F-ckin Leap Seconds, how do they work?

Steve Allen sla at ucolick.org
Wed Jul 4 04:41:09 UTC 2012


On 2012 Jul 3, at 21:29, Paul Graydon wrote:
> http://hpiers.obspm.fr/iers/bul/bulc/bulletinc.dat

Which is simply reiterating an older version of the regulatory
document that specifies how UTC shall be done
http://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-TF.460/en
On paper it is a scheme that will work for 1000 years, but the
original regulation contained no implementation details, no
interoperability studies, no agency responsible for describing how
implementations might communicate requirements, and that paper was 
locked behind a paywall for the first 40 years of its existence.
All of that is too late to fix now.

The events in January showed that the notion of simply abandoning 
leap seconds could not achieve consensus required for change.  We
are in Disney's Haunted Mansion with the spirit taunting us to find
a way out.
                                                                                
--
Steve Allen               <sla at ucolick.org>              WGS-84 (GPS)
UCO/Lick Observatory      Natural Sciences II, Room 165  Lat  +36.99855
University of California  Voice: +1 831 459 3046         Lng -122.06015
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