I was a little too late!

[Nataku]

for the passed week I've been drawing up plans for a device I came up with that would plug into your wall power outlet and then into your computer's USB port so that when you turn off the power on your computer a relay switches off turns off the power to that outlet (turning off all your devices, your computer would be on a different outlet btw).

i was almost finished drawing up the plans and was going to order the parts I needed, when I saw this posted on MAKE: today... http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/11/save_power_with.html

I'm so pissed. I was going to share the plans on here so everyone could build one for them selves but now it seems cheaper to buy this one...

I plan to buy it and take it apart and see how close I was to what they made, and what parts they used.

anyone else ever have this happen?

[Dizzious]

Sure have. You ever seen those little LED bulb inserts for Mag-Lite flashlights? I've had a Luxeon 3w led in my maglite since about a year before those things hit the market - I even toyed with the idea of patenting the concept of a semiconducter-based-bulb upgrade to a battery powered light. Of course I never did, and I can't help but think about it every time I see the things selling for $14.99.

[Nataku]

exactly. (15 character limit)

[PCgeek]

I'm pretty sure it took longer than a year to patent the idea, and find some capital, and get a business and marketing plan together, and finally hit production...

[Nataku]

I know, I just like ranting about it :)