Comments on: What time is it?

Question: What time is it?

woolylambkin — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:43:02 -0800

I'm looking for a clock. Here's the catch: I don't want it to be able to keep the right time.

I want a clock that will be within say +/- 10 minutes of the actual time. It should stay randomly in that range so that I can tell the approximate time without knowing the actual time. I find that once I get into a routine I am constantly cutting the time close to leaving. Mind you I'm never late but I'm also rarely early. I figure a random clock will force me to leave earlier because I'll be basing my decision on the worst case scenario. Just setting my clock 5 minutes fast won't solve anything if I know that it's always 5 minutes fast.

So does anyone make a clock that doesn't keep time?

By: odinsdream

odinsdream — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:45:44 -0800

Take a clock with a long minute hand and cut it off very short.

By: Nonce

Nonce — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:46:58 -0800

Get a cheap mechanical watch, never adjust it, and only set it to the correct time once or twice a year. Or never.

By: a halcyon day

a halcyon day — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:49:27 -0800

Riffing on odinsdream's suggestion: replace an appropriate portion of the minute hand with a piece of flexible wire, or a feather, etc.

By: qwip

qwip — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:49:38 -0800

Take off the minute hand altogether. You can guesstimate the time just by where the hour hand is.

By: Krrrlson

Krrrlson — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:50:13 -0800

Most clocks with an error will tend to accumulate that error in one direction or the other, not randomly stay in some error range. For a digital clock, just tape over the last digit.

By: itstheclamsname

itstheclamsname — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 19:58:51 -0800

It's not a physical clock, but if you have a Mac, you can use FuzzyClock to view the approximate time in the upper right hand corner of the screen. For example, right now instead of a number it says "nearly eleven."

By: Prospero

Prospero — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:00:54 -0800

This watch with no hands looks like it keeps good time, but with a display that has the vagueness of accuracy you're looking for. Or maybe this one will work.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:03:00 -0800

I used to keep my clock at whatever time it happened to be at whenever the power went out. So if at 5:42 I discovered it was blinking 12:00 I would set it to 12:01 to fix the blinking. Then I'd know it was about 6 hours and 20 minutes fast. And if I needed to know what time it was I could do the math, but the math was hard so I never quite new exactly what time it was, but if I really needed to know, I could figure it out more or less.

*If you're wondering why I would do this. First, I was too lazy to set the clock. Second, I hate waking up in the middle of the night and being confronted with the time and thinking "oh I've only been in bed an hour" or "only two more hours to sleep." My fake-time clock never resulted in being involuntarily confronted with the time. I only knew the time if I made the choice to do the math.

By: If only I had a penguin...

If only I had a penguin... — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:11:26 -0800

Here's another clock you'd have to work hard to read accurately.

By: deezil

deezil — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:26:04 -0800

Have a different friends set the clock when they come over at different times during the week. Don't let them tell you what they set it at.

By: Bigfoot Mandala

Bigfoot Mandala — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:47:47 -0800

This watch gives the closest five minutes. It's expensive, but would probably be fairly simple to DIY, especially on a full-size clock.

Or you could set all your clocks (alarm, car, computer, kitchen, stereo, work, etc.) to slightly different wrong times. Works for me and I didn't even do it on purpose.

By: LSK

LSK — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:02:42 -0800

I set my clock to 17 minutes ahead. Like IOIHAP, I can figure out the time if I want to, but it's faster to guess.

By: TDIpod

TDIpod — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:29:07 -0800

Google "Approximate Time Clock" for ones like this day clock.

By: IndigoRain

IndigoRain — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:32:09 -0800

I used to keep my car clock 8 minutes fast and even though I knew it was fast, I still made it early to most things because just having the clock say "2:59" instead of the real time, "2:51" helped me be on time.

By: compound eye

compound eye — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:13:00 -0800

what about a dozen identical clocks all slightly out, that you can see all at once

By: twine42

twine42 — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:47:27 -0800

I can see a new project forming...

A clock face with twelve dowel pegs around the edge, then replacing the minute hand with a piece of springy metal that is long enough that the tip gets stuck on a peg for three or four minutes. So that at 5 past the hand touches the dowel and holds there until about 8 or 9 past, and then notches forwards onto the next bay...

By: murrey

murrey — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:17:09 -0800

Can you have someone else set your clocks at your house for slightly off times so you don't know which is right?

By: embrangled

embrangled — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:24:24 -0800

There's a flash app that does exactly this: A Chindogu clock for procrastinators. Apparently a physical version has been patented, but I don't know if anyone's actually making them.

By: nineRED

nineRED — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 06:33:37 -0800

murrey has it.
Have a friend set your clocks for you, within your 20 minute window around the actual time, and not tell you. Could be 10 minutes early could be 10 minutes late...only your friend really knows.

By: GJSchaller

GJSchaller — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 09:46:27 -0800

The only drawback to having someone else set it, is that you will eventually know. My cell phone keeps perfect time since it gets it from the network, and if I ever compare the phone to the (off) clock even once, I'll know the difference and will remember it. Not being able to figure this out prevents me from every defeating myself, if I were to do this.

The idea of intentionally obscuring the minutes part of the clock seems like the best option to me.

By: woolylambkin

woolylambkin — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 12:45:25 -0800

embrangled has exactly what I'm looking for. Until I can find a physical Chindogu clock though I will be the proud owner of a digital clock with a piece of duct tape on it.

Thanks for the help everyone!