The 24 hour clock

[BWF89]

The 24 hour clock (aka military time) a measure of time that the majority of the world uses. Theres a few countries where people still don't use it but it's mainly just USA and Canada where people dont know how to use it at all.

It's pretty simple to learn. I was forced to learn it because I don't currently have a watch or a cellphone. The only portable time keeping device I have is a Ninendo DS I got from my parents for Christmas. The built in clock only functions in 24 hours so if I was out somewhere I was going to have to learn it to know what time it was unless I wanted to keep walking up to people and asking if they had the time.

-Hours 12am to 12pm are just represented at 00:00 to 12:00 like they are already.

-Hours 1pm to 11:59pm are represented as 13:00 to 23:59. To figure out the time for those just subtract 12 from the hours columns. So 23:00 - 12 = 11:00pm. To convert regular time to 24 hour time just add 12.

Advantages of useing the 24 hour clock:
-Theres no possible way of mixing up 7 in the morning with 7 at night.

-Theres no confusion between 12 noon and 12 midnight. 12 at the beginning of the day is 00:00, 12 in the middle of the day is 12:00, and 12 at the end of the day is 24:00, although no clock ever goes to 24:00, it just skips ahead to 00:00.

-Figuring out the number of hours until something happens is easier too. If homeroom starts at 07:25 and your 8th period class ends at 14:25 just subtract 7 from 14 and keep the number of minutes.

Since most of the world uses the 24 hour clock, the majority of people on this forum are from outside the US, and the OS this message board cators to uses 24 hour format by default why does this forum use the 12 hour clock? When you edit your post or log in it says the last time you logged in useing the 12 hour format.

[Koori23]

I know lots of areas in the US that use "Military Time". The Medical field uses it quite heavily, the aircraft industry, my company's time clock, the US GPS System, NIST Atomic clocks, so on and so fourth. If you're going to make that argument, why not make the default date format the International ISO format of yyyy-mm-dd? That, to me, would make it completely ambiguous.. Along with your suggestion of making the default time 24h format.

[dabear]

Well, we formally use the 24-hour format here in Norway, but I rarely say "I'm gonna play ball at 18:00", I just say "at 6 o'clock", and most of us do..

[Sammi]

Well, we formally use the 24-hour format here in Norway, but I rarely say "I'm gonna play ball at 18:00", I just say "at 6 o'clock", and most of us do..

Yeah I guess many use that syntesis of both systems. I do and most people I know do.

Edit: Oh and I come from the Faroe Island, which are close to Norway, but are actually a part of the danish kingdom.

[rowanparker]

Well in England, I use 24 hour clock (I don't know anyone that doesn't). But like dabear said you rarely say "I'm going out at 20:30", you'll just say "half 8". Although if someone asks me the time, I often say the full time, i.e. 19:45.

I learnt how to do when I was like 6, when I learnt to read time at school. Are there seriously people who cannot read the 24 hour clock?

Rowan.

[BWF89]

I learnt how to do when I was like 6, when I learnt to read time at school. Are there seriously people who cannot read the 24 hour clock?
We had a vending machine in the hall where we lined up to be counted for attendance for gym class and it had this LED scrolling marque on it that said it wouldn't accept money until 14:25. The time when school ends, aparently their only allowed to sell drinks from vending machines until after school is over for the athletes who stay after to practice. And there were about 5 girls standing infront of it who couldn't figure out what time 14:25 was. Me and a friend had to explain it to them.

[Hygelac]

Are there seriously people who cannot read the 24 hour clock?
Yes, at least here in North America (I've met many). Those people must never take trains or buses though, because the schedules are all in 24hr (i.e.: http://www.amt.qc.ca/tc/train/).
I prefer 24hr myself, but I 'speak' the time in 12hr whenever I'm asked the time.

[fluffington]

I can read both, but I tend to prefer 12-hour time. Of course, being in the middle of the USA, I don't ever see 24-hour format outside of some military stuff and a handful of websites.

[RavenOfOdin]

I can read both.
If I'm talking with my friends/relatives I'll use 12 hour time since they don't understand anything but.

[panickedthumb]

I prefer 24 hour... that's what my cell is set on, and my alarm clock (because I've screwed up and set it for 7pm... late for work=not good).

However, I still don't understand why time was divided like that to begin with. I think we should have 10 hours a day, with 100 minutes each, and 100 seconds each minute. We'd have to recalculate the length of a second, which I've done just for fun, and it's not very different.

