24 hour notation March 15, 2011 6:16 AM   Subscribe

Feature request: would it be possible to add an option to display the time of posts in 24 hour notation instead of the default 12 hour? It's not hugely important but it would be so nice for us Unamericans.
posted by mahershalal to Feature Requests at 6:16 AM (122 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite

201103151416?
posted by BrotherCaine at 6:23 AM on March 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


I always put my clocks in 24 hour mode when I have the option. And, following the link, I'd like to know where I can get a 24 hour mode analog dial clock.
posted by DU at 6:27 AM on March 15, 2011


Ancient Mayan here. Any possibility of getting the whole time code thing as a countdown to the 2012 apocalypse? "posted by the quidnunc kid at 8 months before the return of Quetzalcoatl and the destruction of the Universe [+] [!]" - that's the kind of thing I'm talking about. I'm getting a little tired of all the anti-Ancient Mayan prejudice on this site, and this culturally-sensitive fix might make it easier on you people in the afterlife, if you known what I mean.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:33 AM on March 15, 2011 [35 favorites]


Follow-up request from a friend, who's a Martian: can he get 25-hour Mars time? He's all, "yeah, planning to invade in our tripod death machines, but we wanna synchronise our watches so we don't miss How I Met Your Mother." I personally think that MeFi is a hotbed of Earth-first bigotry, so maybe this might be a good way to kowtow to your new tri-tentacled Martian Lords, like my pal Barry here.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:39 AM on March 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


quidnunc: Get yourself greasemonkey and a copy of Calendrical Calculations.
posted by zamboni at 6:41 AM on March 15, 2011


Counter-offer: we replace every timestamp with the phrase "beer o'clock" and if you mouse over it the title text will read "it's five o'clock somewhere!" in Comic Sans.
posted by cortex (staff) at 6:44 AM on March 15, 2011 [86 favorites]


Cortex, just got an email from Mel Gibson. He says he's never accepted the caldendar reforms of Pope Gregory XIII and he wants his time code put back 11 days. He also makes the good point that MeFi has always discriminated against drunken anti-semitic bigots like him. I was all, "yeah, get in line behind Quetzalcoatl and alien overlords of Mars, buddy" but he was quite insistent.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:47 AM on March 15, 2011 [7 favorites]


we replace every timestamp with the phrase "beer o'clock" and if you mouse over it the title text will read "it's five o'clock somewhere!" in Comic Sans.

But this would discriminate against those of us who believe that anytime is beer time.

Forcing me to pretend that it is 1700 GMT "somewhere" takes all of the fun out of cracking open a beer when I am fully aware that it is 0800 GMT +1.
posted by three blind mice at 6:50 AM on March 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


DU: the MFJ-105C looks like an option.
If you don't mind buying a quartz clock from people who can't actually spell 'quartz'...
posted by Segundus at 6:53 AM on March 15, 2011


Hi everyone! quidnunc kid from the future here - just travellin' back in time to stop United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, who turns out to be responsible for some pretty terrible crimes against humanity when he seizes power in the year 2014. I won't give you all the details but I'd avoid eating Quorn if I were you. Anyway, my time code is all outta wack, and if someone could look at that I promise not to kill their Grandfather. Or grandson - I forget how this whole paradox thing works. Thanks.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:55 AM on March 15, 2011 [15 favorites]


I think the quidnunc kid feels strongly about something.
posted by shakespeherian at 6:59 AM on March 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


(I am just being silly)
posted by the quidnunc kid at 7:05 AM on March 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


I wouldn't mind riding this pony.
posted by charles kaapjes at 7:13 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think sidereal time should be an option unless MetaFilter is really dedicated to the institutional enshrinement of solar time which it currently appears to be but who am I to judge.
posted by Wolfdog at 7:17 AM on March 15, 2011


but it would be so nice for us Unamericans.

Surely you meant Themians?
posted by Deathalicious at 7:24 AM on March 15, 2011 [5 favorites]


but it would be so nice for us Unamericans.

I'm pretty sure you just defined anglophone Canadians as "Americans." And in my experience that's... unwise.
posted by Tomorrowful at 7:29 AM on March 15, 2011


I'm pretty sure you just defined anglophone Canadians as "Americans".

