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What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone?

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  What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 04:39 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2015-01-27 00:11 -0500
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Godzilla <godzilla@lizardboss.invalid> - 2015-01-27 05:18 +0000
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 16:32 -0500
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 16:39 -0500
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 22:20 +0000
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 18:55 -0500
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 01:54 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-01-27 02:27 -0500
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? nospam <nospam@nospam.invalid> - 2015-01-27 03:51 -0500
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? victor davis <vic@this.is.not.real.com> - 2015-01-27 10:44 +0000
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-01-27 11:14 -0500
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2015-01-27 10:30 -0600
              Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 17:51 +0000
              Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-01-27 12:54 -0500
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Your Name <YourName@YourISP.com> - 2015-01-28 09:34 +1300
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 22:21 +0000
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2015-01-27 16:25 -0600
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 03:17 +0000
              Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2015-01-28 22:36 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? ". . .winston" <winstonmvp@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 03:56 -0500
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 10:45 +0000
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2015-01-27 12:28 +0100
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Siri Crews <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> - 2015-01-27 01:29 -0800
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> - 2015-01-27 10:05 +0000
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Eef Hartman <E.J.M.Hartman@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 11:50 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> - 2015-01-27 12:31 +0000
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 17:39 +0000
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2015-01-27 11:46 -0600
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 17:57 +0000
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Eef Hartman <E.J.M.Hartman@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 19:20 +0000
              Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 22:24 +0000
                Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 03:26 +0000
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Lew Pitcher <lew.pitcher@digitalfreehold.ca> - 2015-01-27 15:18 -0500
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> - 2015-01-28 08:20 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 08:58 -0500
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2015-01-27 10:00 -0600
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu> - 2015-01-27 11:18 -0500
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Wolf K <wolfmac@sympatico.ca> - 2015-01-27 11:23 -0500
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> - 2015-01-27 11:36 -0600
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2usenet2014.subsume.com> - 2015-01-27 16:32 +0000
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 18:00 +0000
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? FPP <fredp151@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 16:45 -0500
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 22:30 +0000
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Doc O'Leary  <droleary@2usenet2014.subsume.com> - 2015-01-28 03:53 +0000
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 04:47 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2015-01-27 14:06 +0000
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2015-01-27 15:10 +0100
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2015-01-27 14:24 +0000
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? "Gene E. Bloch" <not-me@other.invalid> - 2015-01-27 17:59 -0800
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Jolly Roger <jollyroger@pobox.com> - 2015-01-28 02:14 +0000
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 03:52 +0000
              Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? "Gene E. Bloch" <not-me@other.invalid> - 2015-01-28 15:53 -0800
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 18:15 +0000
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? FPP <fredp151@gmail.com> - 2015-01-27 16:50 -0500
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2015-01-28 00:58 +0000
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 03:38 +0000
              Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Jasen Betts <jasen@xnet.co.nz> - 2015-01-28 08:49 +0000
                Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 10:06 +0000
                Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? "Gene E. Bloch" <not-me@other.invalid> - 2015-01-28 15:59 -0800
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2015-01-28 00:09 +0100
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 03:48 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2015-01-27 08:32 -0600
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-27 18:04 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Gordon <gordonlr@swbell.net> - 2015-01-27 14:40 -0600
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Wildman <best_lay@yahoo.com> - 2015-01-27 14:42 -0600
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Xyzzy the Magicat <usenetcats.xyzzyx@EATspamgourmet.com> - 2015-01-27 17:45 -0800
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Wildman <best_lay@yahoo.com> - 2015-01-27 22:09 -0600
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 04:53 +0000
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-01-28 08:52 -0500
            Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Gordon <gordonlr@swbell.net> - 2015-01-28 08:07 -0600
              Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com> - 2015-01-28 09:16 -0500
                Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2015-01-28 22:44 +0000
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 03:56 +0000
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? John Hasler <jhasler@newsguy.com> - 2015-01-27 14:49 -0600
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? JJ <jj4public@vfemail.net> - 2015-01-28 05:24 +0700
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 04:59 +0000
    Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2015-01-28 00:53 +0000
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 05:06 +0000
      Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 05:12 +0000
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Peter Köhlmann <peter-koehlmann@t-online.de> - 2015-01-28 11:35 +0100
          Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Sage <sage@mail.invalid> - 2015-01-28 14:20 +0000
        Re: What's the negative effect of changing the Time Zone? Lewis <g.kreme@gmail.com.dontsendmecopies> - 2015-01-28 22:43 +0000

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#69093

Sage wrote:

> 3. Are there any negative consequences of frequent time zone changes?