10 hours x 100 minutes x 100 seconds = 100,000 seconds in a day
24 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds = 86,400 seconds in a day

So that's only 16,000 seconds less, the length of a second would only have to be approximately 25% shorter.

but it would be much easier to figure out how many minutes something lasts, for example, and calculating time for projects would be much easier. The downside? Everything would have to be redone, but we'd be better off :)

[BWF89]

I prefer 24 hour... that's what my cell is set on, and my alarm clock (because I've screwed up and set it for 7pm... late for work=not good).
What country do you live in (/home is not a country :)) that you can set your alarm clock for 24 hours? Did you find some way to hack it or just buy a 24h one?

However, I still don't understand why time was divided like that to begin with. I think we should have 10 hours a day, with 100 minutes each, and 100 seconds each minute. We'd have to recalculate the length of a second, which I've done just for fun, and it's not very different.
I asked that same question to my social studies teacher in 10th grade. She said it's because some acient empire in the middle east used 12 as their base for mathmatics.

but it would be much easier to figure out how many minutes something lasts, for example, and calculating time for projects would be much easier. The downside? Everything would have to be redone, but we'd be better off :)
That's why the USA is 1 of 3 countries in the world that doens't use the SI (aka metric) method of weights and measurement. People are afraid of change, they teach it to us every year in science class but I never remember any of it because I never use it in daily life. If we just made a plan and stuck with it to where we were going to switch to SI during the course of 1 year whether or not people complained we'd all be used to it in a short while. If you wanted to be lazy about it you wouldn't even have to change the way things you buy are measured. We could keep the food packeging the same as it is now, like instead of calling a gallon of milk a gallon we'd label it 3.78 liters.

[Adamant1988]

Lol Panickedthumb, I'm sorry but that reminded me of an episode of Monk.

Monk wanted to Burn down San francisco and rebuild it because the garbage workers went on strike and there was trash everywhere.

I'm sorry but I was like "Wow, all those nice even complete numbers to round out our day... sounds a bit OCD" and then I thought of Monk. LOL.

[confused57]

I prefer the 24 hour clock, used it in the military(not my idea, drafted in 1970) and the company I worked for(27 years).
Worked in a lab and all we used was the metric system, which I also prefer.

[briancurtin]

i understand 24 hour clocks but i havent used them thuroughly. lately i have been switching myself over to 24 hour clock since i think its a better way to do it.

[BWF89]

i understand 24 hour clocks but i havent used them thuroughly. lately i have been switching myself over to 24 hour clock since i think its a better way to do it.
One way to switch to the 24 hour clock without abondoning the 12 which you use in everyday instances if your talking to someone is to install the Statusbar Clock (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/52/) extension if your useing Firefox. Set your computer's clock to 12h and your Firefox one to 24h. The extensino won't work with newer version of Firefox so to bypass the version checking install MR Tech Local Install (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/421/) before you install that and check "override maxversion compatibility checking" checkbox when you go to install Statusbar Clock.

[fluffington]

I asked that same question to my social studies teacher in 10th grade. She said it's because some acient empire in the middle east used 12 as their base for mathmatics.
That would be the Egyptians.

[djsroknrol]

I'm not in the service..I'm not a computer..and my clocks don't read past 12...;)

[BWF89]

I'm not in the service..I'm not a computer..and my clocks don't read past 12...;)
They have regular clocks that read 24hours.

http://www.amazon.com/s.html/104-9825797-1040752?ie=UTF8&node=3888811&brand=AAA%20Watch%20Club

I like model 24MWHTM (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CDC89Q/qid=1153796505/sr=1-10/ref=sr_1_10/104-9825797-1040752?%5Fencoding=UTF8&s=jewelry&v=glance&n=3367581) best. What does "mineral" mean when their saying what the crystal material is made out of? Does that mean quartz?

[fuscia]

what time is '8 bells'?

[djsroknrol]

fuscia...

[djsroknrol]

sorry..link didn't work...here (http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/questions/bells.html) it is

[Sef]

I prefer the 24 hour clock much simpler.

However, I still don't understand why time was divided like that to begin with.

Blame it on the Babylonians, we inherited their timekeeping from them.

That's why the USA is 1 of 3 countries in the world that doens't use the SI (aka metric) method of weights and measurement.

Besides the USA, only Burma and Liberia don't use the metric system.

[panickedthumb]

Sef: the USA doesn't really use the metric system either.

BFW89: I'm in the USA, I got a somewhat fancy alarm clock (by which I mean the $25 model instead of the $10), and most digital watches and cell phones can be configured to do 24hr.