I bet Venezuela loves it too.
posted by DU at 7:39 AM on March 15, 2011


I like this pony. I work in 24hr clocks so this would free one more brain cell for my cookie consulting business.
posted by arcticseal at 7:41 AM on March 15, 2011


posted by blue_beetle at 8h41 on 2011-03-15 [+] [!]
posted by blue_beetle at 7:45 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


I'm so glad that this suggestion is being taken so seriously.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 7:46 AM on March 15, 2011 [5 favorites]


I also think it's high time we got the year notations changed to Subsidized Time.
posted by shakespeherian at 7:54 AM on March 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


So okay, very unrelated, but I've been thinking (yes har har, somewhat rare, etc.) exactly what year does Osama Bin Laden think it is? Does he think it's 2011? I mean, does he really think it's 2011 A.D.? ..2011, the Year of Our Lord (AKA JESUS)? If he uses time this way, doesn't that make him.. a moron? He has been keeping track of time using Jesus' birth as it's main reference point. Awkward.. doesn't he hate Jesus? And when he finds out he's been doing it wrong, what course of action is he going to take? Maybe just try and rebrand A.D. to mean something sinister? Like, 2011 Arrgghh DIE!!

Anyways, it's going to be a very productive day here at the office.
posted by pwally at 7:57 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


All my clocks are set to display the seconds 1970.
posted by octothorpe at 7:58 AM on March 15, 2011


I mean, does he really think it's 2011 A.D.? ..2011, the Year of Our Lord (AKA JESUS)?

Duh?
posted by DU at 8:00 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Awkward.. doesn't he hate Jesus?

Why would he hate Jesus?
posted by shakespeherian at 8:02 AM on March 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


Oh, ok. So it seems that I am the moron.
posted by pwally at 8:04 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'd like to party like it's 5771.
posted by charmcityblues at 8:10 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I CONCUR: IT IS VERY LOGICAL
posted by molecicco at 8:10 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


So everyone agrees? Splendid. Now we'll just wait for pb.
posted by mahershalal at 8:11 AM on March 15, 2011


When the Sun shines upon Earth, 2 – major Time points are created on opposite sides of Earth – known as Midday and Midnight. Where the 2 major Time forces join, synergy creates 2 new minor Time points we recognize as Sunup and Sundown.

The 4-equidistant Time points can be considered as Time Square imprinted upon the circle of Earth. In a single rotation of the Earth sphere, each Time corner point rotates through the other 3-corner Time points, thus creating 16 corners, 96 hours and 4-simultaneous 24 hour Days within a single rotation of Earth – equated to a Higher Order of Life Time Cube.
posted by rocket88 at 8:13 AM on March 15, 2011 [5 favorites]


Thanks to this thread, I have now been motivated to change my work computer (in America) to a 24-hour clock (to match my other clocks, in America).
posted by crush-onastick at 8:15 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I like this pony. It's more maritime.

Just for the pedantry opportunity, the ancient Mayans didn't predict an end of the world in 2012. It's just the date their calendar counting rolls over, just like an odometer, or indeed just like our 365-day year and 100-year century. After 2012, all their calendar cycles return to 0 and start counting upward again. It's really a beautiful system, too.
posted by Miko at 8:29 AM on March 15, 2011 [8 favorites]


Hi cortex, just wanted to say that I've recently accelerated to 99.75% of the speed of light and hence I've got some pretty serious relativistic shit goin' on. I only noticed because I've been gaining mass recently, and while I thought it was just a beer-belly, it turns out I've been living in the Large Hadron Collider. A big shout out from the other Large Hadrons, by the way - they really enjoy MetaFilter. Anyway, if someone could account for my time dilation with respect to the Lorentz factor and pop that on the ol' timecode, it would really help me collide. Thanks!
posted by the quidnunc kid at 8:38 AM on March 15, 2011 [16 favorites]


So you're saying that the world will end on December 31? SHIT.

