Little Professor Clock

Anyone who grew up in the 1980’s is probably quite familiar with the Little Professor, a math teaching electronic toy from Texas Instruments. He was the smaller nerdier counterpart to the Speak and Spell. Now Geekware is bringing him back in a nostalgic way with the Little Professor Clock, a clock that gives the Little Professor the one thing multiplication could never give him- hands! Ok technically he did have fingers but somehow they never quite added up. Unfortunately this Little Professor has been divided in two and had his insides removed, so it’s just an empty shell. If you want to buy this retro geeky eighties clock, you’ll need to subtract $33 from your wallet.

By Andrew Liszewski

In general I find cuckoo clocks to be kind of creepy and disturbing, with that little obsessive compulsive bird that has to pop out every hour on the hour, but this one takes it to a whole new level. It’s a miniature diorama of the famous “Heeere’s Johnny!” scene from The Shining, but instead of a little bird making an appearance every hour, it’s a little Jack Nicholson who breaks through the door with his famous catch line. And if that’s not creepy enough, there’s also a miniature terrorized Shelly Duvall there for good measure, who follows up with a blood-curdling scream… every hour.

The clock was created by Chris Dimino, who thankfully doesn’t seem to have any intentions of mass producing it.

[ Chris Dimino - Shining Cuckoo Clock ] VIA [ /Film ]

[Brian] wrote in to show us a site he’s been working on for a while. He’s been building a tube clock database. We didn’t realize there was actually a big enough draw for such a site, but we have to admit that we spent more than a few minutes browsing through the different clocks. There isn’t a ton of data for each clock, but there are links to individual project pages wherever available. There is also a growing amount of information on the different components themselves, so submit any data you have that he’s missing to help flesh it out.

The video above wasn’t chosen for any reason other than it is quite stylish.

Readers offer their best tips for using old smartphones as feature-rich alarm clocks, listening to internet radio without the Flash ads, and a dress code for getting things done.

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About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they’re a bit too niche, maybe we couldn’t find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn’t fit it in—the tip didn’t make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, share it here, or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.

Use an Old Smartphone as an Alarm Clock

Photo by Dmitry Baranovskiy.

Jeff finds new uses for his smartphones after he’s upgraded to a newer model:

I recently picked up a Motorola Droid and hated the idea of throwing away my old (though still fully functional) BlackBerry Pearl. After activating the Droid, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that the Pearl still displayed the current time. Apparently even though the service has been disconnected, the Pearl still picks up the time from Verizon’s network. (Maybe this is so the phone still has access to emergency services?)

I realized that the Pearl could serve as a fully-functional alarm clock, which has been awesome for a number of reasons:

1. The alarm on the Pearl can be set to make any number of annoying and startling noises.
2. More excitingly, the microSD card can be loaded up with music, and and any song can be used as an alarm.
3. The Pearl has many more features than my old alarm clock, such as the music playback, automatically-updated time, and unlike my old alarm, the time won’t reset in a power outage.
4. The Pearl is so much smaller than my other alarm clock. Less clutter = good.
5. I don’t have to make sure that my current working phone, the Droid, lands near my bed at the end of the night. The Pearl stays plugged in, so the Droid can be left anywhere at night.

I’ve been using the Pearl as my sole alarm for awhile now, and the only downside I can see is that, unless I hang it on the way and keep the screen lit, the time can’t be seen at night. This hasn’t been a problem for me because it makes the room darker, but it might bother some.

Hope this prevents some people from trashing a perfectly good smartphone.

If not being able to see the clock bothers you, many phones have the ability to keep the backlight on when being charged or in a dock, or even apps that act as an always-on clock display. This will obviously shorten the life of the display, but if you were about to toss it anyway, you’ve got nothing to lose!

Play Internet Radio Without Banner Ads

TehBeardMan shows us a neat workaround for keeping the Flash down when listening to radio:

I like listening to Pandora online radio as well as Slacker radio. But sometimes the ads on the sites are a bit annoying. Ignoring the obvious of using a adblocker, you can look at the source of the page and find the URL for the flash music player and make that your bookmark.

For example, here is Slacker’s music player, free from all the banner ads and such.

