Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

Finding the exact time nowadays.....bit of a bloody minefield?

2

Comments

  • Stig
    Stig Posts: 29,024
    SporadicAddick said:

    SoundAsa£ said:

    Honestly it’s pretty frustrating......well it is for me anyway.
    I admit I’m a bit anal about having my watch and clocks as near to the second as I can get.
    I’ll list some of them....BBC TV, SKY on screen display, Vodaphone, Sky speaking clock, BBC Radio pips, various commercial radio stations too many to mention, my Apple iPad, Microsoft, airport terminal clocks, train stations and finally Big Ben.....I even have one of those clocks that automatically gets the signal from somewhere in Germany (forget what they’re called) and adjusts itself. The list goes on and on!
    The problem is they ALL seem to have slightly different times.....if you don’t believe me and have the mind to, check it out, you’ll be amazed.
    No doubt many of you don’t give a shyte......but for some reason it irritates me that this should be the case......sometimes it’s as much as 10 to15 seconds or so, depending on the organisation involved!
    Who on earth can you believe these days......or am I just wasting everyone’s time!

    I second this point of view
    Duly noted in the minutes.
  • TelMc32
    TelMc32 Posts: 9,051
  • Karim_myBagheri
    Karim_myBagheri Posts: 12,715
    because of this thread I have done some research and discovered that prior to world war 2 the time in France was the same as ours (Greenwich mean time) but the Germans being a bit controlling changed it so they were on the same time zone as the rest of central Europe. this also happened in Amsterdam where they had what was called Amsterdam time, which was 20 minutes ahead of GMT.

    interesting stuff but of no use to the original question so feel free to ignore.
  • Leroy Ambrose
    Leroy Ambrose Posts: 14,436
    SoundAsa£ said:

    cabbles said:

    Atomic clocks are the way forward

    Or backwards as was proved on Sunday morning......at least down my way.
    The atomic clock wasn't backwards. It can't be backwards. Atomic clocks by their very existence are the ultimate arbiter of 'time' as experience it - they use measurable, quantifiable radiation cycles of Caesium. Indeed, it's the radiation emitted by Caesium in a second that defines what a second 'is'. If it was out of sync, then it was your device that had fallen out of sync with the clock, rather than the clock itself having become less reliable.
  • SoundAsa£
    SoundAsa£ Posts: 22,479
    Well down my way the clocks all went back....so there!
  • cafcdave123
    cafcdave123 Posts: 11,491
    Karim_myBagheri said:

    because of this thread I have done some research and discovered that prior to world war 2 the time in France was the same as ours (Greenwich mean time) but the Germans being a bit controlling changed it so they were on the same time zone as the rest of central Europe. this also happened in Amsterdam where they had what was called Amsterdam time, which was 20 minutes ahead of GMT.

    interesting stuff but of no use to the original question so feel free to ignore.

    Most interesting post on this thread imo
  • Stevelamb
    Stevelamb Posts: 271
    I couldn't put my clock back on Sunday because I cant remember where I got it from.
  • SantaClaus
    SantaClaus Posts: 7,652
    Ross said:

    My microwave seems to run on a 59 second minute, so over time it runs fast. It gains up to 5 minutes a month so I have to keep putting it back.

    Have you considered that the microwave.clock is correct and all the other clocks are wrong? You could be living in a really boring episode of the twilight zone.
  • Southendaddick
    Southendaddick Posts: 5,314
    Ive got a 16 plate BMW that's probably got every gadget under the sun yet it doesn't adjust the time when the clocks go back and forward.

    Yet my cheap 10 year old alarm clock from Argos does..
  • Stu_of_Kunming
    Stu_of_Kunming Posts: 17,117
    I've recently started doing some freelance training at a new school, literally every clock in the building is different, drives me mental.
  • Sponsored links:



  • North Lower Neil
    North Lower Neil Posts: 22,952
    edited October 2017
    I didn't put my watch back so I can leave work at 4 today.
  • LoOkOuT
    LoOkOuT Posts: 10,856
    Finally a thread that gets to the heart of the space/time continuum.
  • cabbles
    cabbles Posts: 15,255
    The thing is i really enjoy reading about spacetime and relativity. So I welcome this digression
  • golfaddick
    golfaddick Posts: 33,627
    Good, some of you are very anal or have OCD.

    I usually like my watch to be 30-60 secs fast, just so I'm not late to catch a train (which I hardly ever do nowdays, so doesn't really bother me). The clock on my laptop seems to lose about a minute every month and so does my car.

    can't really see the issue, especially if you are only talking seconds. What does it matter ?
  • Super_Eddie_Youds
    Super_Eddie_Youds Posts: 1,977
    Well if anything it's been a great chance for people to humble brag about their cars
  • leefender
    leefender Posts: 395


  • leefender
    leefender Posts: 395

  • Robbo on the wing
    Robbo on the wing Posts: 4,135
    Southendaddick said:

    Ive got a 16 plate BMW that's probably got every gadget under the sun yet it doesn't adjust the time when the clocks go back and forward.