If changed and still remaining in the same location that hasn't needed 
the change, then you'll either be early or late for wherever you need to go.



-- 
   ...winston
msft mvp consumer apps

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#69097

. . .winston wrote, on Tue, 27 Jan 2015 03:56:04 -0500:

> If changed and still remaining in the same location that hasn't needed 
> the change, then you'll either be early or late for wherever you need to go.

If that's the only negative consequence, then that is fine because I 
don't use the computer for scheduling or alarms anyway.

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#69098

Sage wrote:

> . . .winston wrote, on Tue, 27 Jan 2015 03:56:04 -0500:
> 
>> If changed and still remaining in the same location that hasn't needed
>> the change, then you'll either be early or late for wherever you need to
>> go.
> 
> If that's the only negative consequence, then that is fine because I
> don't use the computer for scheduling or alarms anyway.

The most negative consequence will be that everyone thinks that you are 
really that idiot troll you are "Sage" or "Madison James" or whatever you 
name yourself with rather idiotic questions

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#69094

In article <ma74pu$ste$1@solani.org>, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:

> A different thread got me wondering how to bring down my 
> unique panopticlick ratio, by judicious setting improvements.
> 
> My "Time Zone" has almost 7 bits of identifying information.
> 
> Related questions to lowering the TZ bits:
> 1. Which time zone is the most common, world wide?
> 2. Can the time zone be changed automatically (to accomplish that)?
> 3. Are there any negative consequences of frequent time zone changes?
> 
> I would envision that the "most common" time zone fluctuates 
> throughout the day, so, that's why a script may be necessary.
> 
> Note: I don't do calendaring or alarms on my computer (I do that
> on my phone).

Unix software generally depends Greenwhich time expressed as seconds since a 
specific date and time (1 Jan 1970 0000 GMT) rather than a formatted date time. 
Apple software is generally the same except it sometimes uses 1 Jan 1904 0000 
GMT.

Expressing that as a date time is more often a convenience to mere mortals. 
Changing the time zone will change little of the software. A few operations are 
based on time of day, and those will shimmer if you shimmer the timezone. For 
example some maintenance tasks try to take place between midnight and six AM 
local time when normal humans are asleep.

Also many programs read the time zone and daylight savings information once and 
use that until they exit. Changes made while running will not be propagated to 
these running programs.


Changing the system clock can have severe and widespread consequences. Some 
unices adjust the clock by change the duration of a virtual second to speed up 
or slow down the clock until it matches just to avoid discontinuities in the 
clock.

-- 
:-<> Siri Seal of Disavowal #000-001. Disavowed. Denied. Deleted.
'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'
Icke's razor: Given two equally plausible explanations, choose the weirder.
Be sure not to operate heavy machinery whilst on usenet.

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#69095

On 2015-01-27, Siri Crews <chine.bleu@yahoo.com> wrote:
> In article <ma74pu$ste$1@solani.org>, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:
>
>> A different thread got me wondering how to bring down my 
>> unique panopticlick ratio, by judicious setting improvements.
>> 
>> My "Time Zone" has almost 7 bits of identifying information.
>> 
>> Related questions to lowering the TZ bits:
>> 1. Which time zone is the most common, world wide?
>> 2. Can the time zone be changed automatically (to accomplish that)?
>> 3. Are there any negative consequences of frequent time zone changes?
>> 
>> I would envision that the "most common" time zone fluctuates 
>> throughout the day, so, that's why a script may be necessary.
>> 
>> Note: I don't do calendaring or alarms on my computer (I do that
>> on my phone).
>
> Unix software generally depends Greenwhich time expressed as seconds since a 
> specific date and time (1 Jan 1970 0000 GMT) rather than a formatted date time. 
> Apple software is generally the same except it sometimes uses 1 Jan 1904 0000 
> GMT.

Only up to OS-9. Not sure what it uses after that. Wikipedia says Cocoa
uses Jan 1 2001, but I would expect Darwin to use the Unix epoch.

[12 lines snipped]

> Changing the system clock can have severe and widespread consequences. Some 
> unices adjust the clock by change the duration of a virtual second to speed up 
> or slow down the clock until it matches just to avoid discontinuities in the 
> clock.

