Ok, so here's the thing. I have this great idea for an improvement to a commonly used product. Though making it happen myself could probably make me quite a bit of money, I know that I simply don't have the means to do it. So, I've decided to blog the idea in hopes that someone more talented than myself will one day do it for me. So listen up Kleenex, I want to see this on the shelves sometime in 2009.

The idea is simple. The product would be called "Diagnose" (pronounced "diagnose", but with "nose" highlighted in a different color as a sort of play on words) and would be a color-changing tissue paper that could diagnose your cold for you. Someone who was sick would simply blow their nose into the tissue paper, chemicals in the tissue paper would react to certain germs or bacteria in the persons snot, and 60 seconds later it would change colors. Then the person could compare the tissue paper's color to the diagram on the side of the box and they'd have an idea of what was ailing them.

Obviously I'm not well knowledged in what it would take to produce something like this, but that's what we have our scientists for. Right? Now the tissue wouldn't have to be able to diagnose every single type of sickness. All it would really need to do is be able to tell the person they have "just a runny nose", "just the common cold", "something curable with over the counter drugs", or "please consult your doctor". What do you think?

posted by Christopher Schnese