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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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Playing with water sure has gotten more complicated since I was a kid. This three hundred piece hydrodynamics set includes girders, tank parts, 1/4″ airline tubing, tube connectors, valves, etc. and is powered by an electric pump with an AC adapter. The base/carrying case measures in at 10″ X 16″ X 3″ and is designed to only work with water. You can purchase the Hydrodynamic Building Set from Think Geek for $90 or you can get it directly from the manufacturer for $85. |
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The Drop Bath Light by the Japanese company Dream, Inc. is another entry in switch-less bath lights that are activated when set in water. This LED illuminated droplet gently cycles through the color spectrum whenever water or other suitable conductor completes the circuit at the bottom. The drop measures 6.14″ x 5.35″ x 5.35″ and is powered by three AAA batteries. For more pictures and information in Japanese, check out Dreams, Inc’s catalogue page on their site. The Drop Bath Light is available in .us for $39 or in .jp directly from Dreams, Inc. for a little over $23. |
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Why show the time using liquid crystal displays when you can simply use liquid. The Canna from ChronArte uses five gallons of specially conditioned water to display the time in acrylic glass tubes above the satined, anodized aluminium main body. The clock has the ability to synchronize and change to/from DST itself using the standard DCF77 signal and requires 6W to run. I couldn’t find this clock for sale, but ChronArte’s “standard price” for the device is roughly $12,350. |
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Designed by Dzine, the Fibre Optic Twilight Umbrellas endeavor to brighten an otherwise stormy and dreary day. The first of this pair of umbrellas is the Starlight Umbrella which utilizes blue fibre optics that can be set to twinkling or statically on or off. The other, linked below, is the Spectrum Starlight Umbrella which only can be set to phase through the colors or have the fibre optics turned off. Both umbrellas require three AAA batteries that are not included. Both umbrellas are available for about $41 from either iWantOneOfThose or Crazy About Gadgets in .uk. |
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