Adamant1988: I'd never suggest burning down San Francisco, but I'd consider burning down our time system if we could implement "Metric Time" (that's the name I came up with for it when I thought of it).

[fuscia]

sorry..link didn't work...here (http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/questions/bells.html) it is

a sailor asked batman for the time. batman responded "8 bells." the sailor responded "no, bub. what time is it?" batman knew he was a fraud.

[adam.tropics]

24hr clock's better, that way, if for example 2.30 comes around twice and you're still online, you've really had way too much coffee, and need to shutdown the computer and go to bed! (In 12 hour clock, 2.30 coming around twice is just normal!)

[Christmas]

I'm using the 24 hour format. A day consists of 24 hours, so why split it in two?

[Enigmus]

I can read either 12 hour or 24 hour. It doesn't really annoy me with either, but I prefer 24 hour format.

[mips]

24hr clock.

[mips]

I asked that same question to my social studies teacher in 10th grade. She said it's because some acient empire in the middle east used 12 as their base for mathmatics.


That's why the USA is 1 of 3 countries in the world that doens't use the SI (aka metric) method of weights and measurement. People are afraid of change, they teach it to us every year in science class but I never remember any of it because I never use it in daily life. If we just made a plan and stuck with it to where we were going to switch to SI during the course of 1 year whether or not people complained we'd all be used to it in a short while. If you wanted to be lazy about it you wouldn't even have to change the way things you buy are measured. We could keep the food packeging the same as it is now, like instead of calling a gallon of milk a gallon we'd label it 3.78 liters.

As far as i know time has it's origins in astronomy but these days we use cesium clocks. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time

As for the metric system I cannot see how americans and the others don't get it. It is so much easier than the imperial system.

Example:
12 inches in a foot, 3 foot in a yard, 1760 yard in a mile or 5280 feet in mile or 63360 inches in a mile

10mm in a cm, 100cm in a m, 1000m in a km

Honestly, which one is the easiest. In metric evwerything is based on 10s and it is impossible to screw it up. The Imperial one simply makes no sense and then to make it even worse there are US, UK & International version of the imperial system where measurement differ, ie the gallon. Absolute lunacy if you ask me.

Multiple Name Symbol
Multiple Name Symbol 100 metre m 10−1 decimetre dm
10^1 decametre dam 10^−2 centimetre cm
10^2 hectometre hm 10^−3 millimetre mm
10^3 kilometre km 10^−6 micrometre µm
10^6 megametre Mm 10^−9 nanometre nm
10^9 gigametre Gm 10^−12 picometre pm
10^12 terametre Tm 10^−15 femtometre fm
10^15 petametre Pm 10^−18 attometre am
10^18 exametre Em 10^−21 zeptometre zm
10^21 zettametre Zm 10^−24 yoctometre ym
10^24 yottametre Ym

[Kvark]

I prefer 24 hour... that's what my cell is set on, and my alarm clock (because I've screwed up and set it for 7pm... late for work=not good).

However, I still don't understand why time was divided like that to begin with. I think we should have 10 hours a day, with 100 minutes each, and 100 seconds each minute. We'd have to recalculate the length of a second, which I've done just for fun, and it's not very different.

10 hours x 100 minutes x 100 seconds = 100,000 seconds in a day
24 hours x 60 minutes x 60 seconds = 86,400 seconds in a day

So that's only 16,000 seconds less, the length of a second would only have to be approximately 25% shorter.

but it would be much easier to figure out how many minutes something lasts, for example, and calculating time for projects would be much easier. The downside? Everything would have to be redone, but we'd be better off :)
There has been attempts to switch to decimal time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time) which fits your description perfectly. But the attempts failed because people stick to the old way they are used to.

I don't like the current time system either. To measure everything else most of the world has 1 unit per thing to measure. Meters to measure length, Litres for mesuring liquid, Gram to mesure mass and so on. But with time we have a huge mess of many different units. Seconds, minutes(60 seconds), hours(60 minutes), AM/PM(12 hours each), weekday names(7 per week), week number(52 per year), day of month(28-31 per month), month names(12 per year) and years. And they all have different sizes so you must learn how big each unit is and it's impossible to do math with time (which date will it be half a million minutes from now?). Some units have names instead of numbers so you must learn all the names to be able to count with them. Months vary in length randomly so you need to know how long each month is and if it's a a leap year. There are timezones so if someone on the net says they'll be back at 6 o' clock I have no idea when that is and the departure and arrival times for flights doesn't add up.

