Leap Second

Blame it on Congress.

You mean the Bush Years just got LONGER?

The effects are minimal for many years to come and most of us use time by the clock which is disconnected from the Sun by several minutes to more than an hour anyway,depending on the time of year and our time zone. We should make things that little bit easier and stop adding these pesky Leap Seconds.

ROTFL

Spend it recovering from the election.

FH, LOL!!

(What an astoundingly beautiful little planet we live on!)

The effects are not minimal, and getting rid of leap seconds does not remove all the issues from operational systems.

Does this mean Bush is president for 1 more second than we thought?

That's right, better make the most of it.

Steve, it's clear that leap seconds are not de minimus in terms of today's operating systems. But it's hard to imagine that if our conception of the OS doesn't make a quantum leap to accommodate the problem before mass chaos ensues, by then we'll likely be living in caves without clocks -or- computers....

yeah ...here they come again "scientist" they always want to alter the planet. whats up with the extra second? probly they're bored, and wanna be in the news. I HATE SCIENCE...I need to talk with S.Palin about this crap maybe me and her could use the extra second go moose hunting with N.sarkozy.

To Chinchilla: Remember that you hate science everytime your alarm clock wakes you up on time so that you can get in your SUV and drive to the DR. office for medications and treatments, only to drive to work and surf the internet. When you get home at night you may be tempted to turn on your plasma TV with Blu Ray disk player, only before using your sonicare toothbrush right before bed. Science is everywhere and we all use it and love it. Take all the pleasures and conveniences out of your life that are a direct result of scientists and engineers and tell me how your life changes.

You could go even furthur JB, if it wasn't for science, none of the world we live in today would exist. Nothing would exist.

I'm curious Ned, at what rate is the rotation of the Earth slowing? And at what point will the Earth show only one face toward the Sun? I know there's a word for it, but dang it, I can't remember it.

Psst, guys...I think chinchilla's last sentence (complete with reference to the prank phone call Palin took) gives the entire post away as broad parody. ;-)

good. my watch is 1 second fast right now and i couldn't figure out how to reset it

Jamie, the easiest way to reset a watch is as follows:

1. Get Beer.
2. Get Hammer.
3. Drink Beer.
4. Bash watch with hammer.
5. Drink beer.
6. Wait untill tomorrow to drive, don't want a DUI
7. Drive to Wallmart.
8. Buy more Beer.
9. Buy Watch.
10. Repeat as necissary.

That should do it for you.

Has anyone checked to see if this has anything to do with global warming? Maybe my pickup caused this too.

When will enviros and their minions in Congress come out with a tax plan to stunt economic growth in order to place the earth on a diet so it rotates faster? Sorry enviros, like climate, the weather and adorable little species, the earth takes care of its own with little or no input from us. Get used to it.

Stop2think? This has nothing to do with whether the earth will be all right. The concern is the effect on computer operating systems and therefore on the technology you use every day. That includes the computer you're using right now.

I'm sure all the space missions would like to have an accurate measurement of time for little things like orbital insertion around a distant celestial object. Unlike Agent 86, it wouldn't be so funny to have to say, "Missed it by *that* much."