There are times during campus life when I’d like to watch TV. However, there’s a problem with that – I don’t have a TV in my dorm room. So I watch Netflix on my laptop, and fight my laptop to be in a comfortable viewing position. Generally I end up holding my laptop sideways and lying on my side. Holding the computer up was annoying until a friend told me of a solution she had seen on the internet: Tablet + wall hooks = wall mounted TV. This idea would work perfectly for me, because my laptop can transform into a tablet. I was excited to try this idea, so I immediately got 3 removable 3lb wall hooks, filed them down, and used them to mount my laptop to the wall. I only used 3 wall hooks, because 4 would have made it nearly impossible to get the laptop off the wall. I would like to use it for things other than Netflix, and it’s not much use to me in class if it’s just stuck on the wall. I have found my wall mounted laptop to be useful for things other than just Netflix. I can display homework problems or read lengthy documents for class too.
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Wall Hooks + Tablet = Wall Mounted TV
My other silly idea for the day originates from difficulties with phone volume. I have a horrible memory and frequently forget to turn the volume on my phone off when I go to class. When my phone goes off in class everyone looks and I can tell you that it’s rather embarrassing to be receiving glares from everyone. The solution to this common problem should be an app that allows you to give the phone your class schedule and your phone would automatically put itself on silent while you are in class. Voila! No more dirty glares in class!
Now, I’d like to take this idea a step farther. When I’m in a loud location, such as the dining hall I turn the volume on my phone up to max, but when I get back to my dorm room the maximum volume is excessive and annoying. So throughout the day I’m constantly turning my phone volume up and down to slightly surpass the surrounding noise. The other feature of this imaginary app should make the volume that you adjust be a ratio of the volume coming from the phone to the volume of the surroundings. This would mean that the noise you can hear coming from your phone would sound the same to you no matter what environment you’re in. The volume would sound the same in the dining hall as it would in a dorm room.
Red = Volume of environment
Blue = Volume of phone
Purple = Ratio (phone to environment)
Works cited for pics: www.wallmart.com, www.techland.time.com
The volume adjustment is a great idea! If I ever figure out how to create something that can do that I will let you know. My phone is on silent all the time, but I’m sure it must be such a hassle for you.
Hey everyone, I’m glad that you found my ideas applicable, informative, and useful! 🙂 It’s funny that you do, because I always find my ideas silly and almost pointless. But thanks for the responses!
I love the tablet idea! My roommates and I all assumed the other one would bring a TV of sorts. And none of us did. All four of us are constantly huddled around one tiny laptop on the floor and it’s super uncomfortable. I definitely want to try this soon. Very informative.
I really like the phone app idea! I actually have the opposite problem as far as my phone ringing in class goes, I will always remember to turn it on silent, but never remember to turn it back on so it would be nice to have it automatically do that for me.
I can definitely relate to the problems with finding a good angle for the laptop and volume control. This is a great solution to an annoying problem that I wish I could utilize, however I don’t have a tablet. I’m excited to see what else you come up with in the future!
This is one of the most applicable blog posts I have read thus far. I don’t have a TV either, so I understand the struggle of comfortably resting my laptop. Also, I have had my phone go off in class once or twice so far. I didn’t used to have my phone on during high school, so that app would certainly help a rookie in using his phone in class. I think it’s a great idea. I hope to learn more from your future posts.
Casey C.
The tablet and wall hook idea is really cool! I never thought about doing something like that. I don’t have a tablet, but if I did, this would be an awesome way to utilize it. One of my friends has a tablet, so I’m going to pitch this idea to her and see if we can have a movie night sometime soon. Thanks for the inspiration!
fascinating! when I was in the dorms here, we had TVs but no cable or internet to watch:)