Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Blink Counter

Blink Counter (Batteries inc.) 5.99
 
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How precious is our time on the planet. With this simple little device one is able to discard the man made concept of time and realy appreciate the natural clock that evalution has given us. Full instructions are supplied and be sure to read the chapter on sleep.
youknow, Jun 22 2000

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       It took me a while to figure out what "youknow" was talking about.   

       (In case anyone else is as braindead as I am, it's a device for counting how many times you blink -- no, not an LED, not a <BLINK> tag, but your eyelids! Remember them?)
egnor, Jun 22 2000
  

       I stopped blinking when I got a cable modem.
rat, Jun 22 2000
  

       The Book of Blinkings, Chapter 5, verse 99, says: "Then man ventured forth and built a device to record to digital video tape a frame of vision for every blink, so he could watch these lost moments later." Verses 100 to 120, now lost, reportedly went on to describe how recording the blinks during watching blink videos eventually swallowed all of space and time, and how mankind went blind in self defense. Puts new meaning to the phrase "its on the blink".
jetckalz, Jun 23 2000
  

       I have just blinked / blunk (what is the past tense of blink?) 181 times.... Oooh, there was Blink 182
MrTheRich, Jun 30 2000
  

       This is a rich idea. I love it. Think about it...everyone will be on different times. This is wonderful. MAN. Yawn. Good morning, Woman. WOMAN. You're just waking up? MAN. Hey...its only 8 blinks by MY watch...har har har. WOMAN. You little rascal. Come along and I'll make you breakfast. It won't take 30 blinks...
WRDRMR, Jul 06 2000
  

       Would a time waster be called a blinking idiot?
On-or-about, Oct 09 2000
  

       No, on-or-about...I think you're referring to George W. Bush...On second thought-it's right either way.
thumbwax, Oct 09 2000
  

       this idea is in the same list as having a water powered TV in the Sahara Desert
Geezer, May 16 2001
  

       or the non-rechargeable solar flashlight category, or the biodegradeable rain coat category, or the edible afterbirth category.
sh4linux, Aug 21 2001
  

       I have been fascinated by blinks on and off (or maybe open and closed? ;) ) since I was about 16. A friend did a science project on electroencephalography, and I learned not only about alpha waves, etc. (big thing in the early '70s), but also that the strange overloads in her oscillography were due to the relatively large voltage potentials caused by the muscles which make eyeblinks.   

       My dad dug up a reference to a early '60s French paper on the subject which supposed that the brain took ~100ms "naps" during a blink. I still think this is an overlooked area of research, related to REM (rapid eye motion), sleep research, and brain function.   

       I made some measurements for an undergraduate school class in psychophysics, relating eyeblink response to light flashes vs. acoustic "bangs." IIRC, the blinks responding to a spark (light and sound) were somewhat faster and more prolonged than those evoked by sound or light alone. I used a simple electromyographic sensor [measures the small electric impulses given off by the (eye) muscles as they contract.]   

       30+ years later, my daughter did an elementary school science fair project on "Do people blink more in the morning or in the afternoon?" Turns out her subjects blinked more in the afternoon. She used a small microphone mounted on an eyeglasses frame and a cassette recorder to count the blinks over a 5 minute interval.
csea, Apr 29 2007
  
      
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