Double 59; 60; or double 00?

From: Tom Van Baak <tvb_at_LEAPSECOND.COM>
Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2006 13:15:18 -0800

With the surge of leap second captures this time
around, are there any concerns over the growing(?)
use of double :59 second or double :00 second
instead of :59:60 for a positive leap second?

Although not technically correct, they do seem a
practical, perhaps even clever, alternative -- in some
cases -- to the upstream parsing trouble that the
exceptional :59:60 causes.

Given a choice I would vote for double :59 over
double :00 since :59 is still in the previous day
(where the leap second occurs). Also, :59 offers
more symmetry between positive and negative
leap seconds (58 and 00 are constant; 59 is
double or nothing depending on leap type).

/tvb
http://www.LeapSecond.com
Received on Wed Jan 04 2006 - 13:18:50 PST

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