My friend and I were sweeping the concrete at work and it was approaching break time. Being in the back of the building, we figured no one would come tell us. Poor us :^(
We got talking and decided a Big A$$ bleepin Clock in the Sky. We called it the BAFCIS.
We even said we could charge people to look at it. Maybe with a certain pigment put into a lens that will decipher the display of the clock. This would be put in at the manufacture of the lens, adding 10 dollars to the overall price of the glasses. Like on cereal boxes with the special colored transparent paper, that would tell you what the special box says (Sorry, eat more cereal!) We began to talk about power, and we decided giant solar panels could provide energy. Some kind of ballons could (tethered to the ground) hold it in place in the sky.
Yea I know, lightning blabdy blah. The tethers could be like giant lightning rods, overall reducing the amount of lightning strikes in the city. The buildings would tend to be a problem, but we were talking about Columbia, South Carolina.-- Veritas, Feb 12 2003 Big Clock In The Sky http://www.uwsp.edu...trolabe/suntime.htmIsn't that what the sun is for? [DrCurry, Oct 04 2004] How big would this clock be?-- snarfyguy, Feb 12 2003 I don't have to much experience with size to height ratio, but it would be about a foot across in appearance from the State House lawn. Hence it would still be fairly visible from the river, vista, and five points. Maybe even someparts of the surrounding suburbs.
[fogfreak] I found this site a few days ago, and haven't read most of the links and I rememebered the BAFCIS and decided to post it. Plus it would be a local "sky clock" not insulting the surrounding time zones by using their visible sky.-- Veritas, Feb 12 2003 "...insulting the surrounding time zones..." Hehe.-- bristolz, Feb 12 2003 Well, let's see, the State House Lawn is about five minutes from the river by car, except the road is kinda windy... hmmm... carry the three... the vista's over there... (triangulating) hmmm, foot high... mutter mutter.
Ahem. By my calculations, that's one big-ass clock in the sky. Not sure if this is feasible.-- snarfyguy, Feb 12 2003 How about using a mega-laser that matches the fluorescent frequency of nitrogen, splitting the beam, passing one half through a clock that shows the time of day and into the sky, where the other half meets up with it, and it makes a huge clock in the sky matching the interference patterns?-- galukalock, Feb 12 2003 If there is a big clock in the sky god won't be able to see his children at work.-- sufc, Feb 13 2003 Or you could buy a watch for 10 dollars, and be able to use it indoors, underground, near tall buildings, at night, and under clouds and far away from Columbia, SC. And if you can see the sun, you can use the watch as a compass.
Conversely, if you have a compass or otherwise know which direction is South, and can see the sun, you can tell the time without a watch.-- beauxeault, Feb 13 2003 // We even said we could charge people to look at it. //
Give a whole new meaning to "stealing a look."
Needs more thought and development as to how to do it, as well as how to present it with some confidence.-- RayfordSteele, Feb 13 2003 How about something like Big Ben. They could even put a rebel flag on top of it.-- pluterday, Feb 13 2003 Yea!! :( how stereotrypical-- Veritas, Feb 18 2003 Bleh to the stars and bars idea, but a clock that chimed with a tasteful snippet of bluegrass music would be nice.-- Pharaoh Mobius, Feb 18 2003 // stereotrypical //
Holographic stomach tissue-- RayfordSteele, Feb 18 2003 random, halfbakery