Why not have 1 unit for time like for everything else: days. Just use prefixes like with everything else: Kiloday(1000 days) instead of year for long time periods, milliday(0.001 days) for the clock and microday(0.001 millidays) to measure lap times in sports. That'd be easy to learn, understand and do math with. Half a million millidays from now the date would be 500000*0.001=500 days more then it is now. But it would be different so nobody would ever use it instead of the load of complicated randomly sized units they are used to.
* Instead of saying 8:45 "eight fortyfive" we'd say 375 "three seventyfive". This could be without timezones since people don't have any weird ideas that the sun should be at it's highest where they live at 500md.
* Instead of "25th of July" but usually shorted to "25th" the date could be "625"(as in 625th day of this kiloday) but usually shorted to "25th".
* Instead of being 50years old you'd be 18kd's old and instead of roman empire collapsing 1500years ago it'd be 550kd's ago.


And to answer the thread. My digital wristwatch is set to 24 hours. Next one will be analog with 24 hour display (http://www.24hourwatch.info/). When talking I do like everyone else around here. We often talk in 12 hour format but never use AM/PM. Instead we talk in 24 hour format when it's unclear whether it's AM or PM. And we say "half to" instead of "half past" so half 9 is 8:30.

[Titus A Duxass]

24hr without questions, but I can do both.
It's based on 12 because of navigation, read the book Longitude by Dava Sobel for the full account (damn good read!).

".... rarely say "I'm going out at 20:30", you'll just say "half 8"." - What yourself in Germany, 20:30 is half 9 (30 mins TO nine not 30 mins PAST eight)!! Buggered me up for about 2 years!!

[mips]

24hr without questions, but I can do both.
It's based on 12 because of navigation, read the book Longitude by Dava Sobel for the full account (damn good read!).

".... rarely say "I'm going out at 20:30", you'll just say "half 8"." - What yourself in Germany, 20:30 is half 9 (30 mins TO nine not 30 mins PAST eight)!! Buggered me up for about 2 years!!

Don't come to SA then. Some english will use half 8 but most say half past eight, then you get the afrikaans people that say half 9 in afrikaans and we all mean 20:30 :rolleyes: Then there is the odd person still referring to bells.

[Bavo]

Don't come to SA then. Some english will use half 8 but most say half past eight, then you get the afrikaans people that say half 9 in afrikaans and we all mean 20:30 :rolleyes: Then there is the odd person still referring to bells.

In dutch (flemish) we would say either half 9, or 8 en half, or 8 uur 30. Everyone says what he/she prefers and all 3 options are commonly used. If that is 20:30 some might even say 20 uur 30 witch means that there are 4 ways to say 1 time. :)

[Titus A Duxass]

My tip: make appointments at the top of the hour in the mornings only!

[rowanparker]

".... rarely say "I'm going out at 20:30", you'll just say "half 8"." - What yourself in Germany, 20:30 is half 9 (30 mins TO nine not 30 mins PAST eight)!! Buggered me up for about 2 years!!
It's half 8 as it's half way through 8 in my mind.

* Instead of being 50years old you'd be 18kd's old and instead of roman empire collapsing 1500years ago it'd be 550kd's ago.
But then some old 50year old would just have had his 18th birthday ](*,)

Besides the USA, only Burma and Liberia don't use the metric system.
Not exactly true, in England we still use the Imperial system a bit. It's a pint of beer or a pint of milk. It's a few miles away or a few hundred yards away. I'm 6 foot 4 inches tall and I weigh 12 stone. (although most people use Imperial for height and weight, in schools it is metric.)


Rowan.

[BWF89]

There are timezones so if someone on the net says they'll be back at 6 o' clock I have no idea when that is and the departure and arrival times for flights doesn't add up.
That's why some people use coordinated universal time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC) like Wikipedia does.
There has been attempts to switch to decimal time (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decimal_time) which fits your description perfectly. But the attempts failed because people stick to the old way they are used to.
That reminds me of something from an episode of the simpsons http://download2.centerclick.org:81/data/qDAMI4FSAkR5GLcYBu_HNg/videos/simpsons/running_on_metric_time.mov
Next one will be analog with 24 hour display (http://www.24hourwatch.info/).
I want my next watch to be 24 hour analog also. The watches are usually pretty expensive though, what are some reliable watches I can get for under or around $100?

[Kimm]

I've used the 24-hour clock my whole life, its a very good format.
Although, its mainly used in written form here, we still say "4 o'clock" when we mean "16:00"

[Tatey]

I know that I was taught how to use 24-Hour time in Grade2 (Age 6), and almost everyone I've ever encountered has been able to work with 24 hour time. I believe it's a superior time format simply because you cannot confuse 12am and 12pm. Admittedly, my panel clock is set to 12hr time, but I use 24hr time on Irssi.

