OnlineClock
Some people are instinctive wakers who can rely on rising whenever, wherever they need to. That's not me. My schedule is always based on Eastern Standard Time, even when I am traveling, so I'm a bit paranoid when it comes to hotel alarm clocks. By far, my favorite travel alarm is OnlineClock: The weight is just right (zero grams, if you're carring a laptop); the price is perfect (free); and it's easy to use. The interface is fantastically simple: a big digital clock. Just select a wake-up time from the drop-down list, and raise the volume on your laptop to whatever level won't cause friction with the neighbors. When the time you've set arrives, your laptop sounds off like a conventional alarm clock. Brilliant! I've tried wrist watches, cell phones alarms, travel clocks and extra-loud vibrating clocks, but OnlineClock's interface is simple enough I can handle it even when jetlagged or dopey from too many hours awake, a standard my wristwatch doesn't always meet. I don't know how the site determines the correct local time, but it's been accurate for me both around the U.S. and in Israel.
Caveat: this works well for me because I typically go to sleep with an open laptop logging work-related messages, or playing an audiobook, etc. If you're unable to keep a laptop or other web-browsing device open, this isn't for you. Of course, there are other online clocks. Kukuklok has a wide range of tones, if you prefer to wake to a bugle. Avnoy has cool, artistic display, but it's Flash-dependent and there's too much information displayed on the screen for the mostly-asleep mode of my brain to handle. In addition, I'm sure there are plenty of resident alarm clocks that run as applications, but that's one more piece of software I don't need to keep current or transfer among machines, or care about cross-platform compatibility (company laptop is OS X, my personal machines usually run Ubuntu or other Linux variant).
The simplicity of OnlineClock keeps me coming back.
Favorite (15)
Neil
On the same server is the countdown clock, countdown.onlineclock.net. It's a great tool for seeing just how many days, hours, minutes and seconds are left until that special event...
OnlineClock.net
Hi Timothy,
Wow, thanks so much for that terrific blog post about our site, we love it!
Finally, someone who "gets" the fact that sometimes a web application is better when it has LESS functions rather than more.
Our clock simply uses your computer's time settings. So if you ever happen to see it displaying the wrong time for a new location, simply update your computer's time settings to the new time zone where you're located. OnlineClock will then immediately show you the correct time.
Thanks again for mentioning us!
Webmaster,
OnlineClock.net
archer
wow. if, after this wakes you, you are having trouble fully wakening, switch the background color choice to blue. that should do the trick.
tomr
A faster loading and more minimalistic online clock is: http://exacttimenow.com/
It lacks alarm features though
Anasha
This is an awesome resource, but for those with a mac, I have found that "alarm clock," a simple application for the menu bar is extremely useful and versatile. it will wake your computer from sleep (so you don't have to waste energy keeping your computer on all night), you can set multiple scheduled alarms, and you can have it play an itunes playlist instead of an alarm if desired. you can even set it to fade in over time. If you happen to forget to turn the volume to the right setting before you go to bed, no problem, the app automatically changes the volume to a preset level at wake up time. check out for yourself: http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/ipod_itunes/alarmclock.html
Timothy Lord
Anasha:
Ha! I even have a MacBook Pro at my disposal, and I didn't realize this. Thanks for pointing out the in-built alarm clock!
However, in reality, I'll probably still end up using multiple alarms; I am an expert sonambulist alarm-defuser. Turning alarms *off* is something I seem to be good at while asleep enough to later have no memory of doing it ;)
timothy
Paul Renault
Ooo! Excellent idea!
Make sure you have a light source in your bedroom that guarantees your body won't produce any melatonin! Wonderful!
Timothy Lord
Paul:
I often turn off the display (or very low), at least on my Apple machine (via the F1 key). And when I don't, I suspect it's not much brighter a light source than (for instance) the sort of alarm clock display that it emulates.
timothy
John Simpson
A very non-Green utility... Only useful if you're at your computer anyway. Sorry guys, this was a poorly-considered recommendation.