An icon that is commonly used on graphical interfaces to mean "wait until finished." When the hourglass icon appears, you cannot do anything within that part of the application until that task has completed and the hourglass goes away.
An hourglass is a centuries-old device for counting time. It consists of two glass chambers attached to each other via a tiny opening. Half filled with sand, when the hourglass is turned over, the sand falls from one chamber to the other. The amount of sand and size of chambers and opening are precisely measured so that when all the sand from one side falls to the other, a certain amount of time has passed. See hourglassing.
An hourglass is a centuries-old device for counting time. It consists of two glass chambers attached to each other via a tiny opening. Half filled with sand, when the hourglass is turned over, the sand falls from one chamber to the other. The amount of sand and size of chambers and opening are precisely measured so that when all the sand from one side falls to the other, a certain amount of time has passed. See hourglassing.
 | Reproduced with permission from Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Copyright (c) 1981-2008 The Computer Language Company Inc. All rights reserved. |
Additional Resources
- Go Chess Clock (exe)
- Are you a strong chess player or going to become one? Are you aware that playing games with a chess clock brings you a great joy and is really interesting? Go Chess Clock will make a universal, easy to adjust and highly precise digital clock out of your Pocket PC....
- Software downloads 2008-08-01
- Nikon Coolpix S600
- I admit to having mixed feelings about the Nikon Coolpix S600. On one hand, it's a very attractive-looking ultracompact capable of producing pretty 10-megapixel photos. But on the other, it's a tad slow and underfeatured with an occasionally annoying interface. Nor is it priced aggressively enough ($150 or less) to...
- Product reviews 2008-05-23
- LG HBM-750 - headset
- The LG HBM-750 is yet another simple and affordable Bluetooth headset from LG, with easy-to-use controls and a comfortable fit. It has slightly better call quality than its predecessors, and we dig its minimalist style. The HBM-750 is also quite affordable at only $74.99 retail. The HBM-750 follows in...
- Product reviews 2008-03-14
- Magellan RoadMate 1200
- At first glance, the Magellan RoadMate 1200 looks to be a good entry-level in-car GPS. It has a compact, no-fuss design that's perfect for first-time buyers, and you get the most essential navigation features for an affordable $199.99. Sounds good, right? Not so fast, once on the road the RoadMate...
- Product reviews 2008-03-12
- Nintendo to bring DS downloads to Wii
- Nintendo to bring DS downloads to WiiDS Online PlayAbout using a DS online... DS's "Zelda: Phantom Hourglass" has a network configuration utility that was able to get me onto my WEP Security-Enabled network - though you're quite right about the pain-in-the-patella of typing the key, but it's no more difficult...
- Discussion threads 2008-01-03
- Going mobile
- After having the opportunity to try out an HTC Advantage (see the post HTC X7501) found a away to acquire one of these interesting devices. In so doing, I retired a long-loved Treo 650. Here are a few quick impressions of living with a device that is a telephone, a...
- Blog posts 2007-12-03
- Hourglass (zip)
- Hourglass allows you to track the time spent on various programming or other tasks, and provides reporting mechanisms for analyzing the use of your time. Hourglass is an easy to use, open source software solution to track the time you spend on any type of project. This version is the...
- Software downloads 2007-11-13
- GE Cell Fusion
- While a lot of young people are said to be ditching their landlines, the vast majority of households continue to maintain some sort of wired line in addition to their cellular phones. As a result, people are often juggling both lines at home--fielding calls on the landline while opting to...
- Product reviews 2007-10-17
- Plastic to help water and gas industries
- Researchers have lots of imagination. After developing plastic as solid as steel, other scientists from in Australia, Korea and in the U.S. have created a plastic which could cut CO2 emissions and purify water. Their new material mimics pores found in plants and is exceptionally efficient. As said one of...
- Blog posts 2007-10-15
- Vista "Out of Memory" errors
- Vista "Out of Memory" errorsPratchett, Unseen University, Anthill InsideSo That's where I'd come across that termthought it sounded familiarRE: Vista++?????++ Out of Cheese Error. Redo From Start.+++ Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot +++Yay for pterry and yay for Hex.Of course you have every right ...[i]I’d expect...