And here is Pandora’s latest one.

Both on a nice and clean page by themselves.

(I know pandora has a similar option built in for the mini-player but I like everything in one window)

As always, we encourage you to leave the ads alone, since that’s how sites like Pandora and Slacker (and us, for that matter), are able to stay free—but, of course, we also know how much of a resource hog Flash can be, so if you’re on battery or a computer with low specs, this is a nice way to keep yourself running a bit smoother.

Dress Up to Focus and Get Things Done

Photo by Kai Hendry.

Bonsai_haicyon tells us how he keeps his focus when it’s time to get work done:

When trying to study up for a midterm or buckle down on the paper due tomorrow, you might find it helpful to dress up a little, instead of wearing your sweats.

I had a college roommate who would put on a jacket and tie when he had to cram for a midterm or final – dressing nicely helped put him in the right frame of mind for Getting Things Done. It’s all mental.

This may not be for everyone, and may seem like a strange tip—but I can definitely back this up for some. It’s why I don’t own sweats…I feel like I should be watching TV with the flu when I wear them.

Use Old Containers and Sharpies to Keep Track of Collar Stays

Photo by Guilherme Torelly .

mahfrot shows us his favorite collar stay wrangler:

I found myself continually losing collar stays whenever I’d take them out to wash my dress shirts. I’m sure there’s a million other options out there, but I found using an old Altoids tin the perfect size. Also, to make sure I remember which stays go to which shirt, I write on the back of the stays in Sharpie the colors or patterns on the shirt.

Space Invaders came out in 1978, six years after Pong. That means this Space Invaders clock uses newer technology, right? Nope, it’s the same hardware as the Adafruit Pong Clock with some updated firmware. Still, as you can see after the break, the effect is pretty nice. Pong was cool, but having a clock that scrolls through several classic games would be cooler.

[Dataman], the guy responsible for this firmware hack shared his code. It should be easy enough to alter it for any clock using a KS0108 graphic LCD screen. So what’s next? Can someone pull off a black and white Ms. Pac-Man that looks decent on the 128×64 display?

[Thanks PT]

Here is another cool design from the guys over at Art Lebedev Studios, the Art Lebedev’s Segmentus Clock. The funky looking clock uses segmented rotating lines to form LCD style numbers on the clock face.

Each segment of the clock is an articulating arrow, similar to a tiny clock hand, check out the video of it in action.

It seems like the Art Lebedev’s Segmentus Clock is just in the concept stage at the moment, lets hope they put this thing into production as I would love one of these for the Geeky Gadgets Office.

Art Lebedev via Craziest Gadgets

This is a post from Geeky Gadgets, who bring you the latest Gadgets and Technology News.

Art Lebedev’s Segmentus Clock

Art Lebedev’s Segmentus Clock is Mesmerizing

New from the geniuses over at Art Lebedev Studio comes the Segmentus Clock (ru). This mesmerizing clock uses segmented rotating lines to form LCD style numerals on the clock. Each segment of what would be an LCD number (but is not, it’s analog) is actually an articulating arrow- almost like a tiny clock hand itself. That’s a tricky explanation but check out animation on Art’s page or the screenshot video I took for those of you without flash:

I could literally watch this clock for a good portion of my day. It’s almost hypnotic. Segmentus is just a new concept right now but we’ve seen many Art Lebedev concepts go from idea to store, sometimes relatively quickly, so keep your eyes peeled.

By Andrew Liszewski

Paying tribute to the classic Kit-Cat Klock, this updated Homer Simpson version forgoes the wagging tail in favor of animated arms holding a donut in one hand, and a can of Duff in the other. His eyes move back and forth and each arm moves up and down while he contemplates the eternal question of which one he’ll eat first. Powered by 2xAA batteries the Homer clock is available from Perpetual Kid for $29.99.

[ Homer Simpson Beer vs. Donut Clock ]

By Andrew Liszewski

As much a kinetic sculpture as it is a timepiece, the Oblique Clock reinterprets the hands of a traditional analog clock, adding extra geometry and structure that results in a constantly changing design as it ticks away the minutes throughout the day. And to make it as mysterious looking as possible, the custom engineered mechanical elements that drive the clock are hidden behind a rather large frame, leaving no question that this is first and foremost an art piece.

