Inventors Report

Device to stop dogs pulling on lead

A device placed in a dog's lead emits a sound if the dogs pulls, and if it continues to pull it gives the dog an electric shock..

Lightening protector and appliance expander for telephones

This device consists of an optical sender copnnected to the exchange line, a length of optical fibre connected to an optical/electrical convertor for the subscriber to connect telephone appliances. If the line from the exchange is struck by lightening, the lightening cannot travel down the optical fibre and damage the subscribers' equipment. Also, the optical/electrical convertor can be powerful enough to connect devices with an REN greater than the 4 available from the exchange.

Virtual Travel

Use virtual reality headsets to visit your friends via the Internet. With a suitable set-up it could seem to your friends that you are there and to you that you are there.

Preventing Cheque Fraud

A recent television item (Feb 1996) suggested that criminals were
 stealing post from the Royal Mail and were fradulently converting 
cheques to pay sums to accounts designated by them.

Some ideas are suggested below.

1. Use a spark gap type pen that etches the payee's name into the
 cheque so it cannot be erased.

2. Print the background pattern on the cheque with a material that is
 easily defaced by attempts to erase any writning on it.


3. (the most drastic) everytime someone write a cheque they also mail
 a copy thereof to their bank. Only when the bank gets both cheques
 do they transfer the money. The inconvenience caused by this method
 suggests that it could be restricted to cheques over a certain sum of 
money.

Telephone queues - making them cheaper

Computer companies are infamous for putting callers, even potential customers, in a queue when they listen to music, often paid for at peak rates in business hours, for fifteen minutes or more

One answer to the inevitable lost business may be for a computer driven telephone system to take people's numbers, and call them back in rotation. That way customers can get on with their work whilst waiting for the call and also save the telephone bill.

All the above were by John de Rivaz. Now lets hear your ideas! Your name will be added, and you address/email address if requested.

Here's the first ...

Head up speech for deaf people

Wed Jul 31 07:50:55 1996 For the hearing impaired, Glasses that converts speech into writing and projects the writing closed caption style in front of the viewer.

From <William_See@wow.com>

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