Do you know what an “Oh wow, that’s really cool!” buy is?
It’s something you buy that’s not necessarily of strong particular use, nor do you have a strong personal desire or need for it, but instead you purchase it just so when someone sees it, you get to hear them say “Oh wow, that’s really cool!” This mostly extends to home or office decoration, but many cars, clothes and other goods have been purchased with the sole intention of producing that effect.
The Qlocktwo from German designers Biegert and Funk (which is just a fantastic 70’s soul band name) definitely accomplishes that, as evidenced by the fact that it was my exact reaction upon seeing it.
In case it wasn’t clear from the picture, the Qlocktwo is a wall clock (with a wristwatch model available) that foregoes the old fashioned number system (which in turn replaced that weird reading shadows thing that apparently was once the rage), and instead tells you the time in a series of phrases like “Half past Two” or “Quarter to Six,” making its communication closer to the same methods we often use to relay that information amongst each other.
Made of wood, available in several languages, and featuring a bright display visible in most any light conditions, the clock updates its message every five minutes, and comes in a variety of models including the mentioned wristwatch Qlocktwo W, an alarm clock compatible Qlocktwo Touch, and a Qlocktwo Large which is an as advertised larger version of the regular model.
It’s a fairly reasonable way to tell the time (because really, who needs to know if its 3:33 exactly?), but this is truly meant as an eye-catching piece you’ll have around the house to show off to anyone who may come through, or in an office when trying to impress guests or just improve the décor for your employees.
Running north of $600 depending on the model and vendor, the Qlocktwo might be expensive eye candy, but it’s some damn fine eye candy and one of the coolest clocks available.
Wherever you stand on gun control, you can probably agree there are just some common sense restraints when it comes to gun use.
For instance, unless you’re Elmer Fudd there probably is no good reason to bring, say, a rocket launcher for rabbit hunting. You may also have a hard time convincing a judge that “Terminator 2” style minigun is just for hunting quail. That’s because as effective as those weapons may be, there is no practical reason to have that much firepower, in those scenarios.
That being the case, it could be argued that there is no practical reason for the power of the TrackingPoint sniper rifle to exist. But damn, I’m kind of glad it does.
That’s because the TrackingPoint is every overpowered video game or comic book weapon come to terrifying life. It’s main selling point is its ability to take into account wind, distance, obstacles, measurements, and more through internal systems. This matters because the weapon is so smart, it will not allow a shot to be fired until it is absolutely sure what you are aiming at through the laser point sight will be hit.
Also, like other smart devices, it has Wi-Fi capabilities, built in USB ports, and an included iPad Mini to store all of your shots on and upload them wherever you need.
Let’s be clear here. If you had a gun in a video game that wouldn’t fire until there was a guaranteed hit, you’d be banned for hacking, and uploading videos of it would be in bad taste. As this is a real weapon that can do just that, there are a few safety precautions, such as it being password protected to only function at full capacity by the original owner. While not the greatest preventive feature, the price point of around $22,000 will keep it out of most people’s hands.
I say most though, because these rifles have already begun selling to some apparently very high demand, to the point a waiting list has been created (and of course, a full background check applies). While there is obviously a long, long moral discussion regarding a rifle like this, just looking at its functions objectively, and as a rifle intended for hunters, makes it difficult to not see this as an impressive piece of technology.
