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Author Topic: What to do when you have too much money....  (Read 2346 times)

TechMan

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What to do when you have too much money....
« on: June 23, 2011, 05:03:18 PM »
http://www.10000yearclock.net/learnmore.html
http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2011/06/the_clock_in_th.php
http://www.geeksaresexy.net/2011/06/23/amazon-chief-proves-that-money-is-time/

Jeff Bezos is assisting in the financing of a clock that is designed to work for 10,000 years.

Stats:
10,000 pound pendulum at the end of a 200' pivot that is in a 500' shaft in a remote Texas mountain owned by Bezos.
It ticks once a year.  The only hand advances once a century.  The cuckoo only cuckoo's once a millennium.
There is a display for precise time and a daily chime, but you have to wind up the mechanism to see/hear.  The daily chime will play a different melody every day for each of the 1,000 years.

To get to the clock you have to get to the town of Van Horn, TX.  You then have to hike for about a day to get to the mountain.

Other stuff at the above links.
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AZRedhawk44

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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #1 on: June 23, 2011, 05:09:07 PM »
Cool.

The pics make me think of a bond villain lair, but cool nonetheless.
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Lanius

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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #2 on: June 23, 2011, 05:12:33 PM »
10,000 years my ass.

Once a certain anti-social ethnicity that shall not be mentioned gets widely spread in America, the 10,000 year clock willl all end up sold to scrap yards. Mark my words. Those people will tear up railroads to make a little money..
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #3 on: June 23, 2011, 05:13:29 PM »
Quote from: adively on June 23, 2011, 05:03:18 PM
To get to the clock you have to get to the town of Van Horn, TX.  You then have to hike for about a day to get to the mountain.

Love that part of Texas.  I'd be game for the trip.
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lee n. field

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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2011, 05:27:03 PM »
I've heard of that, a while ago.

The clock of the long now.

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kgbsquirrel

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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2011, 05:31:58 PM »
That's just so neat, a monument of perseverance if you will. But the cynic inside agrees, it will last only long enough for the time it takes looters and vandals to get there.
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #6 on: June 23, 2011, 05:32:47 PM »
Quote from: Lanius on June 23, 2011, 05:12:33 PM
10,000 years my ass.

Once a certain anti-social ethnicity that shall not be mentioned gets widely spread in America, the 10,000 year clock willl all end up sold to scrap yards. Mark my words. Those people will tear up railroads to make a little money..

If you're going to bandy around racial insults, at least don't be a sissy and make them thinly veiled.  Out with it, boy.
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Declaration Day

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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #7 on: June 23, 2011, 05:52:04 PM »
Quote from: Lanius on June 23, 2011, 05:12:33 PM
..... the 10,000 year clock will all end up sold to scrap yards. Mark my words. Those people will tear up railroads to make a little money..

Except that, unlike railroads, cars, gutters and copper pipes / wiring, this thing is difficult and time-consuming to reach.  My guess is that's part of the master plan to keep it from being vandalized or dismantled.
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2011, 05:55:10 PM »
Quote from: Declaration Day on June 23, 2011, 05:52:04 PM
Except that, unlike railroads, cars, gutters and copper pipes / wiring, this thing is difficult and time-consuming to reach.  My guess is that's part of the master plan to keep it from being vandalized or dismantled.

I was thinking that too. As long as they maintain control of the surrounding property no one builds any roads to allow ease-of-access, it should last at least a little while.

By the by, even with my jacked up feet and knees I totally would try to make a trip out to see this thing! The more I read on it the more awesome it sounds.
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #9 on: June 23, 2011, 06:17:19 PM »
Quote from: kgbsquirrel on June 23, 2011, 05:55:10 PM

By the by, even with my jacked up feet and knees I totally would try to make a trip out to see this thing!

That's what helos are for. :D

I think it would be awesome to see it in person as well.
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #10 on: June 23, 2011, 06:27:14 PM »
Quote
The only hand advances once a century.

Say, can you tell me what century this is ?

 :lol:
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #11 on: June 23, 2011, 06:50:28 PM »
Quote from: Tallpine on June 23, 2011, 06:27:14 PM
Say, can you tell me what century this is ?