Most NTP client code has maximum slew rates to prevent sudden jumps in clock
values, and a maximum delta after which it simply gives up.

-- 
Today is Boomtime, the 27th day of Chaos in the YOLD 3181
I don't have an attitude problem.  If you have a problem with my attitude,
                    that's your problem.

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#69099

In alt.os.linux Huge <Huge@nowhere.much.invalid> wrote:
> Most NTP client code has maximum slew rates to prevent sudden jumps in clock
> values, and a maximum delta after which it simply gives up.

But the ntp daemon does have the option to do a one-time big jump,
with which option it is often started at boot, as to prevent problems
with a bad local hardware clock:
>  -g, --panicgate
>      Allow the first adjustment to be Big.
(from man ntpd).

With this option (and ntp daemon running, of course) the hardware clock
is essentially irrelevant to Linux, at boot time it will synchronize
with the ntp pool, overriding the date/time it got from that hardware
clock.

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#69100

On 2015-01-27, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:
> A different thread got me wondering how to bring down my 
> unique panopticlick ratio, by judicious setting improvements.
>
> My "Time Zone" has almost 7 bits of identifying information.
>
> Related questions to lowering the TZ bits:
> 1. Which time zone is the most common, world wide?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B08:00

> 2. Can the time zone be changed automatically (to accomplish that)?

not really, it sticks to the application when it's launched.

however it's easy to override at launch time:

 $ TZ=Etc/GMT+8 date
 
> 3. Are there any negative consequences of frequent time zone changes?

only if timestamps on FAT partitions, and cron jobs, are important to
you.

But it's not necessary. you don't have to change the zone of the whoel
computer.





-- 
umop apisdn

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#69125

Jasen Betts wrote, on Tue, 27 Jan 2015 12:31:00 +0000:

> But it's not necessary. you don't have to change the 
> zone of the whole computer.

This is an excellent suggestion!

Since the entire problem set revolves only around the browser
fingerprinting, I like the concept of only changing the time
zone for the browser, and not that of the system.

The list of available time zones (TZ) seems to be this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_database_time_zones

Based on your suggestions, the procedure would be to *keep* the system 
time zone, but to just call a *common* time zone along with the browser
initiation command.

While the suggestions show that most *people* live in UTC + 8 time zone
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UTC%2B08:00

That time zone is not necessarily the most *computers*, nor even the
most computers at that specific time of day (which is really what you
want in order to fit in with the crowd).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_zone

Given my TZ is currently PST as evidenced by Linux/Mac:
$ date +%Z # timezone name
= PST

Windows 7:
C:\> tzutil.exe /g (current time zone)
= Pacific Standard Time
C:\> tzutil.exe /l (all available time zones)
C:\? tzutil.exe /s time_zone_ID (change time zone)

Going to Panopticlick.eff.org with the Firefox command reveals:
$ firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &
= Time Zone 7.28 bits of identifying information 
= 1 in 154.91 browsers have this value
= value 480

A side question is what does a "value" of "480" actually mean?
The 480 must be PST, but why didn't they just say "PST" instead?

Anyway, now changing that command as suggested to:
$ firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org TZ=UTC &
It fails every single time.

Looking at Firefox options (firefox -h), TZ doesn't seem to
be a valid option, so, I'm googling to figure out *how* to 
set the time zone in Firefox alone, and not in the OS itself.

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#69126

Sage writes:
> Anyway, now changing that command as suggested to: $ firefox -url
> panopticlick.eff.org TZ=UTC & It fails every single time.

That is not what was suggested.  You've got it backwards.
-- 
John Hasler 
jhasler@newsguy.com
Dancing Horse Hill
Elmwood, WI USA

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#69129

John Hasler wrote, on Tue, 27 Jan 2015 11:46:37 -0600:

> That is not what was suggested.  You've got it backwards.

I can't seem to get the syntax correct yet, as it fails 
when run backwards also:

$ TZ=Japan && firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &

This still reports a time zone of "480".

So, while the idea is good, the implementation is problematic, 
until I figure out the syntax to tell the browser the time
zone it should "think" it's at.

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#69133

In alt.os.linux Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:
> I can't seem to get the syntax correct yet, as it fails 
> when run backwards also:
> 
> $ TZ=Japan && firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &

TZ is the full timezone info, i.e.
  TZ=CET-1
means, the timezone NAME is Central European Time, which is one hour
EAST (later) of GMT/UTC (positive values are west, negative east).
When you're currently in summer (daylight saving) time, add that info:
  TZ=CET-1CEST

As the TZ doesn't "point to a file" (like Japan), the contents need
to be changed twice a year when you're using dst in summer, the
system doesn't know what the changing dates are.

