1061: EST - Revision history

76.183.232.121: /* Claimed benefits */

2025-08-05T18:11:59Z

‎Claimed benefits

Regex user: australia's eastern standard time is also usually referred to as EST

2025-02-10T00:57:04Z

australia's eastern standard time is also usually referred to as EST

108.162.227.44: /* Other features */

2023-12-10T09:42:04Z

‎Other features

172.71.94.132: /* Other features */ DST may be a subtle joke, or I'm just overanalyzing

2023-09-03T14:15:20Z

‎Other features: DST may be a subtle joke, or I'm just overanalyzing

Mushrooms: what is the point of writing "further details" on a transcript

2023-03-20T09:08:28Z

what is the point of writing "further details" on a transcript

Davidy22: Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Davidy22

2022-05-21T02:53:43Z

Reverted edits by Explain xkcd server admin (talk) to last revision by Davidy22

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Explain xkcd server admin at 21:54, 20 May 2022

2022-05-20T21:54:56Z

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Davidy22: Reverted edits by The author of xkcd (talk) to last revision by Theusaf

2022-05-16T23:29:17Z

Reverted edits by The author of xkcd (talk) to last revision by Theusaf

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The author of xkcd at 22:56, 16 May 2022

2022-05-16T22:56:21Z

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Theusaf: Reverted edits by 👖🔥 (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

2022-05-11T18:47:24Z

Reverted edits by 👖🔥 (talk) to last revision by Jacky720

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@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 ===Claimed benefits===
 Many of the claimed benefits for the calendar are highly dubious:
-*While it is fairly ''simple'' to describe, EST is far from simple to understand or put in practice. Clocks in particular would have to regularly undertake very complicated processes like running backwards or duplicating non-prime minutes.
+*While it is fairly simple to '' describe'', EST is far from simple to understand or put in practice. Clocks in particular would have to regularly undertake very complicated processes like running backwards or duplicating non-prime minutes.
 *EST does appear to be fairly ''clearly defined''.
 *EST fails completely to be ''unambiguous''. Following each full moon, four hours occur three times, twice forward and once backward. Several minutes are also duplicated, making times during those periods ambiguous.

@@ Line 10: / Line 10: @@
 This comic pokes fun of attempts to "fix" the calendar by making it simpler or more rational, which inevitably result in a system just as complicated. This is an example of the paradox in complexity theory that if you attempt to simplify a system of problems by creating a new system of evaluation for the problems you often have instead made the problem more complex than it was originally.
-[[Randall]] advertises his idea for a "Universal Calendar for a Universal Planet". He combines {{w|calendar#Calendars in use|calendar}} definitions with {{w|Time zone|time zone}} definitions. The abbreviation '''EST''' in this comic stands for ''Earth Standard Time'' (hence the title), but it is in itself a joke on the American {{w|Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Standard Time}}. In the rest of the explanation, EST refers to the comic's Earth Standard Time.
+[[Randall]] advertises his idea for a "Universal Calendar for a Universal Planet". He combines {{w|calendar#Calendars in use|calendar}} definitions with {{w|Time zone|time zone}} definitions. The abbreviation '''EST''' in this comic stands for ''Earth Standard Time'' (hence the title), but it is in itself a joke on the American {{w|Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Standard Time}} and the Australian {{w|Australian Eastern Standard Time|Eastern Standard Time}}. In the rest of the explanation, EST refers to the comic's Earth Standard Time.
 ===Length of year===

@@ Line 35: / Line 35: @@
 The features of the calendar get increasingly bizarre as the description proceeds:
-*The {{w|Epoch (reference date)|epoch}} for EST is set by reference to the {{w|Julian calendar}}, which was superseded by the {{w|Gregorian calendar}}. The Epoch would be January 14th 1970 in the Gregorian calendar.
+*The {{w|Epoch (reference date)|epoch}} for EST is set by reference to the {{w|Julian calendar}}, which was superseded by the {{w|Gregorian calendar}}. The Epoch would be January 14, 1970 in the Gregorian calendar. January 1, 1970 in the Gregorian calendar is the epoch of the {{w|Unix time}}.
 *The different zone for the United Kingdom is a reference to 1 yard being equal to 0.9144 meters, a pun on using {{w|imperial units}} instead of the {{w|metric system}}. This has been the joke before in [[526: Converting to Metric]] and is also mentioned in [[1643: Degrees]].

@@ Line 39: / Line 39: @@
 *The different zone for the United Kingdom is a reference to 1 yard being equal to 0.9144 meters, a pun on using {{w|imperial units}} instead of the {{w|metric system}}. This has been the joke before in [[526: Converting to Metric]] and is also mentioned in [[1643: Degrees]].
-*Randall does not like {{w|daylight saving time}} (DST) very much, as has been made clear in [[:Category:Daylight saving time|several comics]] both before and after this one. See Narnian time below.
+*Randall does not like {{w|daylight saving time}} (DST) very much, as has been made clear in [[:Category:Daylight saving time|several comics]] both before and after this one. See Narnian time below.  (There's possibly another level to this joke: if time doesn't pass, it's ''saved'', fulfilling DST in a literal fashion.)
 *Narnian time is a reference to the fictitious world of {{w|Narnia (world)|Narnia}} in {{w|CS Lewis}}' book {{w|The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe}} and its sequels. In Narnia, time passes much more quickly than in the real world. You could be in Narnia for several days and only a few minutes would have passed in the real world. However, synchronizing this effect would be impossible because it is not a consistent rate; it fluctuates wildly based on the whims of drama and magic. This and the DST mentioned above should be seen as a pair. Because when a country goes into DST time may not pass, which is basically what happens (more or less) when a child enters into Narnia. Whereas in EST Narnian time is synchronized to normal time, which DST is but for the one hour difference in the real calendar. Using the weird Narnian time was used as the plot in the bottom left drawing in [[821: Five-Minute Comics: Part 3]].

@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 :[Caption above the frame:]
 :xkcd presents
-:<big>'''Earth Standard Time'''</big>
+:[In large letters:] <big>'''Earth Standard Time'''</big>
-:(EST)
+:[In regular text:] (EST)
 :'''A universal calendar for a universal planet'''
-:<font color="gray">EST is...</font>
+:[In small, grey letters:] <font color="gray">EST is...</font>
 :<font color="gray"><small>Simple • Clearly defined • Unambiguous</small></font>
 :<font color="gray"><small>Free of historical baggage • Compatible with old units</small></font>
@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 :The non-prime-numbered minutes of the first full non-reversed hour after a solstice or equinox happen twice.
-:[In two columns the "Epoch" is put into a contrasting juxtaposition to "Time Zones":]
+:[In two columns the "Epoch" is put into a contrasting juxtaposition to "Time Zones", and the text is smaller:]
 :Epoch
 :<small>00:00:00 EST, January 1st, 1970 = 00:00:00 GMT, January 1st, 1970 (Julian Calendar)</small>
@@ Line 78: / Line 78: @@
 :<small>The two EST time zones are ''EST'' and ''EST (United Kingdom)''. These are the same except that the UK second is 0.9144 standard seconds.</small>
-:[A few further statements:]
+:[The text returns to regular size except when trying to fit text into a space:]
 :Daylight saving: Countries may enter DST, but no time may pass there.
 :Narnian Time: Synchronized✔