[G Morgan]

24 hour clocks are definately superior. I always go for unit formats where theres more conversion constants being an integer power of 10, I see imperial as the equivalent of large glue layers in programming. In Britain its a bit messed up at the moment as has been mentioned, we use Metric exclusively in industry except in supermarkets where some things are still imperial (sugar is doubly indexed) and pubs sell pints of beer and we still talk about feet and inches and stones instead of meters and kilograms.

The best bit is we have groups like the metric martyrs trying to take us back into the dark ages of pointless calculations that have nothing to do with the problem in question and more to do with the implementation.

[Koori23]

I like that Mineral Watch that someone posted the link to Amazon on.

I wish I could modify my phone to show the 24h clock, as well as the ISO date format (YYYY-MM-DD. Speaking of that, has anyone figured out why the USA is the only one who uses MM-DD-YY? It seems that the UK and everybody uses DD MM YY or something similar. Since we're talking about culutral differences in times, might as well talk about dates too.

I work in a manufacturing firm that exports around the world, we use SI, ISO Dates and 24h time to communicate, otherwise half the world wouldn't know what was going on. This is what I gather from business dealings around the world: International language of commerce is English, International standard of measure is Metric and international form of time keeping is Zulu (GMT) time (24h)? That's what we operate on as a company.

I hate the American defacto date standard, it makes no logical sense.

[BWF89]

I like that Mineral Watch that someone posted the link to Amazon on.
That was me, but I don't get exactly what a "mineral" watch is. Is "mineral" superior or inferior to quartz? What would be really cool is a 24hour analog watch that also displayed GMT/UTC time. I have the Firefox extension FoxClocks (https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/1117/) so I can know what the universal time is.
I wish I could modify my phone to show the 24h clock, as well as the ISO date format (YYYY-MM-DD. Speaking of that, has anyone figured out why the USA is the only one who uses MM-DD-YY? It seems that the UK and everybody uses DD MM YY or something similar. Since we're talking about culutral differences in times, might as well talk about dates too.
YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS makes the most sense since you have everything going from what changes the least to what changes the most. I never got why we write the date as MM-DD-YY, always seemed to me that we should atleast use the system they use everywhere else where you have the day, month, and than the year so alteast then things would be going into some kind of logical order.

[beercz]

Besides the USA, only Burma and Liberia don't use the metric system.
This isn't true. In the UK we use both the imperial and metric systems. We measure road distances in miles, for example, yet our weights for food is in Kilograms.

The daft thing is our car's petrol (gas to our American cousins) consumption is measured in miles per gallon, yet, we buy our petrol in pence per litre.

We buy a roll of carpet that is 12 foot wide (or 4 yards), yet pay by the square metre.

Some in the UK have real issues with the metric system in that they refuse to use it! For example, there is a well known case of a market trader taken to court for selling his fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces (imperial measurements) instead of kilograms and grammes.

I don't mind which time format I use btw. I am quite comfortable with either the 12 or 24 hour format.

Does anyone use the 6 hour format? If so, can they explain it to us please.

[rowanparker]

What would be really cool is a 24hour analog
Erm, 24hour analog watch. :-?

I never got why we write the date as MM-DD-YY, always seemed to me that we should atleast use the system they use everywhere else where you have the day, month, and than the year so alteast then things would be going into some kind of logical order.
Yeah, that can be quite annoying. 12/11/06 now is that 12th November or 11th December? DD-MM-YY seems a lot easier and more logical so I think we should all use that.

Rowan.


Edit: Just google "24hour analog watch" and I understand now. That'd drive me mad ](*,)

[panickedthumb]

when you're naming files, MM-DD-YYYY screws things up once the year changes. I think it just makes sense to go year, month, day. All my daily reports that I get at work come in as YYYYMMDD-whatever.???

Good to know I'm not the only person to come up with metric time :)

[Rackerz]

24 hour I use. But it's strange, I don't -12 to work it out, I just know.

[Rhapsody]

-Theres no confusion between 12 noon and 12 midnight. 12 at the beginning of the day is 00:00, 12 in the middle of the day is 12:00, and 12 at the end of the day is 24:00, although no clock ever goes to 24:00, it just skips ahead to 00:00.
I was thinking about what you said when I was down in the kitchen making a Pot Noodle, and I suddenly noticed the time on the microwave clock. 24:53. Also, most of the 24-hour clocks in this house would say 0:00 rather than 00:00.