You can party like it's 2011.
posted by Miko at 8:41 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


posted by Electric Dragon at 6:54:87 on quintidi 25 Ventôse, CCXIX
posted by Electric Dragon at 8:44 AM on March 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


Be careful quidnunc! Any faster and you'll crash into your own headlight beams!
posted by Mister_A at 8:51 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I work in 24hr clocks

You must be incredibly limber.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:55 AM on March 15, 2011 [6 favorites]


Ever since I bought a decommissioned Nike missile silo, I haven't seen the light of day. I found that I work better on a 36-hour day, so can we have that as an option? Also, because of the length change it's still February.
posted by backseatpilot at 8:59 AM on March 15, 2011


24 hours, same as in town.
posted by DU at 9:02 AM on March 15, 2011 [4 favorites]


Miko: "I like this pony. It's more maritime."

Clearly something nautical and fascinating just happened.
posted by Grither at 9:04 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Yarr, that's what she said.
posted by Think_Long at 9:07 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Citizens! I propose we eliminate the use of the royalist dates!
posted by pointystick on 24 Ventôse CCXIX
posted by pointystick at 9:15 AM on March 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


All of these formats are too verbose. I demand a "seconds since the Unix epoch" option, e.g.:

posted by jedicus at 1300205720. [+] [!]
posted by jedicus at 9:15 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


"I like this pony. It's more maritime.".

A baby seahorse is called a fry.
posted by zamboni at 9:16 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm pretty sure you just defined anglophone Canadians as "Americans." And in my experience that's...unwise.

Touques rustled ominously.
posted by Beardman at 9:22 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


A fried seahorse is called a frite.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 9:25 AM on March 15, 2011


I could use some frites with a side of fries.
posted by cjorgensen at 9:29 AM on March 15, 2011


For 6 years I had to use a 24 hour clock. I was never able to internalize times. Someone would say, "Starting at Oh four hundred hours," and I'd be all "Eh, ok," then I'd do the metal calculations and be all, "Holy shit, dude! That's the AM!"

It was the afternoons that were the worst, "Man, it's already thirteen hundred hours. This day is flying. Seems like we just had lunch."
posted by cjorgensen at 9:35 AM on March 15, 2011


Hour of the Rat, 12th day of Rain Water in the 100th year of the Republic, 辛卯年. What could be simpler?
posted by Abiezer at 9:44 AM on March 15, 2011


How is seahorse formed, anyway?
posted by Mister_A at 9:44 AM on March 15, 2011


Forcing me to pretend that it is 1700 GMT "somewhere"

It can only ever be 1700 GMT at one moment in time, once a day.

It can be 5 o'clock everywhere all the time, though.

/pedant
posted by chavenet at 9:49 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


There are no such things as Unamericans. There are only Americans we haven't met yet.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 9:57 AM on March 15, 2011 [7 favorites]


I would love to have the ability to specify a format string to pass to <whatever the equivalent to coldfusion's date() function is> .  Because there is only one true time format, as specified in POSIX 1003.1-2008 for the date(1) command (c.f. STDOUT):

$ date "+%a %b %e %H:%M:%S %Z %Y"
Tue Mar 15 12:52:49 EDT 2011

Although I'd also accept RFC2822 §3.3 as a valid format:

$ date --rfc-2822
Tue, 15 Mar 2011 12:53:43 -0400

but then again, I'm something of a geek.
posted by namewithoutwords at 9:58 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


If this is implemented there must not be any hour:minute seperator. This is almost as important as fixing that whole hyphen/minus issue.
posted by alby at 9:59 AM on March 15, 2011


I hate to spoil the 24 hour party, but this would be too much work for too little payoff. Take a look at each place you see a time on MetaFilter and imagine going in by hand to put a switch in based on user preference. It's definitely possible, but it's also a big task that we can't automate.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:59 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Daylight Savings Time must have been such a pain, going around and pushing all the timestamps forward by hand...
posted by backseatpilot at 10:14 AM on March 15, 2011


Given the two standard pb responses - either "This is something we're thinking about and may get around to in the future." or "Yeah, I can definitely do this. Here you go!" This may be the first time that a response from him is basically "No. Too hard."
posted by Curious Artificer at 10:38 AM on March 15, 2011


So, to recap:

mahershalal: "Feature request..."

cortex: "Counter-offer..."

pb: "No."
posted by zarq at 10:43 AM on March 15, 2011 [5 favorites]


All of this temporal discussion reminds me I have to change my profile timezone, as daylight savings in the US starts a fortnight before the UK.
posted by Electric Dragon at 10:45 AM on March 15, 2011


We could make it easier by establishing a MetaFilter Time Standard based on seconds that have passed since the First Post. Then people could create their own scripts to convert from MeFiTS to whatever time system they prefer.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:45 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


MetaFilter Time Standard, aka: bucket of clocks!
posted by steef at 10:58 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Obligatory "I bet greasemonkey can go this" note. I love 24 hour time so I'll look into this.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 11:26 AM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


Clearly something nautical and fascinating just happened.

