Thinkgeek has created a portal for people to submit ideas called the Thinkgeek IdeaFactory. Product ideas will be evaluated and should they come to fruition, the submitter can earn some money (payment and royalties) and can re-sell their product if they so choose. They only stipulate that product ideas aren’t based on a licensed property (so no dinnerware based on TRON discs), the products have to stand on their own. I submitted a few designs. Here is the first one:

This is the “Desk Dashboard”. which is like a small clock you keep at your workstation that is plugged into the PC via USB, and is entirely based on the dashboard of an automobile. It emits lights and sounds to notify you of important emails, lunchtime, coffee breaks, and your hourly stand up and stretch health check. Program your routine in the PC and the Desk Dashboard carries it out.

The “Fuel” (Coffee) gauge is a countdown clock to your scheduled coffee breaks. It would not actually be able to detect the coffee level in your cup! Maybe a weight scale peripheral can do that.

The dashboard emits chimes similar to a car, like when the door is ajar and the keys are left in the ignition, or forgetting to put the seat belt on.

It can be expanded to include Facebook and Twitter notifications, an Odometer-style time clock, a hazard light function (red button and yellow blinking lights) to scare co-workers away, and a quitting time alert. Your boss might not be enamored with the last one.