Suman Banerjee's ideas: (click suns to rate or comment on ideas)

1		University students could start their own online job service. This would publish a complete department-wide list of students with their profiles and academics. From the published lists any recruiter could contact the students for interviews.	E-mail
2		Instead of EPABX (Electronic Private Automatic Branch Exchange) machines, develop wireless telephone hubs, like computer network switches, intelligently diverting calls to specific extension numbers in an office. This would save much hassle for wiring.	E-mail
3		Libraries could digitise all their books and put them on an online database. In doing so, they can offer paid online membership throughout the world. Well-known libraries would benefit from this kind of project to the maximum extent.	E-mail
4		Non-air-conditioned public transport buses in hot countries like India should have exhaust fans. When the buses are crowded, exhaust fan would bring some comfort to the passengers.	E-mail
5		A disturbing noise (sound) can be eliminated if it is taken through a microphone, shifted 180 degrees out of phase electronically, amplified and played with an audio speaker. May also be sold as a toy "Cone of Silence" to absorb anything you say.	E-mail
6		Lay expandable polystyrene foam on roofs to insulate and reflect off heat and sunlight in very hot countries during summer. Also putting scrapped pieces of white ceramic tiles on the roofs with white cement could be a very low cost way to cool buildings.	E-mail
7		A local online auction and bartering site for used books, CDs, VCDs, DVDs, etc. could be a very hot proposition for students at a university. Since it's local, students could then meet to exchange items in person without postage or delay.	E-mail
8		The cost of printing and distribution of public transport tickets could be recovered by putting printed advertisements on them.	E-mail
9		A fan with a temperature sensitive regulator. A cut off temperature could be set to switch off the fan (say 23 or 24 degrees C).	E-mail
10		Films could be shot on high-resolution digital cameras without worrying about rejected shots. After the final editing it could be transferred to celluloid. Otherwise it could be directly projected through a digital projector.	E-mail
11		A device that reads and sends electric meter reading to the electric supply company through telephone lines would be a real useful thing. The device can be programmed to dial the electric company once a month.	E-mail
12		Smart cards could be refilled with "Digital Cash" from ATMs, helping their users to buy stuff from automatic vending machines or tickets from unmanned ticket counters.	E-mail
13		Why do we need to carry a credit card? Our fingerprints or iris scan can be validated in realtime and a payment can be confirmed by mastercard, visa, etc. for the registered customers! This would also prevent card theft.	E-mail
14		A smart card (a chip) could determine the telephone number in a wired telephone network (just like a mobile phone), making it possible for the user to remove that card and put it into another phone to retain his or her number when travelling.	E-mail
15		A website from where people of developing countries could buy cheap refurbished computers from USA or Europe.	E-mail
16		Ayurvedic medicines and cosmetics from Himalayan village cottage-industries could be marketed to the western market through webstores as well as indirect distribution channels, fetching resources for the development of this region.	E-mail
17		Supermarkets could provide radio ID tags on each of their items (with product & price info) so that you could just walk though a passage and your smart card with digital cash gets debited automatically, and the bill pops up from a slot for you to collect.	E-mail
18		As the number of FM radio stations increases, like televisions, they could be tuned and memorized, or assigned fixed frequencies for broadcast. In doing so, with a remote handset we could flip channels as 1, 2, 3, etc. without knowing the exact frequency.	E-mail
19		Built-in TiVo: TVs could be sold with in-built hard drives (approx 10 GB for more than 14 hrs.) for recording our favourite programs to be viewed later (may be at the weekends). In this process we could also FF or skip the irritating commercial breaks.	E-mail
20		Insurance cover (against loss / theft, etc.) could be given for mobile phones by the service providers. This could be a very good incentive for heavy users.	E-mail
21		Rain water can be collected from building roofs to store in underground tanks. Washing clothes, watering plants in the garden or washing our cars can be done with that water. It may even be fit for drinking if it were purified.	E-mail
22		A DTH (direct to home) satellite system could converge TV, radio, and phone services. A bundled service could cost less than the existing ones in the long run. Ideal for cities and remote places alike.	E-mail
23		While opening a bank account, the account holder's iris scan could be stored into the database. Thus, when the account holder goes to an ATM, just an iris scan (no cards!) could allow him to access his account.	E-mail
24		A simple improvisation of a portable xray machine fitted with a CCD X-Ray Camera and a PC could be a very low cost alternative to a C-ARM (a realtime imaging machine used during orthopaedic surgery).	E-mail
