Q. No matter how hard my employees push their iButtons on the clock, sometimes they aren’t clocked in. What’s going on?

A. There’s no need to push! The iButton probes on our clocks are not pressure sensitive, so pushing harder does nothing. To clock in or out, an iButton needs only to lightly touch the center of the probe and the rim at the same time. If you don’t get a clock-in or out immediately, slide the iButton slightly to the side to make sure it makes contact with the rim. It just takes a touch.

Q. I have several installations of TimePilot PC; how do I name them so I can see in TimePilot Central which installation is being used by my employees?

A. Changing the names is done at each installation of TimePilot PC. Start TimePilot PC and click the “Menu” button. Click “Options…” from the menu that appears, then click the “Settings” tab. Enter a name for the installation in the Location box. Now click the checkbox below the Location box—telling the software to assign the newly created location to any clock-ins or clock-outs that are done there—and click OK.

Now, when you view your employees’ transactions in TimePilot Central, the Location column will show the name of the installation where they clocked in or out. Don’t see the Location column? It’s probably not turned on. In TimePilot Central, click the “View” menu at the top of the screen, then choose “Show/Hide Columns: All…” Scroll down the list of column headers to “Location” and click the checkbox. Click “Save” and the Location column will appear.

Q. We would like to create a report which would include total hours per employee for a full year. Is that possible?

A. You always have the option of changing the dates on your report. Open a Summary Report and look on the top of the page just right of the center. You will see your starting and end dates for the report you are currently viewing. Simply click the calendar icon next to each date to change them. Once you are done, click the "Refresh" button. For more on reports, click here.

Q. The metal part of the iButton came out of the plastic keyfob. Can I glue it back in?

A. No glue is needed. Just put the iButton, printed side down, on a hard, flat surface, place the keyfob over the iButton and press down hard. It should snap into place.

Q. When I was trying to generate a report, I received an error message saying “Object reference not set to an instance of an object.” What should I do?

A. The error message you are experiencing indicates that your software version is out of date. Please update your TimePilot Central software by downloading and installing the most recent version from this link.

No scholarships here: The only extensive clock-making program left in the U.S. is at the Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution in Pendleton, Oregon. The widow of a clockmaker and collector donated her late husband’s tools and clock collection to the prison, and a master clockmaker teaches clockmaking courses.

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What’s a fortnight? It’s two weeks, and comes from combining two words: “fourteen nights.” It’s in common use in Britain; in the U.S. “two weeks” is more frequently used.

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But could Marie Antoinette check her stocks? The new Apple watch is missing a feature that was in pocket watches built for the French royal family before the 1789 revolution. The French watches, designed by Abraham-Louis Breguet, were powered by motion; the Apple Watch needs to be plugged in to recharge. In 1835 Breguet’s company had another ahead-of-its-time idea: It built a pocket watch that “recharged” while it was docked in a larger clock.

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Every once in a while, our employees come across “cool stuff.”
This is where they share their finds.