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Leap Second At The End of 2005

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the correct-your-watches-immediately dept.

Ruff_ilb writes "Because of the discrepency between an ephemeris second (the fraction 1/31,556,925.9747 of the tropical year for 1900 January 0 at 12 hours ephemeris time) and the second of atomic time (the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the cesium 133 atom), we're left with more than leap years. In order to ensure that the the atomic time and civil stay coordinated, "Civil time is occasionally adjusted by one second increments to ensure that the difference between a uniform time scale defined by atomic clocks does not differ from the Earth's rotational time by more than 0.9 seconds."" And Happy New Years everyone ;)

9 of 269 comments (clear)

  1. niggers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    niggersniggersniggersniggers

    seriously though, if niggers posted like this, they'd not be so white

    1. Re:niggers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      Don't reply to trolls!

    2. Re:niggers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

      don't reply to people who reply to trolls!

    3. Re:niggers by WilliamSChips · · Score: -1, Troll

      Don't reply to people who reply to people who reply to trolls.

      --
      Please, for the good of Humanity, vote Obama.
    4. Re:niggers by heinousjay · · Score: -1, Troll

      Ok

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  2. Re:Happy New Year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Wow dude, you used your extra second to be a grammar naz-OMG SHUTUP THE BALLS DROPPING HAPPY NEW YEARS'ESE"S!!!!!!11!!

  3. Re:oh, shit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Interesting. A comment made *ten minutes earlier,* essentially said the same thing, "Great! Now I hafta go around the house and adjust all the clocks again..." was modded as 1 - Redundant. Yet this one was modded 3 - Funny.

    Nice to see we don't have toadying, sycophantic Moderators on Slashdot.

    Please feel free to mod this as -1 Troll or Flamebait. I expect no less.

  4. Steve Martin says... by Cuthbert+Calculus · · Score: 0, Troll

    ...that Bill O'Reilly says that Leap Second Lovers are Traitors!

  5. Re:How did you use yours? by nwbvt · · Score: 0, Troll
    "...at varying degrees of accuracy, modified by the local time zone"

    I've got to remember that one.

    But officer, I was driving the speed limit the entire trip, at varying degrees of accuracy, modified by my preferred speed.

    But boss, I made it to work on time every day, at varying degrees of accuracy, modified by the time my alarm clock goes off.

    But IRS agent, I paid all my taxes, at varying degrees of accuracy, modified by the amount of money I had.

    Man, this is going to be a fun year (assuming of course I don't get fired or sent to jail)...

    --
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