Clock

A clock is an instrument to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately (via Dutch, Northern French, and Medieval Latin) from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a striking mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece. In general usage today a "clock" refers to any device for measuring and displaying the time. Watches and other timepieces that can be carried on one's person are often distinguished from clocks.

The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to consistently measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units: the day, the lunar month, and the year. Devices operating on several physical processes have been used over the millennia. A sundial shows the time by displaying the position of a shadow on a flat surface. There are a range of duration timers, a well-known example being the hourglass. Water clocks, along with the sundials, are possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments. A major advance occurred in Europe around 1300 with the invention of the escapement, which allowed construction of the first mechanical clocks, which used oscillating timekeepers like balance wheels. Spring-driven clocks appeared during the 15th century. During the 15th and 16th centuries, clockmaking flourished. The next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention of the pendulum clock. A major stimulus to improving the accuracy and reliability of clocks was the importance of precise time-keeping for navigation. The electric clock was patented in 1840. The development of electronics in the 20th century led to clocks with no clockwork parts at all.

Clocks (song)

"Clocks" is a song by British alternative rock band Coldplay. It was written by all members of the band for their second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. Built around a piano riff, the song features cryptic lyrics of contrast and urgency themes. Several remixes of the track exist and its riff has been widely sampled.

"Clocks" debuted to critical and commercial success, with critics mainly commenting on the song's piano melody. It was released in the United Kingdom as the third single from A Rush of Blood to the Head, where it reached number nine in the UK Singles Chart. It was released in the United States as the album's second single, it reached number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 9 on Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart. It won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Due to its success in the US, the radio cut version of the song serves as the final track of the 2003 compilation album Now That's What I Call Music! 13

Background and writing

"Clocks" was composed during the late stages of production of Coldplay's second album, A Rush of Blood to the Head. A riff popped into Chris Martin's mind late one night in Liverpool when he came in to the studio, where he then developed it on piano. According to Martin, "Clocks" was inspired by the English rock band Muse. Martin presented the riff to the band's guitarist Jonny Buckland who then added a layer of guitar chords to the basic track: "He picked up his guitar [a sure sign that he likes a song] and played these brilliant chords ... It was like a chemical reaction process." (The syncopated piano arpeggio that gives the song its signature sound also bears a similarity to a syncopated arpeggio that is repeated several times in Alex De Grassi's 1981 instrumental "Clockwork.")

What to Do After You Hit Return

What to Do After You Hit Return or P.C.C.'s First Book of Computer Games is the first computer game book written by Howie Franklin, Marc LeBrun, Dave Kaufman, and others at People's Computer Company in 1975. It was published by Hayden in 1977 and then by SAMS in 1980 (ISBN 0810454769).

The book contains several educational programs in BASIC, and encourages playing games in the classroom without using the computer, to teach children how the programming language works. Each game is devoted a page or two to demonstrate how the game works, and the code is listed in the back of the book.

Games

Some of the games in the book include: