What time is it?
Whatever happened to clocks on television?
There was a time when a clock would appear before every news, and occasionally between programmes.
It was something of a ritual in many homes where the pocket watch or the wrist watch was primed ready for the clock, so that time could be checked and set.
For some inexplicable reason, they have done away with it, and I haven’t seen a clock for years.
You would imagine that they would replace it with some kind of digital thing on the screen coming up to the Six News. It would be easy enough to superimpose on top of whatever crap they are showing?
They still have the pips on the radio the odd time, and last night, I had the radio on. At six, it pipped and went into the news. Herself wanted the television though, so I switched that on, and they were still running fucking advertisements. After that, there was the angelus thing, and finally we had the news. It must have been about three minutes late at that stage, and anyone who set their watch to that was fucked.
The only accurate way to check my watch now is to tune into RTE, and switch to Aertel [the text thing]. That always has a digital time in the corner and it is very accurate. I know that because I used to play with RTE’s timing computer in the basement of the Radio Centre. That is a huge yoke that is tied by microwave to Rugby in the UK, and is accurate to about a thousandth of a second.
I checked my watch just now. I used the terrestrial signal, because the prats in RTE still don’t realise there is a few second delay on a satellite signal, so their clock is out on that one. It’s the first time I checked since March, but the old yoke was still spot on, to the second. It’s a good watch.
Just out of interest, I tried setting my computer’s clock using the Interweb. That is a second slow! Someone is wrong.
But why should I be so interested in accurate time?
There are several reasons for this.
I have to know exactly when the pub opens, for a start. Pullit always opens the pub precisely at some time between nine and eleven. He is very punctual.
Then I have to know when to give Herself her tranquilisers.
And of course, we all know that ballistic missiles require very precise timing?
You can get that clock as a screen saver.
Thrifty – Wow! So I can. Will I get the news at six?
Accurate clocks can improve accuracy of “delivery” systems or you can simply increase the yield.
I reckon clocks have disappeared from the the tv because there’s a surfeit of them everywhere else now – down in the corner of the computer, computer screensaver, on mobile phones, mp3 players, car dashboards, etc. You can even get one inserted under the skin on your wrist. I’m not sure what you do if it breaks down though.
Ach, if these clocks are a few minutes out, what’s the worst that can happen……. nuclear devices excepted.
.-= >> Charmed´s latest brainfart .. End of year review – was it a waste of time? =-.
I threw my clock and my watch out when I turned 40.
Those ICBM’s were not meant for the local council but for Brussells instead.
NTP synchronised (Internet synchronised) time is generally pretty accurate, if you’ve got a good client, though most computer clocks are inclined to run slightly slow.
Jim C – I like to do both. Accuracy with a big bang.
Charmed – There are too many damned clocks. One two minute power cut, and I have to spend the rest of the day resetting everything. But I need some way of getting them set to the right time. It doesn’t matter to me if the cooker isn’t synchronised with the guinea pig cage, but I like my watch to be accurate.
TT – So how do you know how old you are now? Or are you just going to stick at forty?
Brianf – I wouldn’t nuke my council! Apart from anything else, I would be in the fall out zone. I need the accuracy so I don’t accidentally wipe out Zurich instead of Brussels.
Robert – What I will do is this….. I’ll set my time to Interweb time and launch at New York. If I wipe out Boston, then I’ll know it’s not quite so accurate. I think that is fair enough???
Destroying New York is SO passe. It’s so five minutes ago. Now blasting Boston off the globe would be a great and wonderful thing. Think of all the ‘Northeatern Liberals’ you could take out with one big bang. I love the idea.
.-= >> Brianf´s latest brainfart .. Independence Day 233 years later =-.
Brianf – I’m sorry. I didn’t know there was a fashion sense involved. Maybe if I flattened Los Angeles? It would have the advantage of removing all those pathetic ‘celebrities’?
I know by the “angle of the dangle.”
Need IEEE 1588, that’ll get you down to nano-seconds, and light only travels a foot a nano-second (in free space). Should give good weapons accuracy.
I once knew a guy who claimed that there were only 2 times that mattered, Daytime & Nightime, said he never required a watch as he didn’t go out in the daytime & at nightime he went home when the pub closed.
He never worked, never looked stressed, was always relaxed and rested, I hated the prick.
I no longer wear a watch, don’t need it anymore, everywhere I look I see the time, a constant reminder of how much work there is and of how little time there is to do it. Clocks on the wall, clocks on the computer, mobile phone, in the car, every fucking place I look. Maybe the lazy bollox was right afterall !!
TT – I’m about to turn 40, do you think it’s an age thing?
Time is just a human invention that deludes us into thinking we know what’s going on!
🙂
TT – As long as you remember that the throb of the knob is constant?
Lafsword – I’m getting to that stage myself. The real reason I carry a watch is to remind myself what day of the week it is. That is important, as I have to know when to put the bins out for collection.
Mick – Do you thing that if we all ignored it, that it would stop?
Ah, but if we decimalised time we’d be just as happy, i mean what’s wrong with 100 minutes in an hour, think how much more we’d get done…
Hey, that would probably sort the recesion out as well – put the public sector on the new clock and pay them an hourly rate!
Alarming but true (I rest my questionable case!)
.-= >> Mick´s latest brainfart .. Hill of Tara =-.
I’m lucky re the bin thing, my neighbour is a complete freak and puts his out early the day before it’s due to be collected, so I know when and what colour bin to put out.
He also cuts the grass in his socks & washes his car when it rains.
I lost my watch, my computer won’t boot, the battery’s dead in my cell phone, same for my truck, the tube blew out in my TV, I haven’t set the time on DVD, VCR, microwave or various digital clocks since the power went out yesterday, the grandfather clock needs winding and I can’t find the key and the clock/temp sign at the Fire station shorted out after the heavy rain last night.
So what time is it?
.-= >> Kirk M´s latest brainfart .. People living longer | Thursday ponderings =-.
After the third beep it will be half past eleven.
Beep. Beep. Be