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By Laurie Ashton

Time. Since the beginning of time, humans have been fascinated with time, measuring it, recording it, and spending it.

Celestial bodies, the moon, our sun, other stars, have provided humans with a way to keep from our earliest existence. Ancient civilizations relied on their movement to determine seasons, when to plant, when to harvest.

The ancient Sumerians, five thousand years ago in today’s Iraq, developed a calendar that divided the year into months, days, and hours. Stonehenge’s apparent purpose was to determine lunar eclipses, solstices, and more, although, given the lack of concrete knowledge on the circle of stones, could include dancing naked under a full moon. The earliest Egyptian calendar, based on the lunar cycle, was later revised as the Dog Star rose next to the sun every 365 days, coinciding with the annual flooding of the Nile.

About five to six thousand years ago, great civilizations in Africa and the Middle East switched focus from calendars to clock making. And with that switch, these cultures began to organize their time more efficiently.

Egyptians with their obelisks, built as early as 3500 BC, with their moving shadows, became a kind of sundial, dividing days into before and after noon as well as showing the year’s longest and shortest days. As time passed, markers were added around the base of the monument, indicating further divisions of time.

1500 BC, and the sundial in a smaller form came into use, measuring hours. Six hundred BC saw the advent of the merkhet, the oldest known astronomical tool, used to mark off night time hours by using the Pole Star to establish a north-south meridian, and observing other stars cross that meridian, introducing time that could be measured at night.

Sundials evolved from flat plats to more elaborate forms, a hemispherical dial, a bowl-shaped depression, and so on until, by 30 BC, 13 different styles of sundials were used in Greece, Asia Minor, and Italy.

The Mayans of Central America had, by 4 BC, developed three different calendar systems, more accurate than the currently used Gregorian calendar. Using the Haab calendar, they divided a 365 day year into eighteen 20-day months, followed by a five day period that, being considered unlucky, was part of no month. The Mayans worried that the gods might be dissatisfied with mankind and bring about the end of the world.

In 1577, mankind became increasingly obsessed with time as the minute hand was invented. 1656 saw the creation of the pendulum and with it, more accurate time-keeping. The first wristwatch was a pocket watch Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and philosopher, tied to his wrist with a piece of string. No word on whether he had a problem with holes in his pockets. :P

Following that, we have the mechanical alarm clock invented in 1787, with a hitch. A very big hitch. It could only ring at 4 am. :) Evidently having a mechanical wind-up alarm clock that could be set for any time wasn’t that important a feature as it took almost another century for it to be invented in 1876.

Now the modern era, and we now have an even wider variety of ways to keep time. So when it comes to everyday gotta-get-up-in-time-for-work alarms, what to use?

I have two favourites. The first is a world receiver by Grundig, the Yacht Boy 80. It can tune in to short wave, AM, and FM radio, so no matter where you are, you can still tune in to your favourite news, sports, or music. Imagine being stuck hours from home, but still, you can keep up with the long-anticipated cricket match You can scan for stations or dial them in or, better still, store up to 45 stations in memory.

Its alarm feature means it’s a perfect travel companion, especially if you’re unfortunate enough to have to keep to a schedule. Illuminated multi-function LCD display and battery power optional on top of external power supply means that, even during our frequent blackouts or in the middle of nowhere with no electricity to access, you can still tell time, use the alarm, or listen to that perfect radio station. Mood music, anyone?

My other favourite is a clock that will help you sleep as well as wake you up.

How’s that, you ask? Not possible, you argue. Oh, but it is!

Introducing the iPod Compatible Travel Soother 20 Radio/Alarm Clock.

Uh, what?

Yeah, it’s a really long name that basically means lots of features. It comes with an inline jack and cable that lets you connect your iPod or other MP3 player to enjoy music in rich, full-range sound. The LCD display is backlit in blue, shows 12/24 dual time, F/C temperature, and month and day, perfect for those who can’t remember when they are, never mind the where. The adjustable snooze has intervals from 15 to 120 minutes for those days you just can’t quite manage to wake up.

But the best part. It has the built-in Sound Soother, perfect for insomniacs or noisy neighborhoods. It’s late, you need to work the next morning, you can’t sleep, and to top it all off, the neighborhood dogs are non-stop barking. Short of physical violence, what can you do?

Put on the Sound Soother with its digital soundscapes to mask background noise. Try Rainforest, Summer Night, Fireside, Surf’s Up, Wind Chimes, or any of the other 15 sounds available. You can even use the headphones that come with it so you don’t disturb your mate.

Hey, it’s better than going to jail for killing the dogs, don’t ya think?

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to get some time!

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