Guess even the 24-hour clock isn't properly standardized.

[BWF89]

and I suddenly noticed the time on the microwave clock. 24:53.
How can your clock say 24:53? That's not even a time.

[G Morgan]

This isn't true. In the UK we use both the imperial and metric systems. We measure road distances in miles, for example, yet our weights for food is in Kilograms.

The daft thing is our car's petrol (gas to our American cousins) consumption is measured in miles per gallon, yet, we buy our petrol in pence per litre.

We buy a roll of carpet that is 12 foot wide (or 4 yards), yet pay by the square metre.

Some in the UK have real issues with the metric system in that they refuse to use it! For example, there is a well known case of a market trader taken to court for selling his fruit and vegetables in pounds and ounces (imperial measurements) instead of kilograms and grammes.

I don't mind which time format I use btw. I am quite comfortable with either the 12 or 24 hour format.

Does anyone use the 6 hour format? If so, can they explain it to us please.

You have to love it in the UK. We go metric to get rid of awful conversions and instead everyones mind is full of constants like 2.54 centimeters to the inch and 2.2 pounds to the kilogram. I think it is something that will die though. It's just the old timers insisting on making things as difficult and resource wasting as posible for the sake of tradition or something else nonsensical. What on earth is traditional about a system of meassure, its a tool not a religion. A lot of these people are worse than Linux users in this respect.

[mips]

That was me, but I don't get exactly what a "mineral" watch is. Is "mineral" superior or inferior to quartz?

As far as I know mineral refers to the type of glass used. Mineral is not the best glass. I recall something like this the last time I had the glass replaced on my watch. I think the other type is crystal and it was way more expensive.

[Rhapsody]

How can your clock say 24:53? That's not even a time.
Well that's what it was saying. I guess they decided midnight would be represented by 24:00 rather than 00:00. There can be arguments for both ways I suppose, but we do tend to have weird equipment here. Our old VCR counted up in seconds. So 1379 would mean you were 1379 seconds into a cassette. Guess they had a thing for metric time.

[BWF89]

I wonder who the 1 person was that voted for the Thai 6 hour clock?

I figured I better add it just incase there was a few people from Thailand that used it, kinda like how most people use Kwin, Metacity, of Xfld as their window manager but theres always that handful that like Sawfish FVWM95.

I've narrowed the list of watches I'm going to get. Wenger Mountaineer 72614 (http://watchzworld.com/wenger_mountaineer_72614.html) or Wenger Standard Issue 73119 (http://watchzworld.com/wenger_standard_issue_73119.html). I think I'm going to go with the Standard Issue since the screens white and it'd be easier to see what time it was in a low-light enviroment. Does Wenger make a relible watch anyone know?

[mips]

I've narrowed the list of watches I'm going to get. Wenger Mountaineer 72614 (http://watchzworld.com/wenger_mountaineer_72614.html) or Wenger Standard Issue 73119 (http://watchzworld.com/wenger_standard_issue_73119.html). I think I'm going to go with the Standard Issue since the screens white and it'd be easier to see what time it was in a low-light enviroment. Does Wenger make a relible watch anyone know?

Never heard of Wenger locally but it's the same company that makes the swiss army knifes. They also give you a 3yr warranty. http://www.wengerwatch.com/

When I'm big I'm getting a Breitling or Longines

[sanderella]

According to the forum clock the time is now 09:28 PM.

WHAT? That doesn't make sense.

You can't have an 0 in front of a time in pm. It's either 9:28 pm or 21:28 hours.

Please can I put in a petition for a proper 24 hour clock? One that makes sense.

Thanks

[BWF89]

What really doens't make sense is "Linux for human beings" when most human beings on Earth live in countries that use the 24 hour clock.

I brought this up in a past thread where I made a poll and asked whether people prefered the 6 hour, 12 hour, or 24hour clock.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=222278

EDIT: Since this is an issue that deals with a forum policy mabye this should be moved to the Ubuntu Forum Feedback forum.

[henriquemaia]

I prefer the 24h format.

[sanderella]

What really doens't make sense is "Linux for human beings" when most human beings on Earth live in countries that use the 24 hour clock.

I brought this up in a past thread where I made a poll and asked whether people prefered the 6 hour, 12 hour, or 24hour clock.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=222278

EDIT: Since this is an issue that deals with a forum policy mabye this should be moved to the Ubuntu Forum Feedback forum.

