I think it would be cool to have clear plastic windows in the floors of cars so that the passengers could see the road whizzing along underneath them as they are driving along.

Have the government give taxpayers access to an internet tax return form with all the sources of income that it knows about already entered into it. It already knows all or most of your sources of income because it receives copies of your tax forms. You would only need to fill in any extra things that the government doesn't know about, if any, and then click submit and your taxes would be filed. That would take just minutes. The computer would calculate how much refund you get....

A computer program that tests peoples eyes to find their eyeglass prescription. It could duplicate the effects of the machine with the lenses that the optometrist makes you look through. The person would look at the computer screen without any glasses on and select which of two images looks clearer repeatedly, just like at the optometrist. The computer program would emulate the effect of an eyeglass lens. The image would look like what a person with perfect vision would see if he put on...

Have a system where people sign up over the internet to go on a vacation package under the understanding that it won't take place unless a certain number of people sign up. The payoff is that the vacation package could be made significantly cheaper than normal because the plane would be full.

Cell phone theft is a serious problem. Thieves steal the cell phones so that they can make free calls on them. You could reduce cell phone theft by allowing user to specify that a password be used before the cell phone can be used to dial a number. Before you make a call with the cell phone you would have to enter a password which you could choose yourself. This would make the cell phone useless to a thief that did not know the password. This feature would be optional so that users who...

When you label things with indelible ink, it can still be washed off by alcohol. This can be inconvenient if you have to work with alcohol and other solvents. For example, you may be working in a lab and labelling your tubes with a Sharpie and some alcohol spills from the tube and wipes off the labels on your tubes. This is very bad, because now you don't know which sample is which. My idea is to make a clear wax crayon that you use to trace over your ink with. The layer of wax should...

Put elastic strips on the outside of the knees and ankles of sweat pants. This will store some of the energy when you land as you are running, because when you hit the ground your knees and ankles flex. Then it will be easier to take the next step. The contraction of the elastic would help you push off from the ground better, because you extend your knees and ankles to push yourself off the ground to take your next stride. You should be able to run faster. It might also take some of the...