Technabob » binary

Binary Burst LED Clock Won’t Blow up in Your Face, But Will Challenge Your Brain

Range — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:00:08 +0000

This LED clock was created by Mike Szczys and it’s pretty unusual. It tells time using binary numbers, so if you want to use something like this, better brush up on your binary.

The clock is controlled by an ATtiny44 and has a bare PCB board with LED spires that radiate out from its center, reminiscent of a traditional wall clock. Each spire has three digits, corresponding to 1, 2 and 4. When the inner and outer digits are lit up, it shows a binary five. Then the next spire will start the count. Confusing enough for you yet? The hours are displayed with a red LED, and they correspond to the positions of an analog clock, so at least those are easy to read.

If you want to build your own, you can check out Mike’s post on Jumptuck where he explains how he made the clock.

[via Make:]

Cadence 4-Bit Wall Clock is Perfect for your Geek Office or Room

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 16:53:58 +0000

A few weeks back I mentioned the Cadence 4-bit binary wristwatch. That watch was cool, but if you are like me, it doesn’t matter how cool it is if you don’t wear a watch. This is the Cadence 4-bit Binary Wall clock and it uses the same time telling method that the wristwatch uses.

That is to say, rather than having numbers or marks at the positions where the numbers would be are the four blocks of binary code. Each stick of four blocks has the binary code darkened for the number it represents. It’s cool because anyone will still be able to tell time since it looks like a regular analog clock without numbers to non-geeks, but the inside math is still there for those who understand binary.

The face of the clock is 13.25″ in diameter, and the crystal over the face is made from shatter-resistant polycarbonate. The movement is quartz and the power comes from a single AA battery. The clock will ship in late June for $68 (USD) but a 40% discount will be offered on all pre-orders.

Cadence 4-Bit Wristwatch for Subtle Geeks

Shane McGlaun — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:57:07 +0000

Geeky watches are a staple around here. We like them even if we don’t wear them since we all have pockets stuffed with smartphones and tablets these days. If you are the watch-wearing sort though, you might like this new watch from Cadence that has the style geeks crave. The watch is called the 4-Bit Chronograph Watch.

Rather than numbers around the face, each of the numbers is represented in its binary code. The case is made from stainless steel and the watch hands are luminescent. The band is real leather with a saddle-stitch and the works are water resistant to 5ATM. The glass is sapphire coated quartz.

The only downside is that the watch is expensive at $195 (USD). However, if you want one and you pre-order you can get it for 40% off right now and pay just $119. The watch will ship in July. Is this thing geeky enough for you? Its geek shtick is pretty mild.

Supercoder 2000 Keyboard: Binary Solo….

Technabob — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 01:56:24 +0000

Here’s a keyboard designed for the ultimate computer geek. It’s got three, count ‘em, three, keys – a zero, a one, and a done button.

If you don’t understand it, you probably shouldn’t be reading Technabob.

[via Superlevel]

Tokyoflash Binary Flow Watch is Extremely Hard to Read

Range — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:29:39 +0000

I don’t know about you guys, but when I glance at my watch, I need to know the time pretty quickly. I don’t have time to try and figure out what exactly my fancy new Japanese timepiece is trying to tell me.

Well, this isn’t a problem for the guys over at Tokyoflash. Their latest concept design laughs in the face of easily telling the time. It’s called the Binary Flow watch and it has an e-ink display, which in itself is pretty cool. The e-ink display is partially wrapped around your wrist, and so are the components of the time and date.

The watch uses a strange combination of pseudo-binary code to display the time, making it more like a fun piece of wearable art instead of a practical watch. Good luck reading this one.

[via Tokyoflash]

Computer Love Ring: Binary Romance

Lambert Varias — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:25:39 +0000

Here’s a ring that will earn you a smile – and maybe even more – from math and computer geeks. Made of hand-forged sterling silver, the Computer Love Ring has the following engraved on its surface: 01101001 ♥ 01110101.

Can’t read binary? Go here and convert the sets of digits before and after the heart.

A sweet, if awfully roundabout way to say you 01101100 01101111 01110110 01100101 someone. You can get the Computer Love Ring at Lyndsay Behrens’ (aka Idle Hands Designs) Etsy shop for $63 (USD).

Custom Binary LED Watch is Bright, Bulky

Alisha K. — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:40:20 +0000

You could easily buy your own binary clock or watch, but is that really in the spirit of such a timepiece? One could easily argue that a purchased binary watch just isn’t quite geeky enough. If you want to show your real geek cred, you’ve got to bust out some tools and make your own.

Ari’s hulking watch began life as a simple binary pocket watch, but at the urgings of the BenHeck.com forum community, he turned it into a wrist watch–something he had considered from the beginning. Not many watches are attached to a huge battery pack, but that’s okay. It’s one of the modern equivalents of the pocket protector, only heavier and more awesome.

Eventually, the watch will even have a USB charging cable, to keep it juiced in the only acceptable way.

[via BenHeck.com forums]

Encoder Rings Hide Binary Secrets

Karen M. — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:30:49 +0000

These Encoder Rings are decorated with holes that represent a 64-character code rendered in binary. This is your big chance to wear sensitive data on your finger, since only geeks with great eyesight would ever have a chance of figuring out what was on there.

The rings are a concept piece designed by Jonathan Ben-Tovim. You can see more of his work on his website. He imagines people could make up their own messages and then the rings could be made with rapid-prototyping technology.

Ben-Tovin doesn’t mention what the rings are made of, but they look crazy futuristic. Also, like they would make your finger sweaty. Nevertheless, these are way cooler than those decoder rings that used to come in the Fruity Pebbles box… those were totally over-hyped, seriously.

Rhombus Dress Shirt Hides Binary Code

Technabob — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 14:23:57 +0000

At first glance this just looks like a nice, stylish button-down dress shirt. But upon further examination, you’ll notice that its shading isn’t just some sort of abstract pattern. It’s actually comprised of tens of thousands of little 0′s and 1′s.

Rhombus’ James and Boris dress shirts are just perfect for the computer geek with fashion sense (although I’m not sure how large that intersection would look on a Venn diagram). Each one is made from 97% cotton / 3% stretch fabric – dry clean only, so be careful not to spill too much Mountain Dew on yours!

And if Binary isn’t your language, there’s another pattern that’s made from old standardized tests (No. 2 pencil not included). There’s also a traditional gingham design, but who wants that?

The dress shirts sell for $75 each, and can be found over at Rhombuswear. For you cheapskates, be sure to check out the Thomas t-shirt — it comes in the same patterns, and sells for just $20 (short-sleeve) or $30 (long-sleeve).

[via geeksugar]