Re: [LEAPSECS] ADASS poster on UTC

From: Brian Garrett <mgy1912_at_COX.NET>
Date: Sat, 28 Oct 2006 12:52:06 -0700

At 10:20 AM 10/28/2006, you wrote:
>Steve Allen scripsit:
>>>For most civil purposes time is only relevant to the nearest minute;
>
>John Cowan replied:
>>An obvious counterexample is taping TV shows: you don't want to miss
>>the first or last minute (modulo the presence of commercials).
>>I go to some trouble to keep my VCR synchronized with NTP time
>>to the nearest second or two.
>
>An obvious example is taping TV shows: you don't want to miss
>the first or last minute (modulo the presence of commercials).
>When I used to watch TV I went to some trouble to start recording
>a minute or so before the scheduled start time of the program and
>to continue recording for a few minutes afterwards.
>
>Sorry for the sarcastic looking format: the symmetry of the
>argument just appealed to me.
>
>Ed.

Nowadays, at least in the U.S., the process of starting a show on
time is further complicated by the n-second delay (usually 5<n<10) to
allow on-the-spot editing in case somebody swears, or somebody's
wardrobe malfunctions or something similar happens to put the network
at risk of a hefty fine. It used to be only a few radio stations
that did this; now all the big networks including CNN and Fox start
their shows a few seconds after the hour or half-hour, and
on-the-hour time signals on CBS radio stations can be up to 15
seconds late. Not that we realy need those any more, since the
ubiquity of radio-controlled clocks and Internet clock-sync software
makes getting accurate time easier than ever, but it's still a shame
to see old bastions of punctuality (and it's not like they can't
afford cesium, after all) thrown backward over a century in
timekeeping accuracy by st00pid legislation intended to protect
adults from themselves.

Just my 20 mills.

Brian Garrett
Received on Sat Oct 28 2006 - 12:52:39 PDT