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Post a possibly good app idea that you have no intention of doing yourself.

123 points| bemmu | 17 years ago | reply

At school we often had to draw class diagrams, basically boxes containing some text, with arrows pointing to other boxes. The free tool we were using for this was made with Java, and would often be very buggy and was generally hated. I couldn't really find anything I liked and ended up making the diagrams in Gimp, not fun. I was really pining for a small perhaps Flash-based web tool that would let me make diagrams and download as PDF.

251 comments

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[+] mdasen|17 years ago|reply
So, many cities have bus systems and those bus systems now-a-days are usually GPS equipped for several reasons (notably that a central office can monitor the system and that the busses can announce ADA-compliant stop messages based on location without the driver being involved).

I'd love to have something on my phone that would tell me where the next bus was on a cool Google Map (or other) and an estimated time to arrival (which could be calculated by Google Maps). Of course, you'd have to get your transit authority to give you access to their GPS results.

But this would probably be one of the most helpful things a transit authority could do. The problem most people have with public transit is that it can be inconvenient, but often it is convenient if you have better/more complete knowledge of it. For example, when I get up in the morning, I have no idea whether a bus went by a minute ago and it'll be another 20+ minutes waiting or whether a bus is 2 minutes away.

This could also help trip planning. Often in a mass transit system, there are multiple routes to get anywhere. The trip planners we have today are primitive in that they often don't take current information into account (such as speed at various times of day, location of the next bus/trolly/subway train in proximity, etc.). Using GPS information would greatly change that.

[+] jjs|17 years ago|reply
If you trust your local transit authority's posted timetables, then you could gather GPS coordinates for bus stops and write an app that correlates the two with your current location and time.
[+] tremendo|17 years ago|reply
A Pandora equivalent for pr0n. Enter/grade a few images you like or dislike, build a profile and "stations" to group similar kinds of content. Maybe these profiles could be condensed into some short-length string--say a Meyer-Briggs type of string (INTP, etc)--that you can then carry with you without having to actually give out personal info, but that says hey, according to this standard, these are my likes/dislikes when it comes to erotic imagery, now gimme the goods.

Just sayin'

[+] limmeau|17 years ago|reply
A database of MAC addresses of stolen equipment. Participants install a client which listens for the MAC addresses of all computers in the local network, alerting the participant that the new possessor of a stolen MacBook Pro 15", 2006 edition, two deep scratches on the lid, seems to be nearby.

Of course, you'd have to find a way of guarding against malicious entries.

[+] DanielBMarkham|17 years ago|reply
Ad exploder. An add-in for FF and IE that lets you "explode" ads by clicking on them, complete with sound effects and animation (or not). After you explode the ad, you'll never see any more material in that spot again.

I don't just want to not see ads, I want something with some visceral action, something to make the ads not want to come back! -- ie, something fun.

[+] rrhyne|17 years ago|reply
If you dropped the part about never seeing an ad there again, you could probably get display Ad companies to pay you for each explosion as a click, because if a user exploded it, then they saw the ad. Then, you'd LOVE ads!
[+] Tichy|17 years ago|reply
I've been thinking about turning the daily act of email spam deletion into a brain jogging game (like the one that is selling like crazy for Nintendo DS).
[+] froo|17 years ago|reply
Some kind of GPS-based app for a mobile device that works out how you get to and from work and tries and puts you in touch with others who work closeby and the hours that you do for the sake of carpooling.

Using your phone to reduce carbon emissions.

[+] tocomment|17 years ago|reply
Sell sunscreen in little packets (like ketchup packets) that can fit in your wallet. That way you'll never forget sunscreen. Should I patent* this?

* I hate patents.

[+] LogicHoleFlaw|17 years ago|reply
But what do you do when you have sunscreen on your burger and mayo on your back? I think this might backfire.
[+] elecengin|17 years ago|reply
Well now you only have a year under 102(b)... This counts as public disclosure.

Although, more seriously, I doubt it would be accepted. In order to be patented, the idea must be novel, useful, and not obvious. It meets the requirements for useful, but not-obvious and novel may be harder to establish. (Depending on any patents for single-serving condiment packaging, they may be phrased in general enough terms to be considered prior art)

[+] pavel_lishin|17 years ago|reply
I'm 100% certain that I'd find a way to make one of these explode when I sat down, covering my wallet, money and ID in a sticky mess.

