Did you know there is a website for the Official US time?  Did you know today there is a leap second?  If you didn’t know either or both of these – then you should check out www.time.gov This is the website for the official US time and will also provide information about the leap second being added today.  The website is provided by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) and the USNO (US Naval Observatory).  So if you ever want to know the accurate time – go to this site.

Now onto leap seconds.  Not only did 2008 get an extra day – but we get an extra second as well.  Although some areas of the world get the extra second in 2009.  UTC (based on atomic clocks) is monitored against UT1 time (based on the rotation of the Earth) and if the two times ever look like they are going to get more than .9 seconds different, a second is added to or taken away from UTC to bring it back in sync.  So this year they are adding a second.  Leap seconds are always added at the end of the day in UTC, so the local time they are added varies based on your timezone, for the Eastern Standard Timezone – this works out to be 7:00 p.m.  So leading up to 7:00 p.m. we will have 6:59 and 58 seconds, 6:59:59, 6:59:60, and then 7:00:00.  Normally it goes from 59 seconds to 00 seconds.  If you watch the time at time.gov you’ll be able to see the extra second.  You can find more out about leap seconds at the Leap Second Wikipedia entry.

So – enjoy your extra second – spend it wisely!

Since it is Christmas Eve and everyone young at heart will be anxiously awaiting for Santa’s arrival, I thought I’d let you know how you can track where Santa is – so you know when you need to be fast asleep!  Even though our government does some silly things at times, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command) is on top of the important things and is tracking Santa as he makes his journey around the world.  So check out the NORAD Santa Tracking page to find out when Santa will be in your neck of the woods!

It’s coming – in 62 days.  Are you ready?

In 62 days on 2/17/2009 all (except for a few low power or translator stations) TV stations have to end their over-the-air analog broadcasts.  A few stations have already turned off their analog signal and some are turning them off prior to 2/17 – including WKAR.  If you receive your TV signal OTA (Over-The-Air aka with an antenna) and aren’t prepared for the Digital TV transition – you won’t be able to watch TV after 2/17/09.  To receive the new digital signals you’ll need to have either a newer TV with a built in digital tuner or a converter box.  Digital TV offers better sound and picture quality – including HD channels – and can offer a wider selection of channels.

Stations throughout Michigan have or will conduct “soft-tests” this week.  A soft-test is where they send a message to let you know whether you are picking up the digital signal or not.  Stations across the country are conducting similar tests – check with your local station to see when they plan on having a test.  For information about the Michigan tests and the DTV transition in Michigan – check out http://www.michigandtv.com/

Some sites with a lot more information about the DTV transition include http://www.dtv.gov/ and https://www.dtv2009.gov/.

Even if you are ready for the DTV transition – do you know of anyone who could use your help in making sure they are ready?  This is happening nationwide and we’ll get through it without a problem if we all work together.  Feel free to ask me any questions you have about the DTV transition.