Wednesday, March 23, 2005
Good technology
Several years ago I replaced the on-off switch for my front porch light with a programmable switch. Basically I could set a lights-on time and lights-off time for every day of the week, and the lights would go on and off automatically. It worked great since I often travel or get home late. To give it a live-in appearance, the switch even had a random mode, in which the lights would turn on at the pre-set time but plus or minus 15 minutes. I paid something like $40 for it. The one minor problem was that I had to adjust the pre-set times as the days get longer or shorter throughout the year, but it was a great convenience and I couldn't be happier.
Well a few weeks ago the switch died, and I installed a new one last Sunday. The new switch was just as programmable as the old one, but it had an additional mode to turn on and off automatically based on sunset and sunrise times pre-programmed into the switch. The time adjustmentss throughout the year are now done automatically. Truly a set-it-and-forget-it switch. So far it has worked wonderfully. All that for less than $20. Ah, the marvels of modern technology.
Weird technology
A MIT scientist has come up with a gizmo she calls "Clocky" that's designed to get sleepyheads moving. It looks like a roll of toilet paper covered with shag carpeting with wheels attached at both ends. When the snooze button is pressed, the clock rolls off the table to a hiding place where it lies in wait for 10 minutes before going off again. And every day it rolls to a different hiding place. A game of hide-and-seek with Clocky is just what we all need first thing every morning.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:00 PM
