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Lu,

> Hey, while we're at it, why don't we debate 0000 vs 2400?

That's a matter of convention. Subject to correction by the
better-informed, I think the convention is 0000.

> And, for a more esoteric question, does midnight belong to the earlier or
> later of the days it separates?

Midnight is instantaneous and so an infinitely-thin line in time,
separating the two days but belonging to neither -- or so it would seem
to me. However, if you designate it 0000, then it must be 0000 of the
following day. If it were otherwise, 0000 would occur 23 hours and 59
minutes after 0001 of the same calendar day, which wouldn't make any sense.

> But, wait, there's more!  Is noon 12AM or 12PM?  What about midnight?

Noon cannot be "ante-meridien" nor "post-meridien" since it is
"meridien" itself. (Hope I have the Latin spelling right. High school
was very long ago!) Hence it must be "12 noon", not "12am" nor "12pm".
But if you really want to give it one designation or the other, it would
have to be "12am" since it follows one minute after 11.59am.

> All but the first are very important to me in programming my VCR when I
> want to record a program starting at midnight.

Well for _that_ you don't need the correct definitions, just whatever
mixed up ones the software designers used! As with entering deviation in
some brands of GPS, you just need to know enough to be able to work out
the answer you want and then experiment until you can get the equipment
to give you the same result.

> I just program the damn
> thing to start at 12:01 AM, on that there is at least universal agreement
> as to time and day. ;-)

I set mine to 2345 and so allow for errors in clock settings -- whether
in my VCR or the TV station's machinery. It's not elegant but it works
for me.


Trevor Kenchington


--
Trevor J. Kenchington PhD                         Gadus@iStar.ca
Gadus Associates,                                 Office(902) 889-9250
R.R.#1, Musquodoboit Harbour,                     Fax   (902) 889-9251
Nova Scotia  B0J 2L0, CANADA                      Home  (902) 889-3555

                    Science Serving the Fisheries
                     http://home.istar.ca/~gadus

   

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