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Re: The future of the leap second
From: Geoffrey Kolbe
Date: 2012 Jan 19, 21:02 +0000
From: Geoffrey Kolbe
Date: 2012 Jan 19, 21:02 +0000
At 19:02 19/01/2012,Alan wrote:
I think that the problem is that it doesn't really matter that much, so opposing sides puff up their arguments to make it sound as though it does matter.
I would prefer that we keep leap seconds because I have a fond hope that my "Long Term Almanac" will stay valid until 2050 and it would be more useful if the time system used for the ephemerides was actual broadcast time, rather than corrected broadcast time. With leap seconds in place, the almanac is self contained and with a watch and a sextant, you can find your position. But without the continuation of leap seconds, another source of information is required to give the necessary correction to the watch time.
For me, discontinuing leap seconds makes things slightly inconvenient, which is a long way from being catastrophic. I think that is the same for everybody else who has an argument for or against. The discontinuity of leap seconds would make things slightly more or less convenient, depending on your particular use of time, but no more than that. It is not a clear cut argument. And it is often the case that arguments which are not clear cut are the most heated.
Geoffrey Kolbe
Re the future of the "leap second", does it really matter?
I think that the problem is that it doesn't really matter that much, so opposing sides puff up their arguments to make it sound as though it does matter.
I would prefer that we keep leap seconds because I have a fond hope that my "Long Term Almanac" will stay valid until 2050 and it would be more useful if the time system used for the ephemerides was actual broadcast time, rather than corrected broadcast time. With leap seconds in place, the almanac is self contained and with a watch and a sextant, you can find your position. But without the continuation of leap seconds, another source of information is required to give the necessary correction to the watch time.
For me, discontinuing leap seconds makes things slightly inconvenient, which is a long way from being catastrophic. I think that is the same for everybody else who has an argument for or against. The discontinuity of leap seconds would make things slightly more or less convenient, depending on your particular use of time, but no more than that. It is not a clear cut argument. And it is often the case that arguments which are not clear cut are the most heated.
Geoffrey Kolbe
