Building temperature control is not very precise. Without special provisions most labs are going to average at least a few degrees warmer in summer than in winter.
> because the labs are outside exposed to the elements, right?
Their temperature control is not perfect and even systematic variations of a fraction of a degree could affect these very precise measurements. An obvious experiment, of course, is to do the measurements in a lab with extremely precise temperature control.
Getting rid of UTC only lets UTC "drift farther and farther from reality"
You assume that mean solar time is reality. In fact the Earth is not a very good clock: it wiggles and wobbles and loses time at an erratic rate.
However the flip side would be that it would give an accurate record of time passed, instead of people having to take leap seconds into account if trying to calculate the amount of time since a specific point in time.
The advocates of UTC want to define "an accurate record of time passed" as the number of times (and fractions thereof) the Earth has rotated on its axis. The problem with this is that it turns out that the length of each day differs slightly (and unpredictably) from the last.
The idea is to define UTC as TAI plus the appropriate correction from the leap-second table, which would be maintained by the IERS. Thus UTC would go from being a time-keeping standard to a time-displaying standard.
> You're free to CHOOSE your timescale! GPS, UTC, UT1, TIA.....
Some people are required by regulators to use "official" time. Others find it extremely inconvenient not to use what those they deal with use. Thus we have standards. This is about a proposal to change a standard.
Oracle is not so big that even time itself should bend to their will.
Oracle is irrelevant.
Can you imagine how complicated things will get when we need to define time zones as -0X000+5seconds UTC?
They would be simpler. The TAI second is the standard second, used by both TAI and UTC. Timekeeping consists of numbering seconds as they pass. TAI simply numbers them sequentially. UTC also numbers them (using a rather odd number system) but jiggers the numbers every few years to adjust for the erratic rotation of the Earth and then pretends nothing has happened. The proposal is to instead number the seconds sequentially and distribute a lookup table containing corrections for the Earth's rotation. This what the GPS already does.
The solution, as the parent says, is to continue publishing leap second announcements but to start distributing TAI. Those who feel a need to track UTC can then insert the leap seconds themselves while other can track TAI and provide lookup tables for conversion to UTC or local time for display just as we do now for DST an local time zones.
And no, this does not mean putting the correction off for some future generation to deal with. It means realizing that there is no need for a correction at all and that Earth rotation based time is merely a local convention to be handled by an appropriate lookup table.
They had no business bring suit and I hope they have realized it. There is a difference between a copy of a book in a different format and a program that translates something into a different format.
But we aren't talking about software that creates a copy in a different format or language. This is software that reads the book out loud to you. No copy is created and none of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner are infringed. The very notion that they could have a claim here is laughable.
On the Kindle the Author guild can frame their argument as one of licensing since the voice over feature was promoted as a standalone feature for general use...
No they can't. Reading aloud is not one of the exclusive rights of copyright owners.
Note that this means it is legal to distribute software that includes circumvention technology if the primary purpose of the software is reading aloud.
Checking-in when i start watching a show or playing a game or reading a book isn't too bad, but having to do so at two or three different sites might start to get a bit cumbersome.
If you were truly "geeky" you'd write a script to do it for you.
...they eat, they sleep and they shit. So where is the mobile app where one can "like" Charmin? Surely that'd reach an even bigger demographic than TV!
Amazon did not negotiate audio rights for the book when they set up their contracts.
They had no need to do so as they were not reproducing audio copies. Having a book read out loud to you, whether by a person or a machine, does not impinge upon the exclusive rights of the copyright owner.
And some places just believe it's the right thing to do and pay the costs anyway.
If it doesn't at least break even it is consuming more resources than it saves and is "the right thing to do" only with respect to political correctness.
Slashdot Mirror
> What we need to do is use system based on Galactic Dates.
Barycentric galactic dates, I assume? Don't forget about the black hole...
Every GPS satellite contains an atomic clock. They work exactly as predicted by GR.
No. Atomic clocks do not involve nuclear physics or radioactivity.
Many experiments (Gravity Probe B, for example) have already proven you wrong.
> Likewise for seasonal temperature differences.
The temperature variation might be affecting the experimental apparatus, not the actual decay rate.
> Or... use a thermostat in the lab?
Building temperature control is not very precise. Without special provisions most labs are going to average at least a few degrees warmer in summer than in winter.
> because the labs are outside exposed to the elements, right?
Their temperature control is not perfect and even systematic variations of a fraction of a degree could affect these very precise measurements. An obvious experiment, of course, is to do the measurements in a lab with extremely precise temperature control.
You assume that mean solar time is reality. In fact the Earth is not a very good clock: it wiggles and wobbles and loses time at an erratic rate.
The advocates of UTC want to define "an accurate record of time passed" as the number of times (and fractions thereof) the Earth has rotated on its axis. The problem with this is that it turns out that the length of each day differs slightly (and unpredictably) from the last.
The idea is to define UTC as TAI plus the appropriate correction from the leap-second table, which would be maintained by the IERS. Thus UTC would go from being a time-keeping standard to a time-displaying standard.
> You're free to CHOOSE your timescale! GPS, UTC, UT1, TIA.....
Some people are required by regulators to use "official" time. Others find it extremely inconvenient not to use what those they deal with use. Thus we have standards. This is about a proposal to change a standard.
> Does anyone else find the expression "software programs" grating?
I do. It's about as irritating as "softs" or "proggies".
So adjust the time when (and only when) you are going to show it to a human.
Yes. That is the way to handle it.
I didn't learn about leap seconds until university but I was taught the complete leap day rules in elementary school.
Oracle is irrelevant.
They would be simpler. The TAI second is the standard second, used by both TAI and UTC. Timekeeping consists of numbering seconds as they pass. TAI simply numbers them sequentially. UTC also numbers them (using a rather odd number system) but jiggers the numbers every few years to adjust for the erratic rotation of the Earth and then pretends nothing has happened. The proposal is to instead number the seconds sequentially and distribute a lookup table containing corrections for the Earth's rotation. This what the GPS already does.
The solution, as the parent says, is to continue publishing leap second announcements but to start distributing TAI. Those who feel a need to track UTC can then insert the leap seconds themselves while other can track TAI and provide lookup tables for conversion to UTC or local time for display just as we do now for DST an local time zones.
And no, this does not mean putting the correction off for some future generation to deal with. It means realizing that there is no need for a correction at all and that Earth rotation based time is merely a local convention to be handled by an appropriate lookup table.
But we aren't talking about software that creates a copy in a different format or language. This is software that reads the book out loud to you. No copy is created and none of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner are infringed. The very notion that they could have a claim here is laughable.
No they can't. Reading aloud is not one of the exclusive rights of copyright owners.
Note that this means it is legal to distribute software that includes circumvention technology if the primary purpose of the software is reading aloud.
Every one of us who is alive does at least one thing that is not in that list "Eat, Sleep, Watch TV".
If you were truly "geeky" you'd write a script to do it for you.
...they eat, they sleep and they shit. So where is the mobile app where one can "like" Charmin? Surely that'd reach an even bigger demographic than TV!
They had no need to do so as they were not reproducing audio copies. Having a book read out loud to you, whether by a person or a machine, does not impinge upon the exclusive rights of the copyright owner.
Because the goalposts are in constant motion: "artificial intelligence" is whatever machines can't do yet.
Please cite an objective, testable definition of "sentience" that can be used to prove that all normal humans are sentient and that no machines are.
> Too much choice actually makes people unhappy.
And unhappy people are harder to control. So it's always better to take away choice and make them happier. Better for someone...
If it doesn't at least break even it is consuming more resources than it saves and is "the right thing to do" only with respect to political correctness.