Me up on my pony on my boat.
posted by Miko at 11:52 AM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


It's not hugely important but it would be so nice for us Unamericans

Alger Hiss reads Metafilter?
posted by Afroblanco at 12:02 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Greg Nog: So you're saying that the world will end on December 31? SHIT.

Not only that, but it has and does end every December 31st.
posted by JiBB at 12:11 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Ancient Mayan here.

As a devotee of Pachamama I regret to inform you that we are now AT WAR.
posted by elizardbits at 12:19 PM on March 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


doublehappy: "For example, if one schedules an appointment with a doctor at "9:00" on a certain date, that means 9:00 a.m.; but if a social dance is scheduled to begin at "9:00", it means 9:00 p.m."

I'm married to a doctor. My calendar is all kinds of messed up.
posted by Plutor at 12:33 PM on March 15, 2011


I hate to spoil the 24 hour party, but this would be too much work for too little payoff.

Seriously? You mean there's no way of doing something like (and I know this isn't CF) a global replace of date("H:i",$time) with date($timeformat,$time)?

For the first time in my life, I actually want to read through the back end code of someone else's website...
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 1:08 PM on March 15, 2011


Can we have an option to remove July and August, because it messes up the Latin for the other months and the ridiculous sycophancy is kind of pointless nowadays?
posted by alasdair at 1:16 PM on March 15, 2011


Can we have an option to make the dates dd mmm instead of mmm dd?
posted by alasdair at 1:16 PM on March 15, 2011


Can we have a rolling timer that shows how long you've been on MetaFilter as a floating DIV that's always at the top-left of the screen, and resets every day but gives you a cumulative "this month, this year, ever" total?

Wait, I'm not kidding for this one.
posted by alasdair at 1:18 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Heh. I want a live counter in the menu bar that will tell me how long I have until I can post again to each subsite.

"In [1d, 3h, 18m 1s], you'll be able to post something new to Ask Metafilter."
posted by zarq at 1:24 PM on March 15, 2011


Seriously? You mean there's no way of doing something like...

Yeah, if we were just straight up replacing the current time format with the new one that'd be fine. We'd be adding a preference for different time formats.
posted by pb (staff) at 1:27 PM on March 15, 2011


CEILING CORTEX IS WATCHING YOU BROWSE
posted by elizardbits at 1:43 PM on March 15, 2011


Can we have a rolling timer that shows how long you've been on MetaFilter as a floating DIV that's always at the top-left of the screen, and resets every day but gives you a cumulative "this month, this year, ever" total?

The last thing I need is explicit knowledge of exactly how much of my life I have wasted here. Maybe if the counter was slow by a factor of 3 or 4.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:58 PM on March 15, 2011


The last thing I need is explicit knowledge of exactly how much of my life I have wasted here. Maybe if the counter was slow by a factor of 3 or 4.

So... you'd like a broken pony?
posted by zarq at 2:03 PM on March 15, 2011


So okay, very unrelated, but I've been thinking (yes har har, somewhat rare, etc.) exactly what year does Osama Bin Laden think it is? Does he think it's 2011? I mean, does he really think it's 2011 A.D.? ..2011, the Year of Our Lord (AKA JESUS)? If he uses time this way, doesn't that make him.. a moron?

Maybe he thinks it's 2011 CE.
posted by kenko at 2:14 PM on March 15, 2011


So... you'd like a broken pony?
Is it called Sad Ken?
posted by Electric Dragon at 2:33 PM on March 15, 2011


Can we have an option to make the dates dd mmm instead of mmm dd?
Yes, please. At least then it would match the formatting used in the civilised parts of the globe.
posted by dg at 2:53 PM on March 15, 2011


ok, this is an option in profiles now. There's a new menu next to time offset that lets you choose between 12-hour and 24-hour time formats. Like all our preferences this is cookie-based, so you'll need to resave preferences in all browsers you use to get the correct time format cookie.

