Week in Review: Our own little Idea Festival

Will, Mangesh and I are currently in Louisville for the Idea Festival, which features speeches, presentations, and panels from "a dizzying array of extraordinary thinkers" and also me. Actually, we're moderating one of the panels on Saturday, "The Future According to mental_floss." And since we can't yet share with you the brilliant stylings of our three panelists -- Elizabeth Spiers, Ethan Zuckerman, and Henry Cunningham -- we thought we'd have our own little idea festival right here, featuring some of the best, and worst, ideas that cropped up on the blog this week. (We'll give you the lowdown on our IF panel when we return on Monday.) Let the blogfest begin!

Bright Idea: Make the world a safer place for the blind and the clumsy.
Not-So-Bright Idea: Ask someone to break your legs.

Bright Idea: Invent a gel that miraculously stops heavy bleeding.
Not-So-Bright Idea: Spam mental_floss and expect us to lie down and take it.

Bright Idea: Curry favor with the powerful by offering them exotic gifts.
Not-So-Bright Idea: Curry favor with the powerful by naming New Jersey rest stops after them.
Also a Not-So-Bright Idea: Curry favor with the famous by attempting to kill the president.

Bright Idea: Drop out of college. [Editor's note: We totally don't mean that.]
Not-So-Bright Idea: Assume that your driver's license allows you to maraud around in a tank.

Bright Idea: Avoid pants that make you look fat.
Not-So-Bright Idea: Mess with this guy.