So you did BWF89. And what is really sad is that no-one took any notice!](*,)

[chaosgeisterchen]

24hr here.

[sanderella]

posted in the wrong place

[BWF89]

So you did BWF89. And what is really sad is that no-one took any notice!](*,)
Actually the 147 people that voted in it it did :)

My thread was about what format people prefered, not what they wanted the forum to run under. So technically your thread isn't duplicate of mine.

[chaosgeisterchen]

Oh.. sorry for merely reading the thread title ;)

I will instantly take a look at the right thread.

[chaosgeisterchen]

I strongly recommend 24hr clock as it is the easiest to be understood in every country and culture I assume.

[BWF89]

This thread should really be moved to forums discussion.

[chaosgeisterchen]

This would be propably a better place for it.

[John.Michael.Kane]

Threads have been merged...

[Klaidas]

24 hours, of course. No need to ask

[BWF89]

Finally got a new watch. Got it at Wal-Mart for about $35 dollars. The MSRP is $50.
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000CBYGY8.01-A1S5XB33AHYRMX._SX242_SY292_SCLZZZZZZZ_V36334391_. jpg
http://www.timex.com/gp/product/B000CBYGY8/sr=1-19/qid=1164080931/ref=sr_1_19/102-2336561-8661756?ie=UTF8&m=A1S5XB33AHYRMX&n=237130011&timexBrand=core

[bonzodog]

I always use 24h clocks where-ever possible. I believe that the reason we have 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour is astronomical.
The Babylonians did indeed come up with this system after realising that it was the easiest way of dividing up a day.

[earobinson]

Im all about the 24 hour clock but I use the 12 hour clock because Its what Im used to, but Im going to try to switch

[ouilsen]

Blame it on the Babylonians, we inherited their timekeeping from them.



The Babylonians were not that stupid. 12 as a base number is actually far nicer than 10 fingers base number. 10 can be divided by 2 numbers. 5 and 2. 12 has 2,3,4,6. There is no smaller number that can be divided by 4 numbers. In fact it has the most important factors 1/2, 1/3, 1/4. That's what they may have thought. "Let's find a number where we can have whole numbers if we make a half, a third and a quarter out of it". So 2*2*3.

Now why 60 minutes. Right. The same way. 60 = 2*3*4*5. Again there is no smaller number that can be divided by more numbers.

[LaRoza]

Now why 60 minutes. Right. The same way. 60 = 2*3*4*5. Again there is no smaller number that can be divided by more numbers.

This thread is two years old ;)

No smaller positive integer you mean :-)

[ouilsen]

hehe yes. I stumbled upon this thread when looking for the option to switch to the 24h clock. So I had to defend the good ol' Babylonians.

[mips]

So what are the chances of changing the forum clock to 24 hour format?

[chucky chuckaluck]

living in the us, a 12 clock is second nature. i see no reason for me to change to a 24 hour clock (especially since our days and nights are so easily distinguished from one another). as long as we're all in different time zones, a global standard is impossible. eliminating time zones and converting everyone to a 24 clock would probably be a significant improvement in a variety of areas.

[popch]

eliminating time zones and converting everyone to a 24 clock would probably be a significant improvement in a variety of areas.

Now this would be a bold move, eliminating two problems in one fell swoop.

However, once we're coercing so many people into a novel scheme to reckon time, why not do it right and adopt decimal time:
- one day has 100 chronons
- one chronon has 100 centi-chronons

4 chronons will yield about an hour, one chronon about a quarter of an hour, one centi-chronon 8.64 seconds. Midnight would be at zero, noon at 50, of course.

[LaRoza]

On the forum, it makes sense to give time in 24 hours (I do), but there is no need to have the forum do it. The forum's clock is set to whatever the user chooses, and it should be obvious what time of day it is. If it isn't, step away from the computer and go outside.

[mips]

Well everyone's entitled to their opinion, not that is always practical.

[walkerk]

I've spent 6 years in the Military so obviously I know it... I now find myself using the 12 hour method instead... Seems more "civilian", at least in the US... :wink:

[LaRoza]

I've spent 6 years in the Military so obviously I know it... I now find myself using the 12 hour method instead... Seems more "civilian", at least in the US... :wink:

But what is the difference, it is not like it takes any effort to use either.

My clock (my binary clock) is set to 24 hour time, and I don't even think about it...

[walkerk]

But what is the difference, it is not like it takes any effort to use either.

My clock (my binary clock) is set to 24 hour time, and I don't even think about it...