Which would make it pretty tough to get into bars.

[+] sutro|17 years ago|reply
That idea's been done, but if you could develop a packet of goo that could be used as both ketchup and sunscreen, then you'd have something. You could put half on your burger, and the other half on your face. Huge time saver.
[+] zaius|17 years ago|reply
Awesome idea. Even more awesome that it already exists. Ordering some right now...
[+] inglorian|17 years ago|reply
I don't think you can patent this...my school gives these out at any outdoor event. My friends and I usually collect a bunch and I keep them around -- in my purse, in my car, etc.
[+] blurry|17 years ago|reply
Individually wrapped sunscreen wipes are already in most pharmacies.
[+] zupatol|17 years ago|reply
I actually carry sunscreen with me at all times. I use it maybe once a year, and I can't predict when.
[+] limmeau|17 years ago|reply
A first-aid application for e.g. iPhone which shouts at me what to do when finding an unconscious person. With clear voice and pictures that I can even understand if my head's in "omg omg he's dying what to do what to do" mode.

(Perhaps such an app exists; I'm too far away from an iTunes-capable computer right now to check.)

[+] c1sc0|17 years ago|reply
That's a pretty cool idea, but aren't you better off calling 911 or your local equivalent? What about liability issues? What about responsiveness? This thing needs to be fast and non-intrusive !

I was in a (non-life-threatening) accident last week and I can think of a couple of useful first-aid pointers lots of people overlook, like:

* so what is the local emergency number? (based on GPS position) * "let's give him something to drink to comfort him ..." (Don't !)

Basically a decision tree to help people with basic first aid. These protocols exist in the first aid world.

[+] gills|17 years ago|reply
This is similar to an idea I proposed for a non-literate UI for a developing world mobile app. If there is no doctor in the village they can get quick first-aid tips, organize transport, and a remote doctor can try to assess the problem with pictures.

Google e-IMCI to see some actual research in this area, maybe you'll be inspired, though that is focused on more formal procedures for nurses (like detecting what's wrong with a sick child).

[+] bemmu|17 years ago|reply
It exists and it seems very good.
[+] cmos|17 years ago|reply
Custom video games (for non geeks). I doctored up a basic shooter game for my girlfriends birthday, replacing the backgrounds + all the characters with relevant images from her life. It makes a basic shooter game much more interesting when someone you know is attacking!
[+] Tichy|17 years ago|reply
Hm, I pondered doing this for my memory game (pairs). You think there would be much interest for this? I could even automate it to create memory games from flickr.
[+] strlen|17 years ago|reply
A SLIME* for Python, Perl or Ruby (http://common-lisp.net/project/slime/).

All of these languages have a powerful reflection/meta programming facility (yes, Perl included). So technically, something like could be implemented:

1) The server (using Twisted in Python or POE in Perl) listens for requests. Requests are for objects.

2) The server looks at the request, serializes it into a s-exp describing the state of the object sent to it.

3) Emacs then looks at the s-exp and decides what to do with the object initially looked at (suggest a method to complete/use on? highlights it red if it's wrong? bring up HTML formated documentation, etc...)

[+] apgwoz|17 years ago|reply
> SLIME* for Python, Perl or Ruby

I'm not entirely sure, but I think you might just have to implement a Swank server, and SLIME* would work without problems. It could be that you're forced to use s-expressions, but I doubt it.

[+] almost|17 years ago|reply
You might want to look into ropemacs (and pymacs which it uses) for some slimeish stuff with python in Emacs. I way to go from there to slime but it's a start.
[+] shalmanese|17 years ago|reply
I've always thought about a system for teaching kids about programming by building AI players for online games. The system would consist of 3 components:

1. A screen scraping/computer vision toolkit that would supply most of the AI primitives to interpret games 2. An interpreter for each game that would provide an machine usable API to interact with the game 3. An AI program that would then play the game

Component 1 would only need to be built once, Component 2 would need to be built once per game and then Component 3 is what the kids would get to build.

I always thought this would be an excellent, gentle introduction into the world of programming.

