[time-nuts] A Time-Nut's Worst Nightmare

[Randy D. Hunt]

On 5/11/2013 9:48 AM, Bill Hawkins wrote:
> It appears that this was exactly the wrong group in which to
> discuss Lord Vetinari's clock. People keep asking why. Here's
> a brief answer, but first some background.
>
> Lord Vetinari, aka The Patrician, is a fictional character in
> a series of books by Terry Pratchett (q.v.) that stretch the
> imagination with fantastic characters who highlight the foibles
> of human behavior. There are very few fantasies that I enjoy,
> but I've read every one of his books, learning something new
> from each.
>
> Imagine that you are the undisputed ruler of a large city.
> Remaining in that position is a tricky balancing act against the
> many that think they could do a better job. Vetinari keeps people
> off balance in various ways, such as knowing what they are going
> to say before they say it and making them wait in a room that has
> a clock whose second hand appears to move in random increments.
> So, Sara White defined its purpose quite well.
>
> No two people are alike. I intend to buy the kit. I'm not one of
> those people who like to play tricks on their friends (if indeed
> they have any friends). A recent encounter with cancer has
> convinced me that my time is limited, so I rather like the idea
> of an element of randomness in the wall clock, masking the
> inexorable passage of real time.
>
> Bill Hawkins
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Didier Juges
> Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2013 7:55 AM
> To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
> Subject: Re: [time-nuts] A Time-Nut's Worst Nightmare
>
> I checked the web site. As far as I am concerned, the novelty factor
> died after about 5 seconds.
> I can barely understand why would someone actually spent the time to
> write code doing that for himself for fun, but making it into a
> commercial product?
> How many do you think will be in a landfill before the battery dies?
>
>
> On Sat, May 11, 2013 at 2:06 AM, Sarah White <kuzetsa at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On 5/10/2013 9:52 PM, Ed Palmer wrote:
>>> Part of me thinks it's cute, part of me wants to kill it.  :-)
>>>
>>> https://www.tindie.com/products/akafugu/vetinari-clock
>>>
>>> Ed
>> Agreed...
>>
>> I'm just thinking: "Ahhhhh noooooo. Oww oww oww oww ma brainz!!!"
>>
>> Just the thought of being off by 250ms is upsetting for me...
>>
>> I can't imagine anyone wanting a clock which will be inaccurate by
>> something like a second or two or perhaps more than that.
>>
>> WTF!? Why?!
>> --Sarah
>>
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I can appreciate that.  I too am a cancer survivor. . .