign look like?

A middle finger? A gun coming out of a car window?

Or just a picture of Bobby Knight.

If you'd like to nominate a site, drop me an e-mail at zucco@sptimes.com