Shortcut Clocks

Concepts and Considerations

As one would expect, installments of Shortcut Clocks are necessarily related to [Short Cuts] (see ibid.) in one or the other way: they can either be built or – in some cases – already there, literally waiting for appropriate use.

The basic mechanism of Shortcut Clocks – or more precisely: the majority of Shortcut Clocks (i.e. those in urban spaces) – is considerably simple.
The reason for this is in the feigned simplicity of the mechanisms of [Short Cuts] (in fact this mechanisms is all but simple, but in this case it is rather important to withdraw from its complexity indeed).
This simple mechanism is frequency – the frequency in which the Short Cut is being used.

Some Shortcuts may be used only once. These Shortcuts are suitable for Shortcut Clock installments only if they are sooner or later used by many individuals.
If they are used more often and/or by many individuals, they will be almost always apt for the installment of a Shortcut Clock.
In any case, the frequency of use is the main mechanism of the Short Cut Clock, and once being located or installed, it will function immediately.

Now, how to read a Short Cut Clock? Obviously the tools for measuring frequency and, together with them, the criteria for interpreting frequency as well as the criteria for analyzing the data have to be defined.

The basis for this is again to be found in the Shortcuts themselves, however now by precisely mapping and taking the related local context data in account:
Where is the Shortcut located? What are the points it is connecting and what is/are the way(s) that are short-cut by the Shortcut?
If it is (i.e.) a Shortcut in urban space, how many people are using it? How dense is the frequency of passers-by?
How is the relationship to conventional measurements of time (i.e. to daytime, nighttime, certain periods of day/night, certain hours etc.)?

Once these data are mapped and sorted, reading the Short Cut Clock will be relatively easy.

It should be added that Shortcut Clocks may work with the help of or be supported by additional technical installments, but do not necessarily rely on the latter.
The use of recording devices (audio, visual or audiovisual) and/or sensors will render Shortcut Clocks more precise. However, at the same time this can imply a range of problems as well.

In the case of Shortcut Clock installments in urban spaces – "ticking", if you want so, mainly "with people" – the processes of mapping and installing (or "detecting") may be easy in terms of technique and technology. However, it is not so easy in terms of its ethical dimensions: For obvious reasons, the mentioned processes are closely related to and may even directly go along with surveillance of people's habits and behaviour.
The use of existing CCTV installations does not really solve these problems in a satisfying way.

Related entries:
[EcoTimeZones]
[Shortcuts]
[TBC Mechanisms]
[TIK Radio]
[Time Travel]
Time Tunnels (work in progress)
Wormholes (work in progress)
…

tags: clocks, clockworks, tik, time, urban space