Product: Office Supplies: Sticky Notes
color shifting sticky notes   (+32, -1)  [vote for, against]
these sticky notes start out green, then yellow, then white

way back when I was employed I used those little sticky notes

I'd have liked it if they shifted color gradually so I could tell when "must do" was getting old on a green yellow to white path

going from blue to white color seems possible with a microencapsulated version of "sunprints" chemicals; I think there are various color shift reactions that could be gradualized like this

if photosensitized like "sunprints": as peroxide will develop these the microencapsulated free radicals could gradually change the microencapsulated potassium ferrocyanide sunprint chemical (nonpoisonous) to white

another version would be microencapsulated free radicals or perhaps pH adjustor plus slightly hygroscopic material plus any edible chemical like litmus that changes color with pH change that eventually bleaches to white

downside: ncr like paper is nasty n minimally recyclable

upside: management can walk near a workers desk to see at least vaguely how work is coming along

novel: "color changing sticky note" as well as "color changing "post it" note" have zero items at yahoo
-- beanangel, Mar 15 2008

sunprints http://community.li...tgrrl/10734865.html
[beanangel, Mar 15 2008]

blueprinting http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanotype
[beanangel, Mar 15 2008]

people say that its just a phase; people tell me to act my age; well I am http://youtube.com/watch?v=hHybxGEcbZY
nothing to do with the idea [beanangel, Mar 15 2008]

US patent 6,752,430 http://patft.uspto....&Query=PN%2F6752430
Time dependent color-changing security indicator [xaviergisz, Apr 07 2008]

Nice! Clever and readily understandable (for a change). +

Stanton Avery would be proud.
-- csea, Mar 15 2008


Low-quality dyes fade in bright light. There's probably an inexpensive non-toxic pigment and paper combination that would be suitable in office lighting.

If it's a paper that allows dyes to "bleed", this could be useful with water-based pens. Write a note, the text will start thin and become "bolder" as time goes by.
-- Amos Kito, Mar 15 2008


This could be environmentally friendly if it were based on litmus and the gradual release of oxalic acid, which would gradually turn the paper red, indicating an approaching deadline. After use, both the litmus and the acid could be washed away in water, then the paper could be recycled.
-- nineteenthly, Mar 15 2008


Upside: good idea; intelligible; reasonable

Upside: no nactons. (On the other hand, total avoidance of the word 'and'.)

Downside: no capital letters or full stops

Novelty: Treon has been employed??

Overall: [Treon] you're making progress, keep it up. You'll make a fine baker when you grow up.

[+]
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 15 2008


//nasty n minimally recyclable//

Maybe just one.
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 15 2008


Ooops, yes. N to think I missed it. [ ]
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 15 2008


Excellent idea. So good in fact that if you decided to make this product, I'd invest.
-- marklar, Mar 16 2008


+ very nice.
-- xandram, Mar 16 2008


all my ideas are public domain
-- beanangel, Mar 17 2008


*All* your ideas? Wow. That's a big statement. I'd hate to come up with something massively profitable down the line and have a lawyer dig that comment up.

Besides, how do you sleep with all those people reading your thoughts?

Oh yeah, well done on the idea. Simple, obvious in hindsight, bakeable, sellable, and simply described.

You could use green leaves. Breed something with a sticky underside and grow a big bush of them in the office.
-- BunsenHoneydew, Mar 17 2008


better yet have the color change chemical be printed on normal paper
-- beanangel, Apr 06 2008


I was wondering how you'd stop the sticky notes from 'going off' unless they were individually packaged. I think the only way would be to make them light sensitive and keep them in a box.

Alternatively, you could just make a spray that can be applied to anything to give it a changing tone of urgency.
-- marklar, Apr 07 2008


You could use dosimeter technology and leave lots of radioactive dust around the place.
-- wagster, Apr 07 2008



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