In Prague, the great astronomical clock, the Orloj, celebrates 600 years of timekeeping. It’s worth seeing the video made by the macula:
the macula - 600 years of the Orloj
The Orloj celebrates
Glycine watch saver
I made another screen saver for MacOS X, using Quartz Composer. This is a fairly accurate copy of the Glycine Airman Double 24 09. I’ve been reading about the Glycine Airman in André’s excellent book “Glycine Airman: a 24 hour timeline of flight” (more here).
LDN24: Creative visualization at the Museum of London
This creative collaboration of The Light Surgeons(Production) and FIELD (Data Visualisation) consists of a 48 metre elliptical screen on which is displayed a large 24 hour clock:
From the Museum’s web site:
LDN24 follows a 24-hour day in the life of London with hundreds of filmed sequences from across the capital – framing the city waking, working and winding down on a giant plasma screen.
An enveloping stream of 35 real-time information flows around the LED ellipse producing an ever-changing map of the city. From tidal patterns to temperatures, flight arrivals to FTSE fluctuations, RSS feeds and live links to Google searches, partner news channels and Twitter keep an ear turned to the rhythms that compose the city. Software specially developed by the design studio FIELD choreographs the rituals and movements of London and Londoners into a compelling statistical dance.
There’s a movie too.
The sound of a one-handed clock
If you have some time (and a Mac), please could you test my one-handed 24 hour clock screensaver?
I added a GMT/UT0 hand, but I’m not sure if it works well outside GMT-land.
(It doesn’t make any sounds. That’s just a zen reference.)
Glycine Airman book
You can now read about the ultimate 24 hour watch in the book “Glycine Airman: a 24 hour timeline of flight”.
page 4-5
Find out more here.
Thanks, André!
Chinese 24 hour clock
This clock is on the wall of a hotel in China. It looks like a ‘homage’ to the famous clock at St Marks in Venice.
Thanks to laisuncom for the photograph.
24 hour clock in Paris
This clock can be found at the corner of Rue du Faubourg Poissonière and Rue Bergère in Paris. I’ve not yet found anything out about it – if you have any information, please share!
Photograph by Flickr user paris2e.
Klatovy clock
This unusual clock in the old town of Klatovy appears to have been built in 1924. Thanks to Priit on Flickr for the photo.
Very unusual clock as it shows 24 hours
Originally uploaded by ph1310
The Willis World Clock
This is the Willis World Clock in the London Science Museum.
I’ve not found out much about it, or who Willis was, but I did find a reference to a smaller versionin a 1939 copy of Flight magazine (here) and I presume the description is mostly valid for this version too:
The operation of this clock is extremely simple, with a twenty-four-hour moving disc in the centre and a separate minute hand below. The main face of the clock is laid out in sectors, with the names of all the more important countries and cities in the world indicated by arrows, and the time for each particular place is merely read cif against the appropriate arrow. The timing disc itself is clearly marked in a.m. and p.m. sections, so that, even when the twenty-four method of reading is not being used, there is no possibility of error. Those countries and cities where “summer time” arrangements are in force are printed separately in red type. For example, Great Britain and France have two positions, one at Greenwich time and one, for the summer season, on the mid-European time arrow.
Needless to say, such a clock will be useful in working out E.T.A.s which are likely to be at or near nightfall, and also for timing the reception of both weather broadcasts and others required for D/F bearings. The world clock is obtainable from J. H. Willis and Company, Ipswich Road, Norwich, and the aircraft or small marine type, for instrument-board mounting, is priced at 137s. 0d.
One of these – non-functioning, I think – was sold on eBay recently. You could have bought it for just £13.
More iPhone clocks
There must be hundreds of clock apps in the iTunes App store! And there are a few 24 hour dials in there somewhere.
The Astrock app is a software version of the famous Prague Orloj.
The Earthclock app is a re-interpretation of the Think the Earth watch, but still a pleasing design.
Developers: if you want people to find and buy your 24 hour analog dial apps, don’t expect them to scroll through pages and pages of apps in the App store. Why not let the connoisseurs know directly, by getting your app displayed on this site? (If it’s interesting and relevant to this site, I’ll give it a mention. If it’s just another boring 12 hour clock, don’t expect one!)
