September 2010 desktop calendar

Posted on September 1, 02010
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The Tellurium clock of Marc Maradan

Posted on August 27, 02010
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Time and space are intertwined. Even before Minkowski's famous observation it was clear our temporal constructs (calendar systems and clocks) are merely models of the heavens - an attempt to codify the movements of space. This desire to understand our world is a deep human need.

The earliest calendars were merely notches on bone; a simple count of the passing of days between full moons. As our understanding of natural cycles grew, so did the complexity of our physical expressions. Meticulous mechanical constructions such as clocks and orreries are all models of the heavens.

A Tellurium clock combines both clock and orrery in a single movement. Last week I received pictures from Marc Maradan of a Tellurium clock he is working on. Marc is a process engineer based near Bern in Switzerland.

Inspired by a 2006 documentary on the Antikythera mechanism he set out to build his own Heliocentric calendar machine. He produced his designs using open source CAD software and manufactures all the components himself (no CNC machining) using only the technology available to the ancient Greeks.

Tellurium plans

The Tellurium construction is in five main parts. The Moon gear with 16 gears, the sun gear with 5 gears, the precession gear with 8 gears, the malteser linear mechanism, and the malteser cross mechanism with 7 gears.

The moon gear show the earth rotation, the sidereal month of the moon, the synodic month of the moon, and the lunar phases, metonic cycle and golden number. The sun gear ensures the earth/moon constellation turns around the sun. The precession gear shows the position in the zodiac and the month and is responsible for the movement of the equinox point.

The malteser linear gear is a device to make visible the difference in sunrise between summer and winter, and also the quotient from day and night. Marc also points out that the transformation from rotation in a linear movement always has the same speed (no sine function). The malteser cross mechanism is responsible for the change of the seasons.

Marc estimates he will finish the mechanical part of the tellurium in about a year, and will then move onto the cosmetics - gold-plating, enamel , engraving etc. It's an exciting an inspirational project and I look forward to watching his progress.

August 2010 desktop calendar

Posted on August 1, 02010
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Download: 1024 x 768 / 1680 x 1050 / 1920 x 1200 / original image
released under the UK Creative Commons Attribution licence

TED Global 2010, Hyper Island Creativity Lab and Flash On The Beach

Posted on July 2, 02010
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The next few months are gearing up to be a bit of a roller coaster. I've been working on a couple of projects that I'll finally be able to talk about, as well as attending some pretty amazing events.

TED Global 2010: Oxford

The Retroscope at TED Global 2010

The first event in a couple of weeks is TED Global in Oxford. I don't yet know if I'll be there for the event but my good friend Chris Wild will be presenting some of our work. Chris is the maestro behind The Retroscope and the nicest time traveler you'll ever meet. I won't give away any spoilers but I want to thank Mike and Simon for helping us get to the submission deadline in one piece!

Hyper Island Creativity Lab: Middlesborough

The day after I'll be heading up to Middlesburgh for the Hyper Island Creativity Lab. Founded in Sweden in 1996, Hyper Island is like boot camp for creatives - the original course is still run from a converted prison. In fact it might be better to describe it as re-boot camp. The course aims by way of self discovery to let you think creatively about digital. Should be great.

Flash On The Beach: Brighton

Flash on the beach 2010: Elevator Pitch speaker

Last up in September is the biggest UK Flash conference of the year. Flash On The Beach has a well deserved reputation as a fun and inspiring three days. I cover the con every year for FlashMagazine, but this will be my first time speaking. Blink and you'll miss it as I'll be covering 10 years of FlashMagazine in 3 minutes!

If there are tickets left I'd thoroughly recommend getting along. Despite the name, the sessions are not all about Flash. All creative technologies and media are represented and there's a good mix of design and technical sessions. The end of day inspirational sessions are worth the entrance fee on their own.