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Longest day - EVER!


NoelC

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Today is going to be the longest day* you've ever experienced, and maybe ever will.

 

Tonight, June 30, 2015, at 23:59 UTC an official leap second will be added, making today 1 second longer than most - 86,401 seconds to be precise.

 

Leap seconds have been added 25 times since 1972 in order for atomic time to accurately track the Earth's slightly varying rotational rate, which is generally a few milliseconds slower than 86400 seconds.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_second

 

See what happens when we can measure time more accurately than the accuracy of the motions of celestial objects?

 

What are you going to do with the extra time?  I plan to sleep in.

 

-Noel

 

 

 

* As mentioned above, since 1972 there have been other years with days this long, but none longer.  Given that the ITU is considering eliminating leap seconds in the future, this may be the longest you'll experience for the rest of your life.

Edited by NoelC
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Not quite yet.  Another 6 and 3/4 hours to go. 

 

I suggest screen-grabbing your favorite online atomic clock showing 23:59:60 (and please don't tell us you don't know of one or you'll need to turn in your Official Geek card).

 

-Noel

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Well it was right on until after the leap second, at which point it was off a second - until the next time it contacted Microsoft for the accurate time.  Windows systems normally do that once a day as I recall.  Microsoft's servers got it right.  Today it's on track again.

 

TimeOnAgain.png

 

Unfortunately in my 23:59:60 screen grab my Taskbar opened just before I did the screen grab because someone sent me a chat message via Skype just at that moment.

 

The OS and virtually all software know nothing of these leap seconds.  This is part of the reason the ITU is considering eliminating them.  For some of us, it happens at night, when time disparities can be less important.  For others it happens in the middle of, for example, a trading day in a financial market.  My understanding is that far eastern markets suspended trading for significantly longer than 1 second yesterday.

 

-Noel

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Yes I suspected that the time sync would fix it. Good thing tho...

 

Unfortunately in my 23:59:60 screen grab my Taskbar opened just before I did the screen grab because someone sent me a chat message via Skype just at that moment.


What timing! :w00t:

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Unfortunately in my 23:59:60 screen grab my Taskbar opened just before I did the screen grab because someone sent me a chat message via Skype just at that moment.

Well Skype can be distracting. :yes:

 

jaclaz

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Sure, it could be distracting if you're not selective about who you allow to contact you.

 

In that case it was an old friend who's a Ham letting me know he'd started a digital audio recording of radio station WWV for the minutes surrounding the one with the leap second.  We had been having an active conversation on the subject.

 

But speaking of tech that doesn't work...  Unfortunately his copy of Windows proceeded to botch the recording and all he got was a WMA file with 3 minutes of silence.  Another practical disappointment from the tech that's supposed to help us.

 

-Noel

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Sure, it could be distracting if you're not selective about who you allow to contact you.

 

In that case it was an old friend who's a Ham letting me know he'd started a digital audio recording of radio station WWV for the minutes surrounding the one with the leap second.  We had been having an active conversation on the subject.

But speaking of tech that doesn't work... Unfortunately his copy of Windows proceeded to botch the recording and all he got was a WMA file with 3 minutes of silence. Another practical disappointment from the tech that's supposed to help us.

 

Hmmm, wouldn't that fall in the wide category of "to count one's chickens before they're hatched" :unsure:

jaclaz

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I'm not sure what part of my post you're referring to.

 

I use Skype quite beneficially to collaborate with engineers not co-located with me.  With Skype (essentially, a speaker phone that actually DOES work), and other software available for sharing screens, one can sit virtually with someone else to research problems, develop designs, discuss plans...

 

Your posts seem to seek to discredit my positions on various subjects.  If that's what excites you, please feel free to keep prodding.  I've nothing to hide.  I know how to make the tech I've chosen to use work.  That doesn't mean other folks have no trouble with it.  If you're having trouble seeing the benefit of the usage of a particular bit of tech, please just ask about it and I'll let you know how I've configured it and use it.

 

-Noel

Edited by NoelC
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I'm not sure what part of my post you're referring to.

I was only referring to your friend's announcement of the recording that later (unfortunately :() resulted as only silence.

Maybe, just maybe, the mere act of attempting communicating with you via Skype while recording was connected with the "botched" recording :unsure:.

jaclaz

Edited by jaclaz
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A chat message wouldn't normally interfere with audio operations, but who knows.  I did an audio recording as well as screen grabs, and did manage to get a relatively poor recording (because it was done via a portable shortwave receiver across the room and the microphone on the PC), regardless of the Skype intrusion.

 

-Noel

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  • 4 weeks later...

The sad part Noel is that all of this science stuff would be ignored over your spy shirt featuring bond girls under water......inside an fictional glass of pink lemonade.

Long day, great idea to spend with an person of the opposite sex.

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