more on Leap second fight brewing

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () gmail com>
Date: July 29, 2005 4:23:17 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Leap second fight brewing
Reply-To: Mary Shaw <mary.shaw () gmail com>


Why stop at the leap second?  Most programmers can't get the leap  
year day right, either -- so why not eliminate that as well?
    Thirty days hath September,
    April, June and November.
    All the rest have thirty-one,
    Excepting February -- fun!,
    'cuz it has twenty-eight,
    Except when it has twenty-nine,
    Except when it has twenty-eight,
    Except when it has twenty-nine.

Or we could go back to twelve months of 30 days with a grand free-for- 
all at the end of the year while we await the next year's  
synchronization point.

Mary


On 7/29/05, David Farber <dave () farber net> wrote:

-----Original Message-----
From: "Wulf Losee"<qx49 () comcast net >
Sent: 7/29/05 10:23:15 AM
To: "dave () farber net"<dave () farber net>
Subject: Leap second fight brewing

Dave:
The US has secretly proposed abolishing the leap second (that is
ocassionally added as the earth slows its rotation) claiming "safety"
reasons. Evidently this is at the behest of special interests whose
software is unable to deal with the additional second.

From the WSJ online: "Word of the U.S. proposal, made secretly to a  
United
Nations body, began leaking to scientists earlier this month. The plan
would simplify the world's timekeeping by making each day last  
exactly 24
hours."

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/0,,SB112258962467199210- 
H9je4Nilal4o52nbYCIbq6Em4,00.html

--Wulf




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