Playing With Atomic Clocks At Home 167
Wired is running a profile of the Time Nuts, a small group of people who buy surplus precision time equipment — cesium clocks for example — on eBay and keep really accurate time, because they can. The article quotes Tom Van Baak, who has outfitted a time lab superior to those of many small countries: "If you have one clock... you are peaceful and have no worries. If you have two clocks... you start asking, 'What time is it, really?'"
Clearly.... (Score:5, Funny)
=Smidge=
hm. (Score:3, Funny)
Comment removed (Score:5, Funny)
Stop. (Score:5, Funny)
Am I the only one... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Clearly.... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Clearly.... (Score:2, Funny)
Real men... (Score:4, Funny)
Anyone can make the world keep time for them. Only real men can make the sun keep it for them.
Q-physics (Score:4, Funny)
See Time Fly (Score:3, Funny)
One must much more careful with these new atomic clocks. After time flies, they explode and destroy whole cities!
First post (Score:5, Funny)
what time is it really ? (Score:1, Funny)
Time to buy a 3rd clock?
Re:Stop. (Score:2, Funny)
Radio Controlled clocks would do (Score:2, Funny)
These clocks give accuracy within a second as does the ntpd daemon on Unix computers.
The world seems in balance when you set 3 radio controlled clocks in front of your computer,
then watch all four with the same hour, the same minute, count the same seconds.
You shouldn't tell your clock the time -- your clock should tell you the time,
which radio controlled clocks and computers running ntp do tell.
Frustrated by clocks throughout my home with different times,
advanced by my wife to advance me, one clock advanced by 3 hours;
I got 7 radio controlled clocks which she cannot set because they set themselves.
Additionally, they give the day of week (Wednesday) and the date (December 11).
I first saw a radio controlled clock in 1992 while in Germany -- a $200 clock made by Jungans.
Several internet companies which mainly sell weather equipment also sell radio controlled clocks.
I purchased 7 of these made by Lacrosse, which can have a big LCD and can cost as little as $10 (US).
Please read the article (Score:5, Funny)
Your missing out if you only skimmed the article. Make sure you find this gem:
When the family returned to the suburbs two days later, the cesium clocks were off by the precise amount relativity predicted. He and his family had lived just a little more life than the neighbors.
An amazing PROOF that time is actually affected by gravity. We still know so little (ahem) relatively about time in physics, that seeing evidence of it being manipulated in this manner is awesome. will there be giant contained gravity wells in ambulances to slow time while patients are rushed to the hospital? Will I be slowing down time so I can get First Post AND spell check? The possibilities are endless!
Re:Please read the article (Score:2, Funny)
I'll give you benefit of the doubt that you put that line in AND then deliberately misspelt the first word in your post. So assuming that -- bravo! You rarely see that sort of self-aware irony.
You're totally right though about the relativity stuff. Amazing
The true obssessive (Score:3, Funny)
I would also venture to guess that he has no girlfriend.
Joke's on him (Score:2, Funny)
- RG>
The real reason (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Radio Controlled clocks would do (Score:2, Funny)
If you have one clock... (Score:2, Funny)
For extra fun, tell him that they are all twenty minutes slow, making him late for school.
Re:Please read the article (Score:4, Funny)
Re:The true obssessive (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe this is what geeks should do. Pretend to be normal people for a few months, get married, have children, and THEN fill the house with strange hardware.