From: ara.t.howard@...
Date: 2006-10-28T01:33:32+09:00
Subject: Re: [QUIZ] Fuzzy Time (#99)

On Sat, 28 Oct 2006, Gavin Kistner wrote:

> That's correct; why do you call this a contradiction?

<snip>

> To be clear, by "+/- 5 minutes" I meant "it is not tied to the current time,
> but must not deviate by more than 5 minutes from reality", not "It must be
> exactly either 5 minutes ahead or 5 minutes behind the actual time."

right.  i understood that.  but this is where i see the contradiction:  from
the viewpoint of the __observer__ a clock which remains static for 20 minutes
cannot also simoutaneously vary a mere 5 minutes from reality. ;-)

> It is. Time flies when you're coding Ruby, and stands still when you're
> doing work. :)

no argument there!

> Think about it this way:
>
> In order to not know what time it really is, you cannot always display the
> tens digit for exactly 10 minutes in a row. (If you did, the user would
> simply have a precise-but-inaccurate clock that was a little fast or slow.)
> Thus, you have to be able to sometimes show the tens for less than ten
> minutes, and sometimes for greater than ten minutes.
>
> It seemed odd to me that varying by only +/- 5 minutes allows the same tens
> digit to be displayed for 20 minutes, but that's the way the math comes out.
> :)

yes, i see that.  still, it seems flawed.  think about it on a number line,
which does not wrap as times do.

so, imagine the time is '5' and our range is '+/-5', and we select '10'.
because we must monotonically increase we have to wait till '10' to make
another choice.  this time, however, our range will only be '+5', because we
cannot decrease.  let's say we select +1: '11'.  when '11' comes our range
will now still be only '+5', let's say we max it out again, selecting '+5',
and thus '16'...  you see, the way #2 and #3 work together a selection forever
eats the range of subsequent selections - so a the '+/-5' bit becomes no
longer true for any selection > than the current time.  the only reason this
works it's self out on the clock is that times wrap.

i realize that '+5' is still within '+/-5', but i just wondered if this was
the intended effect.

great quiz btw!

-a
-- 
my religion is very simple.  my religion is kindness. -- the dalai lama