 :lol:

Does anyone really care?
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MechAg94

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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #12 on: June 23, 2011, 07:33:37 PM »
Given that we have only been building modern tech stuff for a short time, do we really have a full grasp of what it takes to make something last 10,000 years and still work?  That is a very, very, very long time. 

Texas is not a big earthquake area, but in 10,000 years, who knows.
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #13 on: June 23, 2011, 07:53:31 PM »
Quote from: MechAg94 on June 23, 2011, 07:33:37 PM
Given that we have only been building modern tech stuff for a short time, do we really have a full grasp of what it takes to make something last 10,000 years and still work?  That is a very, very, very long time. 

Texas is not a big earthquake area, but in 10,000 years, who knows.

Would you like to purchase the extended warranty?   =)
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #14 on: June 23, 2011, 08:43:18 PM »
I thought that clock was really cool.  That was until I hacked into their control system and found this:


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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #15 on: June 23, 2011, 11:24:17 PM »
Quote from: Lanius on June 23, 2011, 05:12:33 PM
Once a certain anti-social ethnicity that shall not be mentioned gets widely spread in America, the 10,000 year clock willl all end up sold to scrap yards. Mark my words. Those people will tear up railroads to make a little money..

Well, now you've got me wondering.  One, why you think that kind of comment would fly around here, and secondly what ethnic group doesn't have a wide spread presence in America?  We've got a lot of everybody over here.  That's what makes it so much fun.  Plus the food choices are pretty awesome when you're eating out.
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #16 on: June 23, 2011, 11:33:14 PM »
Universe Man, Universe Man...
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #17 on: June 23, 2011, 11:39:30 PM »
And is that accurate with daylight savings time? I mean does someone set it forward every hundred years, and back the next?
And think about the gigantic snooze button on that thing.........I'd love to sleep in a couple hundred years before having to get up for work.
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #18 on: June 24, 2011, 01:25:29 AM »
Quote from: Lanius on June 23, 2011, 05:12:33 PM
10,000 years my ass.

Once a certain anti-social ethnicity that shall not be mentioned gets widely spread in America, the 10,000 year clock willl all end up sold to scrap yards. Mark my words. Those people will tear up railroads to make a little money..


your cranium needs extraction from your anal cavity ASAP!
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #19 on: June 24, 2011, 07:07:13 AM »
How do you wind it?  And how often? ???

Must have a helluva key...  :O
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #20 on: June 24, 2011, 10:17:03 AM »
Quote from: 280plus on June 24, 2011, 07:07:13 AM
How do you wind it?  And how often? ???

Must have a helluva key...  :O

RTFM. :P

The only things you have to wind are the current time display (it is normally disconnected to save energy in the system), and the chimes. The timing and escapement mechanism along with the orrery and century/millennial dials are powered through the thermal shift from night to day. Also if there is excess energy from the thermal shift winding system this is bled off to the chime weights. It's also auto-calibrating to solar-noon with a sextant type device.
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #21 on: June 24, 2011, 10:23:03 AM »
I think the commercialization/colonization of space is the most compatible enterprise with the true goals of the Long Now foundation and I'd rather see the money spent there.

However, this is pretty cool. And is at least much better than throwing money into a pit in Africa etc.

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280plus

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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #22 on: June 24, 2011, 10:24:34 AM »
So you're saying there's no giant key? Now I'm sad... =(

 =D

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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #23 on: June 24, 2011, 10:50:04 AM »
Quote from: kgbsquirrel on June 24, 2011, 10:17:03 AM
RTFM. :P

The only things you have to wind are the current time display (it is normally disconnected to save energy in the system), and the chimes. The timing and escapement mechanism along with the orrery and century/millennial dials are powered through the thermal shift from night to day. Also if there is excess energy from the thermal shift winding system this is bled off to the chime weights. It's also auto-calibrating to solar-noon with a sextant type device.

Did you pull that out of your *expletive deleted*ss, or did you read that somewhere?  Linky?
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Re: What to do when you have too much money....
« Reply #24 on: June 24, 2011, 10:54:08 AM »
Quote from: AZRedhawk44 on June 24, 2011, 10:50:04 AM
Did you pull that out of your *expletive deleted*ss, or did you read that somewhere?  Linky?

I got the link from the OP: http://www.kk.org/thetechnium/archives/2011/06/the_clock_in_th.php
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