idea - either use an excise bike or treadmill when at work on computers.

problem: At work i sit on a desk, gradually blood flow stops, the only moving parts of me are my eyes and fingers. I'm sure the brain does the same. I know whilst focussed on a task for hours, somebody's spoken to me and i've mentally struggled to use 'human' communication. I've also felt myself 90% fall asleep at the desk. My body feels enourmous. Like i'm a little controller inside a massive robot. You can still work... but i'm sure your body is starting to sleep. And in the winter you have to heat the room to 40 degrees centrigrade to stop your core temperature from dropping off the bottom.

So - why not have an excersise bike underneath your desk? Could you concentrate? would it Help you concentrate? At the worst it would get you a bit of 'free' exercise. Killing 2 stones at once - you don't have to go to the gym after work.

I've had this idea for years, as usual everybody thought it was a rubbish idea. So i 'borrowed' a excercise bike off somebody and made a standing-height desk.

My conclusion, after 6 months and well over 1000 miles? it's great. There is No Reason why everybody in the world doesn't have one. In winter you can sit doing computer work in an un-heated house. I find i pedal about half the time. I used the computer for _many hours_ a day - so that's fine. Occasionally the pedalling stops (i think it's when i come accross a new problem) but i start again because the seat is less comfortable when you're not pedalling.

The daownside is that in the summer you get WAY too hot. And you need fans to cool you down. But, the benefits all are true. Make one today!

I know this is a slightly cheaky entry to a half-bakery - because it's been made. But - i recon the idea is half- baked enough to be worth a mention...

If people say i should remove it i will...

[edit 1] - i re-wrote the description. previously i suggested that it could make electricity to power the computer (which i will do one-day) but this got people saying "it's the gym which generates electricty" - which is not idea. The focus is to get some movement whilst at a desk.
-- nicholaswhitworth, Apr 10 2010

Here's one i baked earlier http://nicholaswhitworth.com/desk/
Pedal Desk has exercise bike underneath. It's fun. [nicholaswhitworth, Apr 10 2010]

there's this one. Pedal_20powered_20office
[po, Apr 10 2010]

Low-resistance Model http://www.amazon.c...Pedal/dp/B001421L06
Yours is better also because it is stabilized by your body weight on the seat, allowing less wiggly resistance. [swimswim, Apr 15 2010]

...still, [+] for your great illustration of the idea. I also like that you point that it helps keep you warm. I've seen too many people buy electric heaters for that purpose in cold offices. (Expect your sales to be seasonal though.)

EDIT: formerly preceded by a beautifully-worded opening anno by Po.
-- swimswim, Apr 10 2010


welcome to hb, [nw]
-- po, Apr 10 2010


Goodness! What are you doing actually making things you've dreamed up? That sort of behaviour just will not be tolerated! This is the HALFbakery by Jove, not the Fullbakery!!!! Fulmination and frothing!!!!eleven!!

No, in seriousness, splendid work that man. [+]
-- BunsenHoneydew, Apr 13 2010


yep, I said it was most probably redundant as a power gym. deleting annos is not a sensible thing to do.
-- po, Apr 13 2010


And if I might add... Aside from deleting annos, posting an idea every half-hour or so is also frowned upon. If you spaced them out a bit, this would still be the halfbakery, as apposed to the nicholaswhitworth and shawnbob show.
-- MikeD, Apr 13 2010


The hazing of the noobs.

My suggestion is to use capital letters and format your ideas so they don't look like you took a big dump all over the website.

Admirable work on your own site though.
-- rcarty, Apr 13 2010


[Marked-for-Deletion] redundant.
-- po, Apr 14 2010


It's not a gym which generates electricity! No electricity is generated.

I deleted the posts because they applied to the previous wording of the idea, which i totally re- wrote. This is not a power-gym. It's an exercise desk. No electricity generated.
-- nicholaswhitworth, Apr 15 2010


I understand more of what the half bakery is about now. It's not the forum for ideas I was hoping.

It's about 20-40 'regulars'. New users post *actual* ideas, and are often slayed for it. The more experienced users post "joke" ideas... which are more of a 'joke comment'. The ideas which ARE excellent (hot ice cubes is GENIUS) can be well received here - but should probably go into production instead. I've seen good ideas not recognised at all. You've got some REAL regulars here... people that have been on this website daily for 5 years? But i don't think they're particularly interested in ideas. I guess it's more of a "ha ha" site where people laugh at the crazy. It's not that bad though. Often the 'annotations' box along the side is for "the crew" to just makes jokes between themselves.

I've had some interesting feedback on some of my ideas, but there have often been occasions when people have Not read the post, or not understood it, or ... are just plain rude (see above) - really for no reason.

It's an odd community, it's not the "mad ideas" haven i was hoping it would be... but i guess it's about as good as you're going to get. Also - the actual website Could Be A Lot Better - and i'll happily make it for you (bakes person). The half- bakery is an excellent name - I couldn't ever top that.

See you later.
-- nicholaswhitworth, Apr 16 2010


You sir, need to delve more deply before making such generalizations.
Most of the regulars have become jaded when it comes to ideas which constantly pop up over and over.
'Every' regular I've been privilaged to encounter is interested in anything new.

I've lost count of how many times my ideas have been slapped down for lack of basic knowlege...recently in fact.

It is the "mad ideas" haven you was hoping it would be...you just have to smelt a lot of ore in order to find the nuggets and that my freind...is how it should be.

Stick around. Several of your ideas have gotten me to thinking and that's aces in my book.

New wouldn't be new if it was easy.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Apr 16 2010


You're a poopiehead [nicholasshitworth].

However I noticed that your suicide (even though it looks like you're leaving your smelly old corpse behind) post is full of gem taglines.

"It's not the forum for ideas I was hoping."
"It's not that bad though"
"It's an odd community"
"It's about as good as you're going to get"
"The actual website Could Be A Lot Better" (without caps)

-- rcarty, Apr 16 2010


dude... your actual idea is "use an exercycle while sitting at a tall desk".
-- FlyingToaster, Apr 16 2010


[nw], I've been a n00b since 2007. Don't worry, and most of all don't be offended -- as you can see, some like the ideas, some don't.

I was quite happy with my Googolplexidecimal idea -- but I offended ALL of the math-centric personalities here, of which there are many, and it was boned into oblivion.

Relax!

[edit] - well, not quite oblivion, as not too many people even voted on it. But it still makes me giggle.
-- CaptainClapper, Apr 18 2010



random, halfbakery