Take Fishy (http://www.xgenstudios.com/game.php?keyword=fishy) for example. It would be really simple to build a dumb AI that could do ok but to build a really great AI would involve some really sophisticated path planning and optimization algorithms.

What better way to get kids inspired and wanting to learn about programming than have them solve the games they're already playing?

[+] theantidote|17 years ago|reply
A Taxi service site and iPhone app. Lets you send your current location to the cab company with your iPhone and then track the cab as it arrives. Maybe even offer a prepay option so you can pay with your paypal account and just read off a confirmation number to the cab driver or something at the end of the trip for them to bill you with. Maybe in order to prevent confusion over more than one cab being called from the same location the app can light your phone screen up in a unique color for you to call the cab with as it approaches.

This wouldn't really be necessary in NYC where cabs are ubiquitous but in DC it would be useful.

EDIT: Crud, already sorta exists: http://taximagic.com/

[+] tptacek|17 years ago|reply
Something that takes blog posts from a related cluster of blogs and presents them as a threaded newsgroup.
[+] rrival|17 years ago|reply
I've always wanted to see this in a Sphere-like way - I want to read HN's comments on random articles on BBC, for example, while I'm on BBC News. Or Read Reddit and Digg's comments in tabs beneath the original source article. I'd also like to be able to 'subscribe' to which communities' comments I'd be able to read.
[+] olefoo|17 years ago|reply
A cradle that updates the baby's facebook page based on decibels, activity, dampness.
[+] vaksel|17 years ago|reply
a bugmenot type service...except it would act as a proxy. The proxy will be used to hide the actual login info, and to prevent the users from screwing around with the actual account.(basically I see this as changing the username to XXXX, not letting users go to pages like usercp.php etc).

Right now bugmenot is pretty much useless, since all accounts are dead almost right away.

This way the passwords etc will remain private, and the accounts won't go dead right away

[+] zupatol|17 years ago|reply
I would like a shopping list on my mobile phone.

The main inconvenience I have with my shopping list on paper is that the things I forget to buy are not automatically on next week's shopping list. And I might forget less things if I could easily delete the items I buy while I'm in the supermarket. This sounds like a small easy-to-write application.

The application should also have the advantages of my paper shopping list. My wife should be able to add things to the list using her phone. Adding items to the list should be extremely easy. I hate writing text messages.

[+] cglee|17 years ago|reply
Filter or customize your tv ads. I hate it when a horror movie ad comes on and I have to scramble to change the channel. Similarly, I may like watching John&Kate+8, but that doesn't mean I want to watch the typically associated feminine hygiene commercials.
[+] jrp|17 years ago|reply
Also, how about not having to see the same ad three times during a given show? At this point maybe we're getting too close to tivo for the advertisers to feel comfortable.
[+] brfox|17 years ago|reply
How about at least filtering the online ads. Just put a little link in the corner of the ad that allows you to say "no thanks, I never want to see this ad again."
[+] profgubler|17 years ago|reply
Site that let's teenagers list what kinds of odd jobs they would do for money, like lawn mowing, leaf raking, garage cleaning. Then people in their neighborhood can look for kids to do this work.

You would set a means of money exchange and the kids could publish what they are earning money for to draw the adults into picking them.

[+] trickjarrett|17 years ago|reply
For toll roads, some sort of in car item that will receive a short audio ad and play it. Thus using the ad money to pay my toll. I realize there are several issues immediately off the top of it, but it could be a viable alternative to having to pay tolls.
[+] crpatino|17 years ago|reply
Rescue-Time for Intranets (stand alone would do too).

Ideally it would be able to track not only what applications you are using or URL are looking at, but also which files you are working with. Then you can tag entire directories in order to keep track of projects.

Pretty reports is a must

Bonus points if you provide programmatic hooks to automate filling of damned time tracking, ticket trackig and TPS tracking 3rd party solutions.

[+] betageek|17 years ago|reply
Global Tabbing - I have a lot of windows open (as do you all i'm sure) and i'd really to be able to bundle them into one tabbed window in a Firefox stylee.

Look at something like Coda (www.panic.com) and think instead of having all the apps built in to the app you just have a tabbed window container that you add app windows to that allows you to quickly switch from one to the other (eg. tabs for text editor,terminal,version control gui,ftp client, pdf viewer)