NAME

countdown - count down a specified time interval

SYNOPSIS

countdown interval

DESCRIPTION

countdown counts down a specified time interval, then beeps and exits. I use it mainly as an egg timer.

There are a number of different formats for specifying the time interval. A plain unadorned number is interpreted as seconds.

    % countdown 30        # 30 seconds

You can also use a single-letter suffix to indicate units. Available suffices are s for seconds, m for minutes, h for hours, d for days, and w for weeks. Note that the number doesn't have to be an integer.

    % countdown 30s        # 30 seconds
    % countdown 0.5m       # also 30 seconds
    % countdown 12h        # twelve hours
    % countdown 0.5d       # also twelve hours
    % countdown 1.5w       # one and a half weeks

You can also string together two adjacent time units.

    % countdown 1m30s      # 90 seconds
    % countdown 2h30m      # two and a half hours
    % countdown 1d1h       # twenty-five hours
    % countdown 1w3d       # ten days

In addition, you can specify a time of day, rather than a duration.

    % countdown 4:20am
    % countdown 4:20pm
    % countdown 4:20
    % countdown 4:20:00am
    % countdown 4:20:00pm
    % countdown 4:20:00

NAME

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