Here’s a few examples of how you actually read the time using the clock, and from what I can tell you mostly want to pay attention to the darker brown hands since the lighter colored pieces will just confuse you. To fully appreciate the clock’s movements, I highly recommend taking a few seconds to watch the video below where you can see it in motion.

And there’s good news for those of you who feel you must have one of these for your home or office. The Oblique Clock is being produced in a very limited run of just 20 pieces, and one of them can be yours for just $3,900 CAD.

[ Science&Sons - Oblique Clock ] VIA [ I New Idea Homepage ]

Readers offer their best tips for playing just the audio of video files on the iPhone, cushioned sleeves for external hard drives, and making sure your alarm clock wakes you up in the morning.

Don’t like the gallery layout? Click here to view everything on one page.

About the Tips Box: Every day we receive boatloads of great reader tips in our inbox, but for various reasons—maybe they’re a bit too niche, maybe we couldn’t find a good way to present it, or maybe we just couldn’t fit it in—the tip didn’t make the front page. From the Tips Box is where we round up some of our favorites for your buffet-style consumption. Got a tip of your own to share? Add it in the comments, share it here, or email it to tips at lifehacker.com.

Play Just the Audio of iPhone Video Files

Photo by Dan Taylor.

Rick Betita shows us how to stop the video from playing and draining battery on iPhones:

One of the most annoying things about the iPhone is that you can’t listen to the audio of a video file unless the video is playing. Let’s say I’m watching a TEDTalk video podcast where the visuals don’t add much to the content: if I lock my phone or press the home button, playback will stop (rather than continue underneath like an audio file).

To get around it, I lock my phone while I’m watching the video (stopping the playback) and double-tap the home button to bring up playback controls on the locked screen. From there, I can press play and lock the phone again, allowing me to listen to my video file with the screen locked.

If I want to do something else on my iPhone while the audio of the video plays in the background, I press the home button during video playback and lock the screen immediately afterwards. Then I double-tap the home screen as before, hit play, and unlock the phone. It brings me to my home screen while the audio continues to play.

Use Drink Insulators as Hard Drive Sleeves

kamosaurus gives us a nice clever use for our portable external hard drives:

I have found that the collapsible koozies are perfect cheap sleeves for portable external hard drives. They fit snug and they give you a little “bump” protection without you having to go buy an expensive portable hard drive case. I’ve never had a case where the hard drive got too hot from being in the koozie but it’s more about the transport anyways.

The best part of all is that they are cheap and customizable!

Move Alarm Clocks Around to Ensure Waking in the Morning

Photo by Bernt Rostad.

virtourist shares his tips for waking up in the morning:

The problem with my alarm clock is that I’ve gotten so used to the ‘off’ button that I can turn off the first alarm and cancel the second in my sleep. I have a roommate, so I can’t do something ridiculous like put the alarm clock on the other side of the room.
My solution: Wrap the alarm clock in a t shirt and always place the clock in a different orientation/location on the nightstand. That way, I have to be awake and coherent enough to do some searching for the off button without just using muscle memory.

grewal12 adds his solution to the mix:

I have the same thing going on…kind of. I have two alarm clocks. One is the regular kind, right next to my night stand. The other one is my phone which is on the other side of the room. They both go off at the same time. BUT, I have another alarm on my phone that goes off 15 minutes later. So I have to go through the menus and stuff to turn it off. Because if I don’t, it goes off while I’m in the shower and wakes everyone else up.

Take Bathroom Breaks on Different Floors to Get Heart Rate Up

Photo by Russell J. Smith.

fisher.seth lets us know how he keeps from feeling lethargic at work:

To get my heart rate up multiple times during my otherwise very sedentary working day, I only take restroom breaks on the ground floor of a five-story building (of which I’m located on the 5th floor). I take five flights of stairs down, use the restroom, then back up the stairs, two-at-a-time, as quick as possible. After a quick stop at the top to catch my breath, I’m back at my desk within 3 minutes.