[HN Gopher] The faulty digital clock problem (2021)
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       The faulty digital clock problem (2021)
        
       Author : Lutzb
       Score  : 24 points
       Date   : 2024-01-09 22:47 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (andersource.dev)
 (TXT) w3m dump (andersource.dev)
        
       | codyd51 wrote:
       | This was a really neat read! It's fun to speedrun the experience
       | of "I've never thought about this" => "There's a structure to map
       | out here" => "I wonder how this is solved in general?" => the
       | nitty gritties of hashing out a solution. Thanks for sharing!
        
       | dang wrote:
       | Discussed at the, er, time:
       | 
       |  _The faulty digital clock problem_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27346655 - May 2021 (16
       | comments)
        
       | nickdothutton wrote:
       | I find it interesting that in 2024 there is a significant portion
       | of the population that would probably die in the escape room. No
       | matter how long they were given to consider the puzzle.
        
         | aodonnell2536 wrote:
         | The same rings true throughout most of history, probably much
         | more so beyond ~80-100 years ago
        
       | fsckboy wrote:
       | for years I was faced with a similar problem, but my constraits
       | were different so I was able to definitively solve it a different
       | way.
       | 
       | Sony made a bedside alarm clock-radio back in the 80's--actually
       | two models, a mono- and a stereophonic--that had a rare feature
       | that I loved: you set the alarm with two dedicated and detented
       | knobs, one to set the hour, and one to set the 5-minute mark for
       | the alarm, and the alarm could be the radio. I would have the
       | alarm go off every morning to either a classical or npr (back
       | when it was listenable :) station. I loved that I could set the
       | alarm just by reaching out in the dark and turning the knobs, as
       | I could tell by feel what they were set to.
       | 
       | for at least 15 years I kept this alarm clock with me as I moved
       | cities a couple times. Unfortunately, the nixie tubes for the
       | time display went bad so it became hard then impossible to read
       | the numbers. I struggled with that for awhile, then I realized, I
       | didn't care to read what time it displayed, I just needed the
       | alarm to work. So, I would unplug it (and the 9V battery backup)
       | and plug it all back in at midnight; A broken clock being right
       | twice a day, that's the time it would assume. Got to use my
       | favorite stereo radio for a number of additional years. It even
       | lasted into my subsequent and on-going "I will never buy anything
       | from Sony, ever again" boycott :)
       | 
       | edit: found a picture of it
       | https://images.bonanzastatic.com/afu/images/8ddb/9523/9356_8...
       | 
       | guess it wasn't nixie, some type of gas flourescent though. also,
       | 24 hr clock so I guess it was right once a day.
        
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       (page generated 2024-01-10 23:00 UTC)