Re: [LEAPSECS] 24:00 versus 00:00

From: Rob Seaman <seaman_at_NOAO.EDU>
Date: Mon, 27 Feb 2006 16:46:28 -0700

On Feb 17, 2006, at 12:30 PM, Markus Kuhn wrote:

> "Clive D.W. Feather" wrote on 2006-02-17 05:58 UTC:
>> However, London Underground does print 24:00 on a ticket issued at
>> midnight, and in fact continues up to 27:30 (such tickets count as
>> being
>> issued on the previous day for validity purposes, and this helps to
>> reinforce it).
>
> The tickets of UK train operators are perhaps not good examples to
> infer
> common standards practice, because they deliberately print them with
> highly creative *non-standard* conventions, to make fake tickets
> easier
> to spot for their staff.

We were actually using this for exactly the opposite purpose - to
infer NON-standard practice. It's easy to design a system that
handles only idealized use cases and users who always live within the
bounds of rigidly described artificial rules. The "clock on the
wall" may be the world's best example of technology that has to be
adaptable to a wide range of precisely these highly creative non-
standard conventions.

Rob
Received on Mon Feb 27 2006 - 15:46:56 PST