Branestorm

Branestorm generates random combinations of words to give you innovative ideas, from lists of idea categories such as "Web 2.0," "Panaceas," "Conveniences" and various metaphors. It's useful for marketing people, inventors, innovators, department heads, art directors, and imaginative people of all kinds. Even when its crazy combinations don't directly suggest an idea, they can often inspire other creative combinations. You simply click the words in the center of the big round dial.

Here are some examples:

- Magnetic Speed-Bump Hired Gun

-Perpetual Motion Outpatient Blog

-Alice in Wonderland All-Points-Bulletin Lure

I told you they were crazy! Sometimes they get eery, silly, or prescient (whatever that is).

Click almost anything else on the main window to discover helpful features.

Features:

- Lock a specific term or the category from which it came, to keep using that item.

- Enter up to 6 of your own terms that get used in the first (top) category.

- Turn on or off the categories that are used.

- Email the latest brainstorm or the the most recent 5 brainstorms.

The idea behind Branestorm is well summarized by Linus Pauling, who said, "The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas." A great example is a business I recently heard of that sells baby products like diapers and sippy cups in vending machines. That's the simple premise of Branestorm... prompting you to think of new combinations of otherwise well-known ideas.