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Here are two interesting time pieces from the land of the rising sun related to their Japan Railways Group. First, pictured prominently to the left is the Yamanote Train Line Alarm Clock which keeps track of the schedule for the Yamanote Line on of Tokyo’s busiest commuter lines. The loop takes a little over an hour to complete, so I am not entirely sure how the clock can accomplish this task plus I am not sure how the clock keeps track of both the inner and outer loops. There are two versions of the clock, version 1 is white with green accents and version 2 is green with white accents and both cost about $70. The other time piece shown in the lower right hand portion of the picture is the digital fountain clock/message board at Kanazawa Station (TechEBlog Referer). Both the Wikipedia entry and the TechEBlog referer have a link to a YouTube video showing the fountain in action displaying the time and various messages in various languages. |
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The Bomba Alarm Clock operates like flip clocks that were very popular forty or so years ago. Designed by Dutch designer Will van den Vos and allegedly produced by Kikkerland (even though there is no mention of this time piece on their site), this clock shows the beauty of its inner workings. The clock measures 4″ x 8″ x 5″ and has a blue night light that can be dimmer or turned off. It is powered by a low voltage AC adapter. The Bomba Alarm Clock is available from the Little Clock Shop for $70 or from Moleskine Books via Amazon for $80. |
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When I first saw the title, I expected this product to be a custom gear shifter replacement knob that functioned as a time piece. Sadly, this is merely a gear shift replica analog clock for your desk. There are very few details on the product itself such as whether you can actually pretend to shift the gears or how many or what type of batteries the clock is powered by. At least whatever batteries are necessary, they are included and the analog clock includes a magnified glass top for easy reading at a distance. The Gear Shift Clock with Metal Base is available from Gifts and Gadgets Online for $20. |
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The Irregular Clock pays homage to Salvador Dali’s famous painting The Persistence of Memory. There have been a few other time pieces as well as a JWZ screen saver that similarly reference the piece’s melting clock faces, so this is far from a new idea. Still, this is an interesting looking clock. It measures 13″ x 13″ x 1.5″ and has a standard quartz movement. The Irregular Clock is available for $30. |
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The Laser Clock actually has no lasers is actually powered by LEDs. This key chain device is only capable of displaying the time a foot away which certainly limits its usefulness. It is also relatively expensive for its limited functionality at $30 if it’s even still available (you have to call for availability). Think Geek sells a Tim Projecting Red Laser Pointer (Gizmodo Referer) which also doubles as a pen that is more versatile in both range and function (if you value writing and pointing over holding your keys together anyway) and sells for a much more reasonable $12. Laser Sale has a variety of laser watches and pointers as well if you crave more variety. |
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