Archive for December, 2008
Units Czar to Abolish Leap Seconds
Why do we have leap seconds? Who decided that we should obey to the whims of the Sun so judiciously? The whole idea offends me.
We have been working on a new version of our software in the office recently. We have had significant issues keeping time synchronized over data, files, machines, servers, handhelds, etc. My two worst enemies are timezones and daylight savings. Both are evil and when they combine forces they are villainous. For instance, a part of the new platform has detailed reports on product usage. When building reports we have to take into account the timezone of the user, the timezone of the server, the timezone the data was recorded in, and whether any of those were, or are currently, saving daylight. We also have to decide what timezone the data should be reported in: mine, yours, the server’s? Really? Why have we made time so complicated?
It is time for change. I would like to propose a new system. The technical specification can be found on the whiteboard photo above. I am also be willing to consider a base 2 system.
Obama will be announcing me as Units Czar in the next few days.