Sorry about the instant no. I wasn't thinking about the scope of the change correctly. Thanks for the smack on the head, sodium lights the horizon.

There are probably still a few spots where the change hasn't been made. Let me know here or in MeFi Mail if you spot 'em.
posted by pb (staff) at 2:58 PM on March 15, 2011 [24 favorites]


nice! thanks pb.
posted by modernnomad at 3:02 PM on March 15, 2011


Aw, pb just can't say no.

24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE!!!
posted by grapesaresour at 3:08 PM on March 15, 2011 [6 favorites]


CEILING CORTEX IS WATCHING YOU BROWSE
posted by elizardbits at 4:43 PM on March 15 [+] [!]


This actually made me look up at the ceiling reflexively.

He wasn't there.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 3:20 PM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


(Am I the only one here moused over the timestamp, just to see if maybe?)
posted by iamkimiam at 3:28 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


It would be rude of me not to go change my settings now, wouldn't it. Thanks pb.

One little thing... the drop down has two options - 8pm and 16:00. 8pm is 20:00.
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 3:40 PM on March 15, 2011


true, updated.
posted by pb (staff) at 3:42 PM on March 15, 2011


( I wonder if my boss will accept this as being the constructive thing I did today...? )
posted by sodium lights the horizon at 3:45 PM on March 15, 2011


Hooray! Thumbs up all around.
posted by Mizu at 5:41 PM on March 15, 2011


all night
he was an unamerican
unamerican
unamerican
he was an unamerican
posted by eyeballkid at 5:46 PM on March 15, 2011 [3 favorites]


Counter-offer: we replace every timestamp with the phrase "beer o'clock" and if you mouse over it the title text will read "it's five o'clock somewhere!" in Comic Sans.

This would go wonderfully with my unicorn post button. Please someone make a greasemonkey script. I would love you forever.
posted by The Devil Tesla at 5:53 PM on March 15, 2011


Ten minutes ebk....mine has dancing Edgar bears.
posted by clavdivs at 6:03 PM on March 15, 2011


This is why people are unclear on when no means no.
posted by cjorgensen at 6:04 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


This is awesome! (The live preview still shows 9:15 PM btw)
posted by Skorgu at 6:16 PM on March 15, 2011


Even hours roll around only every hour. I'm pretty sure that mathematically, it's much more likely to be 4:20 somewhere.
posted by J. Wilson at 6:17 PM on March 15, 2011


Thank you pb!

Now, can we maybe rekindle the discussion on true timezone support? I still spend a few anxious weeks every March thinking I'm late for work and other obligations just because the U.S. has started DST but we haven't yet, and the MeFi timestamps are an hour ahead of their actual times.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane at 6:52 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Can we now add the long-needed feature which will uses the correct spelling of favorite/favourite based on the geo-location of your IP address?
posted by birdherder at 7:44 PM on March 15, 2011


Yes, pb is short for 'pony bringer'.
posted by holgate at 8:04 PM on March 15, 2011 [2 favorites]


birdherder, there's a greasemonkey script for you.

Sorry gnfti, as you probably know DST is a huge problem for us. We have 11 years worth of posts and comments stored in Pacific Time with all of the accompanying local DST shifts. It's on our "someday" list, and that "someday" is kind of a dream I think about frequently. I'd love to move everything to UTC and handle DST for everyone, but it's not in our short term plans.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:07 PM on March 15, 2011


And thanks Skorgu, added that to my to fix list.
posted by pb (staff) at 8:09 PM on March 15, 2011


doublehappy writes "I've always just ignored the timestamps because they don't tend to be anywhere near, you know, the actual time."

One of the advantages of being in Portland's time zone is the times are mostly always right.

pb writes ""Sorry about the instant no. I wasn't thinking about the scope of the change correctly. Thanks for the smack on the head, sodium lights the horizon. "There are probably still a few spots where the change hasn't been made. Let me know here or in MeFi Mail if you spot 'em."

Even pb doesn't realize his awesomeness. Here I was thinking we'd be getting the handcrafted by matt in spaghetti code unique to each site standardized response.