    Yet my cheap 10 year old alarm clock from Argos does..

    Have a similar problem with my 17 plate Bugatti
  • bobmunro
    bobmunro Posts: 20,843
    Southendaddick said:

    Ive got a 16 plate BMW that's probably got every gadget under the sun yet it doesn't adjust the time when the clocks go back and forward.

    Yet my cheap 10 year old alarm clock from Argos does..

    There should be a button to tick on your iDrive menu (Time & Date) where it will pick up the correct time from GPS - if this isn't ticked then you can only change it manually.
  • RedChaser
    RedChaser Posts: 19,885
    Stu_of_Kunming said:

    I've recently started doing some freelance training at a new school, literally every clock in the building is different, drives me mental.

    I'd go by the ones that give,you the shortest working day and longest lunch hour / break periods :wink:
  • Sponsored links:



  • RedChaser
    RedChaser Posts: 19,885
    edited October 2017
    golfaddick said:

    Good, some of you are very anal or have OCD.

    I usually like my watch to be 30-60 secs fast, just so I'm not late to catch a train (which I hardly ever do nowdays, so doesn't really bother me). The clock on my laptop seems to lose about a minute every month and so does my car.

    can't really see the issue, especially if you are only talking seconds. What does it matter ?

    Hang on a second I'll let you know.
  • TelMc32
    TelMc32 Posts: 9,051
    North Lower Neil said:

    I didn't put my watch back so I can leave work at 4 today.

    I hope you got in at 8!!! :wink:
  • Redrobo
    Redrobo Posts: 11,330
    I set up the clocks in one of my old office so we could have a coming in and back from lunch time which was set 5 minutes earlier than real time and a going to lunch and going home one set 5 minutes later than real time. 20 mins a day adds up!

    Use a Calendar now!
  • happyvalley
    happyvalley Posts: 8,996
    Southendaddick said:

    Ive got a 16 plate BMW that's probably got every gadget under the sun yet it doesn't adjust the time when the clocks go back and forward.

    Yet my cheap 10 year old alarm clock from Argos does..

    A BMW doesn't really need a clock the driver can normally read the one on the car in front.
  • ricky_otto
    ricky_otto Posts: 22,600
    edited October 2017
    cafcdave123 said:

    My galaxy tablet remembered to put its clock back an hour but its been 12 minutes fast for nearly a year.

    I don't want to change it as I'm so used to it I might miss something

    Not that’s it will concern you, but In readiness for the summer - Russia has 9 different time zones. :wink:
  • Dippenhall
    Dippenhall Posts: 3,919
    golfaddick said:

    Good, some of you are very anal or have OCD.

    I usually like my watch to be 30-60 secs fast, just so I'm not late to catch a train (which I hardly ever do nowdays, so doesn't really bother me). The clock on my laptop seems to lose about a minute every month and so does my car.

    can't really see the issue, especially if you are only talking seconds. What does it matter ?

    Only seconds! You are sorely misguided. 12 midday is when the sun is overhead. If you travel by train from London to Penzance on the midday train and it takes 4 hours you have been robbed of 15 minutes of life by National Rail when it arrives London time 4pm. Your train actually left at 11.45 am and arrived at 4.45 pm. It is a disgrace, all because people can't be bothered to set their watches to the correct time of day. It could work really easily using GPS to automatically change your digital watch and laptop every 5 seconds. Never miss another train again.


  • RedChaser
    RedChaser Posts: 19,885
    edited October 2017
    TelMc32 said:

    North Lower Neil said:

    I didn't put my watch back so I can leave work at 4 today.

    I hope you got in at 8!!! :wink:
    And not just taking your coat off Neil but at your work station raring to go :wink:
  • Wheresmeticket
    Wheresmeticket Posts: 17,304
    Robbo on the wing said:

    Southendaddick said:

    Ive got a 16 plate BMW that's probably got every gadget under the sun yet it doesn't adjust the time when the clocks go back and forward.

    Yet my cheap 10 year old alarm clock from Argos does..

    Have a similar problem with my 17 plate Bugatti
    ...and my 02 plate Seat Ibiza.
  • Floyd Montana
    Floyd Montana Posts: 3,730
    Wasn't there an experiment where they had 2 identical clocks, put one on the platform in London and another on a train to Scotland, which when it returned had a different time? (possibly billionths of a second).
    I may have dreamt this as I can find no reference on a quick google search.
  • cabbles
    cabbles Posts: 15,255
    edited October 2017
    Floyd Montana said:

    Wasn't there an experiment where they had 2 identical clocks, put one on the platform in London and another on a train to Scotland, which when it returned had a different time? (possibly billionths of a second).
    I may have dreamt this as I can find no reference on a quick google search.

    It was actually flights around the world

    https://paulba.no/paper/Hafele_Keating.pdf

Categories

“Marketplace”