- Discussion threads 2007-09-27
- Hourglass Problem (exe)
- In this game you are given 2 hourglasses one of 7 minutes and the other of 11 minutes. Your task is to use these 2 hourglasses to measure times of 15 minutes and 24 minutes. Can you do that?
- Software downloads 2007-08-24
- A robotic cable inspection system
- In a very short article, Popular Science reports that researchers at the University of Washington have built a robotic cable inspection system. This system should help utility companies to maintain their networks of subterranean cables. The robot, dubbed Cruiser, is about 4-feet-long and is designed like a snake. When it...
- Blog posts 2007-05-17
- Google's YouTube: Is NBC copyright lawsuit near?
- Will NBC be the next major media company to sue Google’s YouTube for “massive copyright infringement”? YouTube: What is NBC’s end game? I asked in January, citing Rick Cotton, NBC Universal general counsel, on the NBC-YouTube “difficult balancing act.”YouTube class action lawsuit: Has YOUR copyright been infringed? is the latest...
- Blog posts 2007-05-06
- Magellan CrossoverGPS
- There are a variety of uses for GPS devices--in the car, on a boat, on foot, geocaching--but it's rare to find one device that can do it all. The Magellan CrossoverGPS is one of the first portable navigation systems we've seen to tackle all modes of transport, and it does...
- Product reviews 2007-04-13
- LG VX3450
- Basic phones without a lot of features are still immensely popular with a lot of cell phone users. It turns out that plenty of people just want a cell phone that can make calls without a lot of extra features, such as a camera or a music player. Thankfully, there...
- Product reviews 2007-03-21
- 3D Realistic Hourglass Screensaver (exe)
- Use this realistic hourglass as your screensaver; add classic style to your desktop. It consists of two glass bulbs placed one above the other, which are connected by a narrow tube. One of the bulbs is filled with fine sand, which flows through the narrow tube into the bottom bulb....
- Software downloads 2007-02-14
- YouTube: What is NBC's end game?
- The NBC–SNL–YouTube video game continues, big time.Last June I cited Rick Cotton, NBC Universal general counsel, on the NBC-YouTube “difficult balancing act as the video-sharing site gains in popularity” (see “NBC to partner with YouTube in posting NBC video clips”):We invest millions of dollars in this content and we must...
- Blog posts 2007-01-17
- What's so smart about the iPhone?
- I spent last week at CES looking at gadgets, gadgets, and more gadgets. Not just on the show floor, but in the hands of people using them to get real work done. Coincidentally, three days into the week, in another part of the world, Apple announced two...
- Blog posts 2007-01-17
- NBC to YouTube: Video removal request game to end
- In “YouTube, iPhone and NBC: Users in control?” I discuss YouTuber exvia’s upload of a copy of the NBC-SNL Steve Jobs parody and the changing nature of the NBC-YouTube relationship. NBC may have already flagged “SNL - Steve Jobs iPhone” for removal. “Sand is running out of the hourglass,”...
- Blog posts 2007-01-14
- Google wins patent for search results page design
- Google wins patent for search results page designGoogle wins patent for search results page designGoogle wins a patent for doing something people have done on the internet for years? HTML and web design was around a lot longer than Google was. I wonder just how much money Google had to...
- Discussion threads 2006-12-13
Neighboring Terms
Premier Vendor Content Whitepapers, webcasts & resources from our Power Center Sponsors
- Demo: Virtualization with the Intel® Xeon® Processor
-
In this Flash demo, you'll learn about virtualization performance and features ideal for consolidation, load balancing, and disaster recovery with leading enterprise reliability.
- Watch how the Intel Xeon processor can increase performance and reliability of your servers >>
-
-
Tasty Baking’s new LEED factory
0:57
Tasty Baking CIO: Brendan O’Malley
-
Balancing act: innovation vs. reliability
1:28
Facebook VP of technical operations: Jonathan Heiliger
-
Securing data at E-Loan
1:47
E-Loan CIO: Jay Shah
-
When crops are scarce
1:47
Del Monte Foods CIO: Marc Brown
- View all CIO Vision Series Videos »
