On Jun 17, at 1:08 PM, Carl Distefano wrote:
Universal Military Time is clear and
unambiguous: the new day starts at 0000 hours (inclusive);
2359.999999999999999999999999... belongs to the day before. One does
occasionally see "2400 hours", and the meaning is usually clear, but
it is wrong. The official usage is 0000.
The quibbler wishes to quibble. If that ellipsis is being used in the
standard way in such decimal contexts, then
2359.9999999999... = 2359.999999999999999999... = 2359.9... = 0000
(and thus doesn't belong to the day before). If all you meant by
the ellipsis was some unspecified by finite number of "9"'s, then
what was said is right. We are striving for unambiguity here...
David Auerbach
Department of Philosophy & Religion
Box 8103
Raleigh, NC 27695-8103 http://
slowfoodusa.org
auerbach@xxxxxxxx http://
slowfoodtriangle.org