Re: [LEAPSECS] GMT -> UTC in Australia

From: John Cowan <jcowan_at_REUTERSHEALTH.COM>
Date: Thu, 24 Feb 2005 15:07:39 -0500

Rob Seaman scripsit:

> Not silly - and not secular. Astronomers (at least) use the term
> "secular" to imply monotonic - and therefore cumulative - effects.

Ah, I didn't grasp that point, and was merely using it to mean "not
periodic".

> TZ changes mentioned are merely examples of single isolated events.

Indeed.

> Which is perhaps what Mr. Cowan means, and what the advocates of
> tolerance for bad temporal system design are certainly relying on.

No, that wasn't in my mind. But it reminds me of the Secular Games in
ancient Rome, which were in fact periodic!

> UTC is a useful approximation to GMT. Keep it that way and call
> any new system of civil time that might win the day something else.
> It is the height of intellectual dishonesty to do otherwise.

Fair enough.

--
With techies, I've generally found              John Cowan
If your arguments lose the first round          http://www.reutershealth.com
    Make it rhyme, make it scan                 http://www.ccil.org/~cowan
    Then you generally can                      jcowan_at_reutershealth.com
Make the same stupid point seem profound!           --Jonathan Robie
Received on Thu Feb 24 2005 - 12:08:01 PST

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