25		During summer in many parts of the world, the day temperature is high, but after nightfall temperature drops drastically. In those areas the air conditioners, if fitted with an outside temperature sensor, could directly pump in cold outside air.	E-mail
26		Smart cards are being impregnated into numberplates of cars by many city authorities for quick information retrieval about any vehicle and its owners. This can further be used to track cars violating speed limits. Tickets could be mailed to speeders.	E-mail
27		Set up a small Wireless Local Loop, take a broadband connectivity and share the bandwidth and the expense within a locality. No wires!!! No hassles!!!	E-mail
28		Checking visas could be made very efficient by a centralised database of applicants' details (with an iris scan, while issuing). When a person reaches an entry point to a country, a computer connected to the centralised network could validate the details.	E-mail
29		Free postal services could be provided if the cost of the postage is supported by printed advertisements on the envelope.	E-mail
30		Bone replacement could be done with coral, as the porosity would allow vascular tissue to grow into it. Gradually it would become as good as new living bone tissue.	E-mail
31		New, small businesses could buy their equipment, furniture, and computers cheaper by using an online auction service, such as ebay or yahoo. Those closing a business may also recover more by liquidating stock or equipment using online auctions.	E-mail
32		Burglar alarms now can also automatically notify police. Why not connect them so that they automatically dial our mobile phones (when someone breaks in) to play a pre-recorded message, declaring a security breach.	E-mail
33		To save money, USA or European companies could scan and email/fax sketches of engineering drawings to Indian firms for conversion to proper engineering drawings with AUTO CAD. (outsource,outsourcing)	E-mail
34		Toothpaste is a very good cleaning agent for silverware and ornaments.	E-mail
35		Cost of cellular telephone calls can be supported by advertisements. That means when you dial a number you get to hear an advertisement, then the target phone rings. People who are willing to pay should have the option of not listening to the ad.	E-mail
36		If we have a clear plastic curtain with a zip, separating the front and back seats of our cars, we could use car air conditioning cost effectively, while driving alone or there is no one in the back seat.	E-mail
37		Health insurance premium for cigerette smokers could be significantly higher than others to discourage smoking.	E-mail
38		Provide technology and medicines at cost to the poor. Poor people need fishing rods, not fishes.	E-mail
39		Tiny chips, complete with the owner's information could be compulsorily put under the skin of every legal pet. In doing so, the pet owners could be traced back and fined heavily if they abandon their pets.	E-mail
40		Book which could be filled with text & images through an electronic port from a PC. The pages would feel like paper. We can take it to a beach and read it at our leisure. It can be erased later. More info	E-mail
41		To open the caps of a new jar, I put a rubberband around it for a firm grip. Putting a little extra torque than usual opens the cap easily. This is my own original tried and tested trick you can use.	E-mail
42		A fax inbox could be provided to all telephone subscribers. The inbox could be accessed from the internet and the messages could be downloaded from it. In doing so we could do away with our fax machines.	E-mail
43		Composite plastic sheet with a thin metal cladding on top could be used to build automobile body. The metallic cladding would provide the look and feel of a metallic body (with usual car paints), while the plastic sheet would be corrosion proof and cheap.	E-mail
44		Health insurance companies must accomplish forward integration by acquiring chains of hospitals. In doing so, there will be no claim processing hassles for clients, and they would love it.	E-mail
45		Small digital magnetic tape cassettes could be used for storing images in digital cameras instead of very expensive memory cards. Like videotape or film rolls, these cassettes could be used one after another as they are very high capacity storage.	E-mail
46		Helmets with white LED lights would be a very useful thing for the people working inside vessels. Two AAA cells can be placed at the back of the helmet.	E-mail
47		All taxes could be paid online, eliminating all the hassles of offline payments.	E-mail
48		Some taps have a sensor so that whenever someone puts his/her hand under it, water starts to flow. As the hand is removed water stops flowing. Install these taps to reduce the wastage of water.	E-mail
49		Plastic doors with a thin layer of plywood pasted and screwed onto them could look like wooden doors. They could be used as substitutes for wooden doors, saving lot of trees and making doors lighter and easier to open.	E-mail
50		Thin wire heating elements (almost invisible) could be put through car view screens to heat them. If the wires run near the inner surface, this would prevent moisture from collecting from inside while it rains on a very humid day. (windshields, windows)	E-mail