h a l f b a k e r ySuperficial Intelligence
add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random
news, help, about, links, report a problem
browse anonymously,
or get an account
and write.
register,
|
|
|
People who work in an office don't plan their lives around
the sun, but farmers still do. Proposed is a secondary
time system to be used alongside our primary system.
Unqualified references to time would still refer to the
local timezone (like for television listings), but small local
events
would be suffixed with a "solar time" qualifier (like
"08:00 sol." for a rural community's church service or
store opening"). Two methods of conversion are
proposed, but only one should be used to avoid
confusion. In the simpler case, the sunrise and sunset
times would be fixed at 06:00 and 18:00, and the day
would run at two constant speeds (as the cesium decays)
with a sudden acceleration and deceleration between
them. In the smoother case--feasible because few people
would be doing this calculation by hand--the speed of
the day would run sinusoidally to avoid the sudden jerk
at sun-up and sun-down.
Scale for calculating unequal hours
http://www.mhs.ox.a...7.tinyCALENDAR.html 16th century European [pocmloc, Oct 18 2012]
Different types of hours
http://www.sundials.co.uk/tbhou.htm How many do you want? [pocmloc, Oct 18 2012]
telling time without a clock
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/ECT/Daymarks/ [xandram, Oct 18 2012]
[link]
|
|
I almost forgot to mention: The biggest motivation
for this idea is to provide the benefits of Daylight
Saving Time to people who need it while eliminating
it for people like me who live by artificial lighting. |
|
|
So, instead of re-setting our clocks twice a year, you're
proposing that we re-set them twice a week. All
individually scheduled events, such as medical
appointments and birthday parties, will go by the new
system, causing confusion for farmers and lumberjacks but
(supposedly) making it easier for everyone else. Meanwhile
all major events (television programs, concerts,
executions) will be scheduled using the old system,
requiring everyone who uses the new system (read:
everyone who works indoors) to perform algorithmic
calculations just to figure out what time 'The Big Bang
Theory' is coming on. |
|
|
Sounds simple enough to me. |
|
|
//sunrise and sunset times would be fixed at 06:00 and 18:00, and the day would run at two constant speeds// This is totally baked in medieval times and before, it is known as "unequal hours". Many medieval astrolabes had lines on them for quick and easy conversion between the "unequal hours" system and the "equal hours" system that we use nowadays. |
|
|
Once I saw a 19th century Japanese clock that had a western clockwork mechanism so the hour hand revolved at a constant speed, once every 24 hours. The hour markers were attached to a sliding track. The clockmaker would visit each week to adjust the positions of the markers. |
|
|
While we're at it, can I get a personally tracking orbital mirror so it doesn't have to get dark so early? (+) |
|
|
//you're proposing that we re-set them twice a week// |
|
|
No, he's proposing new clocks that speed up in the
winter and slow down in the summer. |
|
|
I don't entirely see why the world can't just be
sensible and adopt GMT universally. So, in some
countries you'd start work at 3am just after the sun
came up. In others, you'd go to bed at 9am, long
after the sun had set. What of it? |
|
|
To insist that every country be given its own time
zone is a bit like arguing that every country have its
own meridian. |
|
|
You're just jealous that the US gets seven hours for every
one of yours. |
|
|
// avoid the sudden jerk at sun-up and sun-down.// |
|
|
There are at least two possible comments here,
neither of which I will make. |
|
|
//the US gets seven hours for every one of yours// |
|
|
Ah, but theirs are in Fahrenheit whereas ours
are in Celsius, and therefore bigger and more solidly
constructed. |
|
|
// There are at least two possible comments
here, neither of which I will make // |
|
|
Actually, there are five, but two of them are
only because this is a U.S. election year, and
the one about Richard Branson can be taken
as read. |
|
|
I'm rather partial to the one about Guam. |
|
|
[+] but solar time should be the standard and the timezone average the subnoted. |
|
| |