Rule of thumb: If you find a blatantly obvious solution and you're not an expert in the field, assume people who are have thought of it and discarded it - or it

Rule of thumb: If you find a blatantly obvious solution and you're not an expert in the field, assume people who are have thought of it and discarded it - or it would exist. (Note: I'm not an expert in the field, either. But the above rule works most of the time :)