It must have happened to us all...you're in the shower, and someone's desperately trying to communicate with you. Only trouble is, you can't hear a word they're saying. What better solution to the problem than the shower messenger?
A keyboard terminal outside the bathroom (or indeed anywhere else in the house) allows a person on the outside world to type in the message. This is then sent to the person in the shower using Morse Code.
What's that you say? How can we be sure they are getting the Morse Code message bright and clear? Simple - instead of an audio signal, it is sent directly through the water supply they're washing in. Their set water temperature is interspersed with dots and dashes of freezing h2o - a signal they're sure to pay attention to.
Pre-set messages include "Get out of that shower now" and "Have you taken Squeefles in with you again?"-- -alx, May 28 2001 Universal Interrupt http://www.halfbake...om/idea/Dead_20LineIf PS didn't like mine, he'll flame yours [reensure, May 28 2001] Text->Morse Converter http://inter.scoutn...orse/morseform.htmlSee how your favourite message would come out in dots and dashes of cold water [-alx, May 28 2001, last modified Oct 05 2004] As a direct descendant of Samuel Morse I appreciate this by prejudiced default. Is there any money in it for me?-- thumbwax, May 29 2001 Somehow, I think *all* the messages would come across as "Get out of that shower now."-- beauxeault, May 29 2001 So it means the person in the shower has to know Morse code. If it was me in that shower, the last thing I would be thinking while bursts of freezing h2o are directed at my bod is, "Dot - dot - dash - dot - dot..." I'd be too busy freaking out.-- jetgrrl, May 29 2001 Yeah, there needs to be a friendlier version that does this just with water pressure, as explained (and for mud, baked) in the "Internet Water" idea. (See link.)-- jutta, May 29 2001 OK...I just don't get this.... I share my home with 8 people, none of which are related to me (all employees). We have one very large bathroom with NO lock on the door (there are three more half bathrooms in the whole complex). Anyone can enter the bathroom when someone is showering and, due to floorplan and frosted glass shower doors, the person's privacy is never compromised. You can stand beside the shower and talk to the person in the shower without ever seeing the front of the shower......this happens all the time. It would seem to me, in most single family homes, that entering the bathroom and actually talking to the person in the shower shouldn't be a problem.....-- Susen, May 29 2001 [thumbwax] Not unless there is for me [beauxeault] As this was the inspiration for my idea, I wouldn't be very surprised [jetgrrl] That's part of the fun of the device. At least, for those on the operating rather than receiving end. [susen] You've obviously not seen my bathroom. Nor, I'm assuming, would my female housemates be that impressed by any attempt I made to come into the bathroom and converse with them whilst showering.
Whereas they'd be mightily impressed, obviously, by having unexpected dots and dashes of supercooled water squirted at them. And [jutta] - as a concession to you, the cold water will be at increased pressure.-- -alx, May 29 2001 A blinking light woud probably be much better for everyones well-being.-- salmon, May 29 2001 How about signal flags? Or just writing on steamy surface of shower door? "Death Soon" usually works wonders.-- thumbwax, May 30 2001 But there's no guarantee that a blinking light or signal flags will be detected by the person on the receiving end. It's more or less certain they'll detect changes in water temperature.-- -alx, May 30 2001 then reverse the direction of the water-- technobadger, May 30 2001 I know it's not as fun, but how about a led-matrix marquee just below the shower-head? It wouldn't necessarily make the balst of ice water unnecesary, either.-- nick_n_uit, May 30 2001 I already have this function in my house, just keep flushing the toilet, for hot water(dashes) . and keep running the hot taps for cold water(dots), simple-- Little_Crow, May 30 2001 Some of the suggested solutions are OK in principle, but fail to take into account 1) Temporary blindness because of stray detergent 2) Temporary deafness due to water in the ear 3) Those more disadvantaged than ourselves. My device would be perfect for sending messages to those unfortunate individuals who are both blind and deaf, thus incapable of hearing loudspeakers or seeing big red flashing lights. I've not yet heard of people who are otherwise capable of washing themselves who cannot sense the touch of water.
Helen Keller understood the value of water signals when water was an important component of her first understood broadcast from the outside world. We too could all share her moment of epiphany.-- -alx, May 30 2001, last modified May 31 2001 I'd like to report that my Shower Messenger Service (SMS) is fully functional, I just got the blast of scalding hot water, which I have found means "Get Out Of The Bathroom Now"-- Little_Crow, May 31 2001 random, halfbakery