No difference in difficulty... just something you notice after service. Perhaps you should join up and see...? :P

[chucky chuckaluck]

Now this would be a bold move, eliminating two problems in one fell swoop.

However, once we're coercing so many people into a novel scheme to reckon time, why not do it right and adopt decimal time:
- one day has 100 chronons
- one chronon has 100 centi-chronons

4 chronons will yield about an hour, one chronon about a quarter of an hour, one centi-chronon 8.64 seconds. Midnight would be at zero, noon at 50, of course.

it would be a lot easier to convert a system that is still in hours. what i'm suggesting is practical, not idealistic. i want to eliminate confusion, not create more. the only adjustment would be for people on 12 hour clock. now, if you live by a 12 hour clock, it's a pain to use a 24 hour clock as there's always the need to convert that time into 12 hour time. once everything was in 24 hour time, there'd be no confusion and no need to calculate what that meant in the us. without the elimination of time zones, though, there's no point in converting.

[LaRoza]

I don't understand why this is still going on. The thread is over two years old, and it hasn't been implemented.

As for times, I rarely use the time on the forum.

[popch]

it would be a lot easier to convert a system that is still in hours. what i'm suggesting is practical, not idealistic. i want to eliminate confusion, not create more. the only adjustment would be for people on 12 hour clock. now, if you live by a 12 hour clock, it's a pain to use a 24 hour clock as there's always the need to convert that time into 12 hour time. once everything was in 24 hour time, there'd be no confusion and no need to calculate what that meant in the us. without the elimination of time zones, though, there's no point in converting.

I'm not quite sure if the suggestion is practical at all, and I think I have reasons for thinking so, although it's a bit difficult to tell if it's not just plain old habits having a hard time of dying.

Living on the European continent, I am quite accustomed to converting between times in 12 hours and 24 hours notations. Analog clocks show time in 12 hours, digital ones in 24 hours. My electronic agenda runs to 24 hours, and that's the most important reason for me to think in times by the 24-hour clock.

That does, however, not mean that I live by UTC. Quite to the contrary, I live by European Mean Time in winter and by European Summer Time in summer, and I hate the bi-yearly change. A permanent change-over to UTC (Greenwich, that is) would be somewhat bothersome for people living in my general region. It would be outright confusing for people in - say - NZ, even if there were logical arguments in favor for such a change.

Or did I utterly and completely misunderstand the suggestion?

[chucky chuckaluck]

Or did I utterly and completely misunderstand the suggestion?

i don't know. the suggestion is a 24 hour clock for all with no time zones, in which 13 o'clock happens at the same time for the whole world, whether you're going to work, going to lunch or going to bed.

[LaRoza]

i don't know. the suggestion is a 24 hour clock for all with no time zones, in which 13 o'clock happens at the same time for the whole world, whether you're going to work, going to lunch or going to bed.

I like that in theory, but in implementation it could be hard. It would have to be universally accepted (like in airlines)

[popch]

i don't know. the suggestion is a 24 hour clock for all with no time zones, in which 13 o'clock happens at the same time for the whole world, whether you're going to work, going to lunch or going to bed.

That's what I thought you meant. I don't see any advantage in it unless you either do a lot of travelling or arrange lots of meetings with people in different time zones. Both don't apply to me, so I prefer the current mode.

[chucky chuckaluck]

I like that in theory, but in implementation it could be hard. It would have to be universally accepted (like in airlines)

it would have to be universally accepted and that's never going to happen. most people don't want to change unless what they have is really not working for them.

[Archmage]

i don't know. the suggestion is a 24 hour clock for all with no time zones, in which 13 o'clock happens at the same time for the whole world, whether you're going to work, going to lunch or going to bed.


Do you want to invet something like Coordinated Universal Time? We could call it UTC?

Here are my suggestions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coordinated_Universal_Time

[richardh9936]

Can we change the forum so that it displays all dates in ISO format: yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss

[mips]

Can we change the forum so that it displays all dates in ISO format: yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss

I suspect this wont happen. Although the mayority of the world uses the ISO standard some others don't and a great deal of them are on this forum ;)

[fballem]

what time is '8 bells'?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ship%27s_bell

[LaRoza]

Can we change the forum so that it displays all dates in ISO format: yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm:ss

Bigendian dates are quite portable, but I do not see anywhere confusion could arise on this forum.

I suspect this wont happen. Although the mayority of the world uses the ISO standard some others don't and a great deal of them are on this forum ;)

The same ISO that Microsoft bought?

[mips]

The same ISO that Microsoft bought?

The very same one ;)