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It Only Takes A Second...
Posted December 31, 2008 by Shakti Sombrero
You can always count on technological bugs to be big and scary, especially around New Year's. Once upon a time it was the Y2K bug. Then it was the daylight saving time change. Sometimes it's a leap year. Rest assured 2009 will not disappoint, as the media now warns us to take cover because it's time for...
THE LEAP SECOND.
Atomic clocks will gain an extra second tonight at the end of the year, which might sound like a good thing to some of us. Our clocks will be rectified and running smooth, our lives will be back on track, and our hopes and dreams will finally be realized. Oh no, my friend. Ohhhhh no.
In today's digital world, the smooth operation of everything from ATMs to the Internet depends on the exactly timed transmission of electronic data. Leap seconds can crash cell phones, GPS receivers, computer networks and other modern conveniences that have not been programmed to expect them -- a bigger pain than Y2K ever was.
Much like the daylight saving time change last year ("Y2K all over again") this scare hitches its reigns to our disappointing millennial boogeyman in an attempt to stir those lingering fears and make us reach up to make sure the key to our underground bunker is still securely hung around our necks.
In reality, 24 leap seconds have been added into our timekeeping over the past three decades or so, the last being in 2005. We managed to survive all of those without ATMs spilling cash onto the streets or cellphones exploding in our hands. But people have short memories and love a good fright even if it is nonsense.
Posted in Media Panic, Scary Technology
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