[//Nathan]

I was raised on the 12-hour format (for example it's now 9:08PM), and that worked for me for a long time... then I got a job in security and was forced to learn 24-hour time. I liked it so much I converted as much as I could to 24-hour time. You can do it in Windows, though it's tricky... My watch would do it, but my alarm clocks, the microwave wouldn't. And most people don't understand 24-hour time, so you have to compensate for that.

I just think it makes more sense, though. Why does 12 come before 1 (12pm, then 1pm) and why do they start over halfway through the day? That's just stupid IMHO. And, what if something happens to slow the Earth down, so one rotation takes 25 hours? Will 12:30 be the new noon and midnight? I was thinking about this since on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine they have 26-hour days. 13th hour, indeed. But they use 24-hour (26-hour, really) time, so they're set up for it. And though DS9 is fantasy, when we move into space travel, we'll have to use a system more friendly to varying day lengths.

The difference in date formats is simpler. In America we would say today's date as December 17, 2005, but in the UK, they say 17 December 2005. In America we might say "The seventeenth of December" but we'd never write it that way. At first I thought it was crazy... and to an extent I still do. I do prefer the UK way, DD MMMM, but you have to use the word. 17/12/05 is OK, but only because 17 > 12. If the Day is less than 13 and not equal to the month, it's confusing... If I say 3/2/05, how do you know whether it's 3 February or March 2? (Of course 4/4/05 is April 4, regardless.) But, despite the confusion, I try to write the date UK-style, with the word for the month. It just makes more sense... you have 30 days in a month, 12 months in a year. Second - Minute - Hour - Day - Month - Year - Decade - Century... it just makes more sense to do Day/Month/Year. (Just don't ask me why we do Hour:Minute:Seconds because I know that's completely backwards, following the same logic.)

[Davy]

Tricky in Windows?

[attachment=9550:attachment]

Just change the little h to capital

[.Aaron]

Dark Reality, on Dec 17 2005, 09:16 PM, said:

If I say 3/2/05, how do you know whether it's 3 February or March 2? (Of course 4/4/05 is April 4, regardless.)

That's one of the things that I have always wondered about - I've gotten mixed up a couple of times. I do see your points.

[Davy]

I always go DD/MM/YYYY (or YY)

[Michael Merritt]

Converting from 12-hour to 24-hour time isn't difficult. Just add or subtract 12, depending on which system you start with. So, 8pm + 12 = 20:00. Conversely, 16:00 - 12 = 4pm.

[.John.]

Davy, on Dec 17 2005, 09:29 PM, said:

I always go DD/MM/YYYY (or YY)

MM-DD-YYYY Here (and most of US)

Michael Merritt, on Dec 17 2005, 09:45 PM, said:

Converting from 12-hour to 24-hour time isn't difficult. Just add or subtract 12, depending on which system you start with. So, 8pm + 12 = 20:00. Conversely, 16:00 - 12 = 4pm.

Or, if you want to make it just slightly easier - just subtract 2. For example 13-2 yields 11. Take the last number of the yielded amount, and you've got the 12 hour time. Again, 18:00. 18-2 yields 16. The the last number, being a 6 - and it's 6:00 (PM).

[Barn]

You're becoming a bit of an honorary (and that is how we spell it ) Brit, Mr. Dark Reality.

Welcome!

[Wilko]

Dark Reality, on Dec 18 2005, 02:16 AM, said:

In America we might say "The seventeenth of December" but we'd never write it that way.

We always write it like seventeenth. 17th December 2005. Its quite common in the UK.

[CTerry]

I always use 24 time, probably because when I was little our VCR was always 24 hour, I therefore confuse the hell out of everyone I know.

[Tommeh.]

I find it scary people don't understand the 24 hour clock

[CTerry]

-Tom-, on Dec 18 2005, 01:58 PM, said:

I find it scary people don't understand the 24 hour clock

Indeed, how difficult is it?!

[kan]

@Cterry, same thing i ask myself too.

You can learn it in 1min actually

[Tommeh.]

kan, on Dec 18 2005, 02:08 PM, said:

@Cterry, same thing i ask myself too.

You can learn it in 1min actually

be quiet! you're spoiling dark reality's fun and adventures

[Tseia]

MM/DD/YYYY makes no sense to me as they're not in order of length of time. I got quite used to using YYYYMMDD for a time though

I use 24-hour time mainly but have an analogue watch

This post has been edited by Tseia: 18 December 2005 - 03:09 PM

[Rikki]

-Tom-, on Dec 18 2005, 01:58 PM, said:

I find it scary people don't understand the 24 hour clock

As far as I know they don't teach it as standard time in the US, it's referred to as 'military time' and that's mostly where it is used. Personally, I prefer using the 24 hour clock.

[Davy]

I understand 24 hour time... I just don't use it. No one I know uses it

[Wilko]

No one in the UK uses it when they write or speak, just on watches, clocks etc.

[Brandon C]

It's set to 24 hour format on my Mac.

[CTerry]

Wilko, on Dec 18 2005, 04:43 PM, said:

No one in the UK uses it when they write or speak, just on watches, clocks etc.

I write it

[Wilko]

CTerry, on Dec 18 2005, 04:45 PM, said:

I write it

You write in 24 hour format? Ok, then I'll rephrase. Everyone I know doesn't write or read in 24 hour format.