About Clocks and Flies

Clocks and flies are of interest to me because ... they move.

What is fascinating about moving things is that they are naturally amenable to animation. And I am a True Believer in the important and constructive role that animation can play in education/training/communication in general and in applied mathematics fields such as OR/MS in particular.

I am also a True Believer in the Keep it simple, mate! principle. In the case of my work on educationally rich modules this means that I prefer to use JavaScript rather than more complex web based programming environments such as Java, Flash, Shockwave, etc.

My interest in flies goes back to 1989 when I immigrated to Australia. Shooing off flies is an essential skill in some parts of this beautiful country! So for many years I had to cope with flies buzzing around my web site. The Australian Tourism Commission may not like this, but ... this is a fact of life here!

My interest in clocks goes back to 1995 when I created my first web site. I have been using virtual clocks ever since.

I was therefore delighted when a new breed of JavaScript virtual clocks burst unto the market in 2002. There is only one way to describe the spread of this type of clock: clockmania

In a very small way these creatures tell us how far behind we are in exploiting existing technologies for educational/training and more generally communication purposes.

The flying clock featured in this page is a modified version of a JavaScript I found at javascript.internet.com/clocks/ where it is attributed to Amy Cook from NCGODDESS. I modified it so that it can be used by Netscape 6.x and higher browsers. I also modified the color scheme and added some new features.

For your convenience we arrange a plain black backround below so that you will have a better view of the flying clock.

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Regarding the good old flies, for your convenience we provide an environmentally friendly anti-ants spray. Use it freely, or if you prefer, kill the flies with a click of your mouse.


Disclaimer: This page, its contents and style, are the responsibility of the author (Moshe Sniedovich) and do not represent the views, policies or opinions of The University of Melbourne.