Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Digital Clock Without Electricity or Moving Parts

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the now-where's-the-alarm-function dept.

NerdMachine writes "Throw away those slide rules and embrace the digital age. The Digital Sundial is a 10 year old invention on display in Sundial Park (Genk, Belgium), Deutsches Museum (Munich Germany), Kölnisches Stadtmuseum (Cologne, Germany), and Martha's Vineyard, USA. You need to pivot it to adjust daylight savings time. If you can't visit one of these, Digital Sundials International can sell you one for US$12,000+, or you can buy a pocket version for under US$100 for that special nerd in your life."

18 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. Sunlight? Heard about it by SIGALRM · · Score: 5, Funny
    In the true tradition of all sundials, the device is purely passive - it operates without electricity, and has no moving parts. Instead, the sunlight is cast through two cleverly designed masks
    I live in Seattle. Just a wild guess... but I don't think these clocks are going to sell well here.
    --
    Sigs cause cancer.
  2. Defeating the purpose of the sundial by ralphart · · Score: 5, Funny

    $12,000 USD?? That doesn't seem like a very bright idea.

  3. Whoa by underpar · · Score: 4, Funny

    $12,000 USD?? That doesn't seem like a very bright idea.

    And if you're not bright enough it won't work when you're inside.... That's deep.

  4. Not until... by bourne_id · · Score: 5, Funny

    .. they have built-in calculators, can be worn on the wrist, and can run a scaled-down version of Linux.

    JMD

    --
    When all else fails, feel free to panic.
    1. Re:Not until... by freakmn · · Score: 3, Funny

      So Solaris running it now isn't good enough for you?

      --
      warning: This post is likely to contain gobs of dripping sarcasm. Consume at your own risk.
  5. Doesn't a sundial require a moving part? by I_am_Rambi · · Score: 5, Funny

    as in the earth. If the earth didn't rotate, it wouldn't work. Sorry, but there must be a moving part.

    1. Re:Doesn't a sundial require a moving part? by njfuzzy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Sundials would also work with a moving sun. ;)

      --
      My Photography - http://ian-x.com
      The Deathlings (comic) - http://thedeathlings.com
    2. Re:Doesn't a sundial require a moving part? by Penguinshit · · Score: 5, Funny


      Is that you, Aristotle?

      --

      I have something in common with Stephen Hawking...

    3. Re:Doesn't a sundial require a moving part? by NardofDoom · · Score: 4, Funny

      Someone stop this frame-of-reference madness!!

      --
      You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
  6. Douglas Adams quote by gmknobl · · Score: 3, Funny

    We "still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea."

  7. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  8. Re:The sound of silence by NardofDoom · · Score: 3, Funny
    So when they call me into work at 2AM to fix something I can show up at 7 and say my watch wasn't working.

    Excellent.

    --
    You have two hands and one brain, so always code twice as much as you think!
  9. Re:What i need for Christmas!! by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    Sundials don't work, the one I've had in my basement hasn't changed time since I installed it.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
  10. Spoiled Kids These Days... by Godling · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...will never learn to read a proper sundial.

    1. Re:Spoiled Kids These Days... by daeley · · Score: 3, Funny

      So are you saying gnomon is an island?

      --
      I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
  11. Re:What i need for Christmas!! by neverutterwhen · · Score: 4, Funny

    A quick hack for this would be to remove the rest of your house.

    --
    My appreciation of Douglas Adams is far deeper than yours.
  12. Ahh, sunlight... by revolvement · · Score: 5, Funny

    A slashdotter's arch-nemesis.

    *runs from the flames*

  13. Battery by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... what kind of battery life does this so-called "Sun" have?

    The clock mechanism is powered by a flywheel.

    The display is powered by thermonuclear fusion.

    Horrors! Have to ban sundials! That "sun" thing is so dangerous when they're working that just a few minutes exposure can give you a radiation burn.

    (Bad, bad woodchip mill. Good old outback bill.)

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way