h a l f b a k e r yThis would work fine, except in terms of success.
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My last housemate was a nice chap. Still
is,
by all accounts. I used to regularly (but
inadvertantly) annoy him by going away
for a couple of days, leaving my alarm
clock on. It's a persistent little thing (I
need that) and will, given time, disturb
anybody, even through a couple of walls.
Every now and again, I'd remember in the
evening and give him a call. Often
though,
all he got was a mid-morning apology as
I
realised that I'd woken him again when
he
still had two hours to sleep.
What I needed then (and still want now) is
an alarm clock that only goes off if I'm at
home. To do this it has to, by the
simplest
possible mechanism, know when I am
there. Now, I could mess about with
bluetooth and personal area networks
but
I don't want to get that complex.
Instead, the Alarm Clock Keyfob would
be
a small piece of plastic that you attach
you
your keyring and insert into the top of
the
alarm clock when you're home. An
override switch would allow others (not
in
possession of a plastic keyfob) to use the
alarm clock.
A small added advantage is that you
always know where your keys are in the
morning. A small disadvantage is that
you
have to remember where your keys are
the
night before.
For bristolz
http://www.thinkgee...odies/lights/788e/`
No biometrics, but it has a different alarm for each day of the week. (I suspect this would solve st3f's problem as well, if he simply didn't set an alarm for Saturdays and Sundays.) [DrCurry, Aug 25 2005]
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Or you could have a pressure sensor somewhere on the bed to detect if there is anyone in it. [+] |
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[st3f]'s idea is good. [pooduck]'s idea is much better. |
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And when everyone in the house hears the bed-pressure-sensor alarm clock switching on and off, repeatedly and rapidly, some fine morning; what are you going to tell them all? |
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[Later] Oh, yeah, something on the topic . . . I remember trying to explain to my machining instructor that the way to prevent us leaving the chuck key in the lathe was to convert the on-switch to chuck-key-operated. I got another safety lecture and a poor grade. You get a croissant. |
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I think a simple PIR sensor could be used to arm the alarm clock. The arm state could be shown by a small lamp. The allowed time slot for arming would be somewhere between, say, 6pm and the setting time for the alarm in the morning. If you don't move about in the bedroom during that time slot, then it won't arm. |
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My memory is that good old-fashioned wind-up alarm clocks had to be turned on every time. Get one of those. |
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What about us who keep forgetting where a) we don't know where we left our keys or b) forgetting where we left the alarm clock and the keys? (or if you chuck the evil little clocky out the window...) |
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Maybe you could have a small digital alarm on your key ring. |
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I'd rather find my keys at the night than in the morning. + |
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I do think that an inexpensive fingerprint scanner on the alarm clock might be suitable as well. No matter whether fob or biometric, you must remember to set the alarm each evening, though. |
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The biometric approach adds a wee bit of security that can be used to protect alarm settings or to even set different alarm settings (i.e. left index for standard wakeup time, left thumb for Saturday, little finger for Sunday, etc.). |
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What's that word now...ah, yes, "over-engineering." |
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Indeed, and a counterpoise to "under-imagining." |
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In my imagination, at least, this could all be done with a bog-standard PDA, no biometrics needed. Whether you attach your keys to it or not. |
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What would be the invention in that? |
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Good old-fashioned ingenuity, dear. We don't need to throw silicon at everything. |
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Have you a PDA without silicon? |
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And for st3f's original problem, no silicon at all - alarm clocks always worked that way, before we started making them out of silicon and plugging them into walls and things. |
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The problem here [DrCurry] is that you require an invention to have an accompanying function that needs fulfilling. As we have solved most simple problems already, you restrict yourself to looking only at the unsolved problems - the hard ones. Because of this you find few inventions that interest you. I think many good inventions aren't really needed. |
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Without vodka, how are you going to run
your
tractor? |
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baconbrain: A chuck-key operated lathe?
Absolutely. |
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wags: actually, no, I'm just more demanding. If we're going to start using biometics, let's use that technology (now baked) that figures out when you're ready to wake up before waking you. If we're going totally over the top, then let's have the house recognize who is sleeping where, and when to wake them up (and taking account of when one brings home a hottie, and wants more time cuddling before being jolted back to the real world). |
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//I'm just more demanding// - Yes, you are. Good job someone around here is I suppose. While we're on the subject, would your house be able figure out if you've actually brought home a hottie or just drunkenly picked the first minger who said yes? It could invent some 'emergency' if it thought you were about to do something you'd regret in the morning. |
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<even more overengineering>surely your alarm clock could just have a wireless connection to your online diary, and, noticing you're away from home that night, not bother to ring in the morning.</even more overengineering> |
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