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Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by mnw21cam on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @09:36AM (#21323416)
Technically UTC is not the same as GMT. The two can differ by up to 0.9 seconds.

And I'm steadfastly among the ranks of grumpy old farts who still use AD and BC.

Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by klodolph on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:13AM (#21323791)
> Technically UTC is not the same as GMT. The two can differ by up to 0.9 seconds.

It’s UT1 and UTC that differ by up to 0.9 seconds. GMT and UTC are equal unless you’re in a specialized field (navigation) where it is considered to be UT1. Otherwise, GMT is just the name of a time zone UTC+0000.

TAI measures seconds. UT1 measures the earth’s rotation. UTC combines these by using TAI plus a changing offset to keep within 0.9s of UT1.

Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by buckminster on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:24AM (#21323897)
Are you sure? GMT is the UK time standard defined by the British Government. Last time I looked they had defined it to be the same as UTC.
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by mumblemumble on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:30AM (#21323979)
That may not be the case anymore.

I think that the bigger difference is that GMT is a time zone used in countries that observe daylight savings time. UTC applies universally, everywhere and always, but it's a little bit nonsensical to use GMT to describe events that happen during summer in the UK.

[dead]
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by robbrown451 on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @09:53AM (#21323581)
Calling it BC and AD isn't worshipping God or Jesus, really any more than calling it Saturday is worshipping the Roman God Saturn.
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by acheron on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:03AM (#21323672)
Remember to make your sacrifice to Tíw this morning.
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by velcrovan on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:15AM (#21323803)
Put the Thor back in Thursday! Damn secularists
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by Nasrudith on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:10AM (#21323750)
Really the inaccuracy alone would be a decent reason to prefer BCE/CE over BC/AD even if devout.
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by ChainOfFools on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @12:44PM (#21325767)
BCE/CE at least have the benefit of a consistent language backing them, rather than English for BC and Latin for AD.

maybe we drop one vestigial nod to the middle ages and compromise: BC/YL

Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by robbrown451 on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @06:28PM (#21329094)
What's the inaccuracy? Are you speaking of when Jesus Christ was born? At one point it was based on an estimation of that, but for a long time it has been standardized and isn't related to that anymore. There is a very specific year that is "year 1".

I have a bit of an issue with it because it does seem to endorse a religion, but still.

Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by KibbutzDalia on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:09AM (#21323744)
And that’s why I don’t use that name.
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by goldstone26 on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:01AM (#21323659)
There is a non-trivial amount of the English language that has religious baggage that I suspect you'll have a difficult time first identifying and then avoiding.
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by djhaskin987 on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:02AM (#21323661)
Also he didn't really criticize anyone, except himself, by calling himself old.
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by mytailorisrich on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:02AM (#21323662)
You can call it CE or AD, that does not change the origin of the choice for the year 0...

In fact CE makes that origin the 'common' default.

Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by samatman on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:19AM (#21323849)
There is no Year 0 in the Gregorian calendar, fwiw.

It’s old enough that it skips from 1 BC to 1 AD.

Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by FabHK on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:35AM (#21324047)
A bit like US elevators (as opposed to UK lifts that stop on the ground floor in-between).
Re:Why UTC is used as the acronym for Coordinated Universal ... by mytailorisrich on Tuesday October 22, 2019 @10:26AM (#21323923)
You understood what I meant, let's stay on point.