My coworkers will often ask me for assistance or give me an assignment when I’m already busy doing something else. It’s awkward to tell them that I’m too busy, and by the time I get a chance to do that, it’s too late – they’ve already distracted me from my other task.

This could be avoided with a CPU Usage Tie and Tie Clip (see link). With a single glance at my tie, anyone would be able to see how busy my brain is. If it’s moderately busy, they would know to ask me only simple questions or give me easy tasks to do; if they see that my brain is nearly full they would know not to bother me. All I would have to do is move the tie clip whenever my available mental capacity changes.
-- AO, Mar 11 2004

(?) Illustration http://www.geocitie...gn/CPUUsageTie.html
[AO, Oct 04 2004]

Might look natty with... http://www.halfbake...ning-on-empty_20hat
The running on empty hat [Fishrat, Oct 04 2004]

High visibility brain use indicator. http://www.unitedme...lbert-20040315.html
Dilbert wears it. [ldischler, Oct 04 2004]

The problem I see is that they have to get into a position where they can see your tie. That would, under many circustances (say sitting at a desk), distract you at least as much as telling them you are busy.
-- taqueso, Mar 11 2004


love that tie!
-- po, Mar 11 2004


I’ve arranged my workspace so that people can stand to the side and in front of me as I’m sitting at my desk. From that vantage point they can see my tie.

If people can only approach you from behind, you may want drape your tie over your shoulder.
-- AO, Mar 11 2004


(finishes work, adjusts tie to zero)
(realizes concentration involved in adjusting tie, adjusts to 5%)
(realizes thinking about adjusting while adjusting tie requires more concentration, adjusts to 10%)
(finishes adjusting tie, adjusts to zero)
(repeat)
Damn background processes.
-- Worldgineer, Mar 11 2004


I am fairly sure your head gets hotter as you think harder (mine does anyway). How about wearing a heat sensitive tie around your head like a bandana. Your colleagues will be able to tell at a distance when you are feverish from work (or disease). In either case they are guaranteed to give you a wide berth.
-- k9island, Mar 11 2004


Gets hotter as we think harder about whom...?
-- DrCurry, Mar 11 2004


Fortunately, the overall state of the brain is one thing we can measure with a couple of electrodes:

mostly alpha waves (9-14 Hz) = not thinking = 0% cpu
mostly beta waves (15-40 Hz) = thinking = 100% cpu

I need one of these ties.
-- benjamin, Mar 11 2004


If people are too persistent tighten that tie and show them the blue-screen-of-death, right on your face.
-- kbecker, Mar 11 2004


I'd wear one, even though girls wearing ties always gets strange looks...
-- spacecadet, Mar 11 2004


The beauty of such ties, if baked, is that they can only tell whether - not what - you are thinking. Get paid to formulate HB ideas.
-- Mungo, Mar 11 2004


//girls wearing ties always gets strange looks//

Why, what else are you wearing?
-- Detly, Mar 11 2004


// The problem I see is that they have to get into a position where they can see your tie //

Tie it around your head, rambo style. That way everyone can see it, and the electrodes can be built-in. Of course I'm now getting dangerously close to a 'thinking cap' type device (with lightbulb on top), which doesn't really have the professional image of a simple neck tie gauge.
-- benjamin, Mar 11 2004


This needs an over ride, a switch to 90% thought process for when the boss arrives and you are day dreaming, or the hopeless fool asks you how to do something that you have explained several times a day for a week.
-- engineer1, Mar 12 2004


//Tie it around your head, rambo style.//

Thanks [benjamin], I have seen the light. Pastries all around.
-- taqueso, Mar 12 2004


I can't think about this right now. My brain is all tied up. +
-- Fishrat, Mar 13 2004


There’s an extra-short version for people who don’t have much brain capacity to start out with. (Not for anyone here of course.)
-- AO, Mar 14 2004


I like this... especially the automatic electrode version.
-- zigness, Mar 14 2004


That really is a lovely tie. Straight out of the 80's. The only problem I see is remembering to adjust the levels after each task. I can just see people hitching their tie pins up to their chins every time the manager walks around.
-- k_sra, Mar 16 2004


For the bow-tie wearers among us (?), the tie could be made to rotate at speeds depending on brain load. The added advantage being that under extreme stress of cerebral activity it might double as a cooling fan.
-- phlogiston, Mar 16 2004


This tie idea could be a great deal more proactive, through the attchment of a small electric shocking device attached to the elbow or something. When CPU usage dropped below, say, 80 percent then a zap would prompt the worker to work harder.
-- phauna, Mar 17 2004


[phauna] - I reckon it should zap the boss instead; after all, encouraging productivity is the boss' responsibility.
-- benjamin, Mar 17 2004


Perhaps your tie could bend up like Dilbert’s. The more bending, the more brain use. For really heavy-duty cognition, it could flutter over your shoulder, adding to the visibility.
-- ldischler, Mar 17 2004


[UnaBubba] - Don't knock them hypercolor shirts!
For a long time my hypercolor t-shirt was the only one that I bothered to iron.
-- benjamin, Mar 17 2004


[Worldgineer] Haha!
-- nomadic_wonderer, Mar 20 2004


It is much easier to let people know how busy you are by letting them judge how many four letter words you screamed, how long that middle finger stayed up, and how many threats uppon their well being were made after they interupt you. :) (+)
-- thelambs, Mar 20 2004



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