Upon rereading my message, I'd like to backpedal a bit. I did not
intend to assert any knowledge or comprehension (or even opinion)
about the company's internal operations and decision-making process.
We would likely all be interested, however, if Mr. Bell were to
comment on the delay between the July 2005 announcement of the
upcoming leap second and the December reaction of the company to
same. For instance, are such leap second announcements in fact
conveyed in a timely fashion to the commercial community?
Mr. Bell should also be aware that this message is being distributed
to several dozen members of an internet mailing list that has existed
for half a dozen years precisely to discuss leap second related
issues and the definition of Coordinated Universal Time. The
archives for that mailing list are available from:
http://rom.usno.navy.mil/archives/leapsecs.html
I was not being ironic in applauding this company's decision to make
a public statement on the issue. The issues involved are much larger
than any individual company.
Blaming poor Mother Earth, however, for her middle-aged unsteadiness
in the face of the laws of physics would seem rather - well - unkind.
Rob Seaman
National Optical Astronomy Observatory
Received on Wed Dec 07 2005 - 07:25:07 PST