And thanks pb, this is a pony I didn't know I wanted but it'll be awesome.
posted by Mitheral at 8:40 PM on March 15, 2011


Wow. A (rare, but now confirmed in the wild) third standard pb response - "Oh wait, I can do this after all. Here you go!"
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:03 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]


Awesome!
posted by BrotherCaine at 9:56 PM on March 15, 2011


Hey, look at that! It's 22 o'clock!
posted by deborah at 10:12 PM on March 15, 2011


Your timestamp needs winding, deborah.

(I know, because I wrote it on a piece of paper.)
posted by holgate at 10:27 PM on March 15, 2011


I wanna ride this pony. See you all at 24:00, for pancakes.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 12:27 AM on March 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


Yay!

Thanks everybody for the crazy jokes and pb for doing the thing! I was my first pony and it worked and now Metafilter will never be the same again.
posted by mahershalal at 12:41 AM on March 16, 2011


pb = pretty brilliant!
posted by arcticseal at 2:11 AM on March 16, 2011


I think it would be really interesting to see a greasemonkey script that displays the time format for comments to something like "posted xx:xx after original post" or "posted xx:xx ago"

Or [has timestamp] maybe?
posted by sambosambo at 2:53 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


It was a bright cold day in March, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
posted by pracowity at 5:20 AM on March 16, 2011 [3 favorites]


I was my first pony . . .

Me too. My parents refused to buy me one. My only recourse was to strap a pillow onto my back with a belt like a saddle, trot around on all fours, and mumble "clop. clop. clop." while softly crying to myself.
posted by Think_Long at 5:54 AM on March 16, 2011 [6 favorites]


My first pony had beer in it.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 7:35 AM on March 16, 2011


Hey, how come my time is all crazy and Europeanised? I want it to say "quarter past six" and stuff like that, not 18:00. 18 o'clock is SOCIALISM
posted by Mister_A at 8:07 AM on March 16, 2011


time 16.3.11 18:00 bb speech malreported socialism rectify Mister_A to pick up lottery winnings in room 101.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 8:12 AM on March 16, 2011 [1 favorite]


Oh sweet! I've won the lottery!

Room 101! It's so clean! Look, a largish round hole that says "place head in here." Well, here goes!
posted by Mister_A at 8:23 AM on March 16, 2011 [2 favorites]


steef: "MetaFilter Time Standard, aka: bucket of clocks"

Bowl of ticks?
posted by Grither at 9:31 AM on March 16, 2011


A baby seahorse is called a fry.

I'm pretty certain that they would stick with this name for the menu if they were deep fried in batter. Unless they were tiny in which case, theyed just be batter bits.
posted by biffa at 3:52 PM on March 16, 2011


pb I've turned 24 hour time on but it reverts to 12 hour time when I am previewing a comment.
posted by Mitheral at 5:23 PM on March 16, 2011


Thanks Mitheral, missed that.
posted by pb (staff) at 5:27 PM on March 16, 2011


When I start the revolution, pb, I need the clock to go to year zero. Wait until I say "go".
posted by Meatbomb at 3:53 AM on March 17, 2011


Shouldn't it be year 1? I mean it's your revolution and all but zero doesn't seem like the place to start.

When you're playing hide and seek, you don't start counting at zero, you start at 1. When you're counting threateningly at someone, you start at 1 - if you started at zero, it would be like counting to 4 instead of 3, and what's the point in that?

Your revolution will fail if you start at year zero.
posted by Mister_A at 11:05 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


If the revolution is going to be coded in ColdFusion we'll have to start with 1.
posted by pb (staff) at 11:14 AM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


Mister_A: "When you're counting threateningly at someone, you start at 1 - if you started at zero, it would be like counting to 4 instead of 3, and what's the point in that?"

Well, actually, you sort of do count from zero. But instead of actually saying zero, you say "I'm going to count to three". That way, there's three time intervals: "I'm going to count" to one, one to two, and two to three. (I'm ignoring asymptotic counting because it doesn't matter where you start in that case.) You could just say "zero" instead of saying you're going to count. In fact, when I have kids, I think I'll do that.

pb: "If the revolution is going to be coded in ColdFusion we'll have to start with 1."

Ugh. Agh. Argh. Aghghh.
posted by Plutor at 12:26 PM on March 17, 2011 [1 favorite]


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