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#69161

Eef Hartman wrote, on Tue, 27 Jan 2015 19:20:31 +0000:

> TZ is the full timezone info, i.e.
>   TZ=CET-1
> means, the timezone NAME is Central European Time, which is one hour
> EAST (later) of GMT/UTC (positive values are west, negative east).
> When you're currently in summer (daylight saving) time, add that info:
>   TZ=CET-1CEST

Thanks for that syntactical help, because the CONCEPT of just spoofing
the timezone for the browser is the way to go for sure, if it works.

I tried this syntax, on Linux, but it failed:
$ TZ=CET-1 && firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &

There were no errors, but the time zone was still reported as 480.

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#69188

Sage wrote, on Tue, 27 Jan 2015 22:24:23 +0000:

> I tried this syntax, on Linux, but it failed:
> $ TZ=CET-1 && firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &

Thanks to the help here, the syntax that worked was:
$ TZ=CET-1 firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &
$ TZ=UTC+08:00 firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &
$ TZ=UTC+5 firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &
etc.

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#69138

On Tuesday January 27 2015 12:57, in alt.os.linux, "Sage"
<sage@mail.invalid> wrote:

> John Hasler wrote, on Tue, 27 Jan 2015 11:46:37 -0600:
> 
>> That is not what was suggested.  You've got it backwards.
> 
> I can't seem to get the syntax correct yet, as it fails
> when run backwards also:
> 
> $ TZ=Japan && firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &

No
  &&
between
  TZ=Japan
and
  firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org

Use
  TZ=Japan firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &
instead
-- 
Lew Pitcher
"In Skills, We Trust"
PGP public key available upon request

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#69207

On 2015-01-27, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:
> John Hasler wrote, on Tue, 27 Jan 2015 11:46:37 -0600:
>
>> That is not what was suggested.  You've got it backwards.
>
> I can't seem to get the syntax correct yet, as it fails 
> when run backwards also:
>
> $ TZ=Japan && firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &
>
> This still reports a time zone of "480".

no, like this:

$ TZ=Japan firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org 


you can set enviroment variables before a command and the environment
is set for that command only.

witb "&&" it sets a shell variable and firefox does not see it.

$ export TZ=Japan && firefox -url panopticlick.eff.org &
 
would also work but subsequent commands would also see Japan time



-- 
umop apisdn

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#69107

In article <ma74pu$ste$1@solani.org>, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:

> My "Time Zone" has almost 7 bits of identifying information.

No it doesn't.
-- 
Where's the Vangelis music?
Pris' tongue is sticking out in in the wide shot after Batty has kissed her.
They have put back more tits into the Zhora dressing  room scene.
  -- notes for Blade Runner

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#69115

On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 08:58:27 -0500, Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com>
wrote:

>In article <ma74pu$ste$1@solani.org>, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:
>
>> My "Time Zone" has almost 7 bits of identifying information.
>
>No it doesn't.

I wondered what "almost 7 bits" meant. Is that like 6 bits?

-- 

Char Jackson

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#69117

In article <jcdfca1429ei503i3gv0e93me21cnpfjac@4ax.com>,
 Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> wrote:

> On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 08:58:27 -0500, Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
> >In article <ma74pu$ste$1@solani.org>, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:
> >
> >> My "Time Zone" has almost 7 bits of identifying information.
> >
> >No it doesn't.
> 
> I wondered what "almost 7 bits" meant. Is that like 6 bits?

Entropy can have fractional bits, since it's a statistical average. So 
it could be something like 6.8 bits.

-- 
Barry Margolin
Arlington, MA

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#69118

On 2015-01-27 11:18 AM, Barry Margolin wrote:
> In article <jcdfca1429ei503i3gv0e93me21cnpfjac@4ax.com>,
>   Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 08:58:27 -0500, Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> In article <ma74pu$ste$1@solani.org>, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>> My "Time Zone" has almost 7 bits of identifying information.
>>>
>>> No it doesn't.
>>
>> I wondered what "almost 7 bits" meant. Is that like 6 bits?
>
> Entropy can have fractional bits, since it's a statistical average. So
> it could be something like 6.8 bits.

Maybe Time Zone is a fractal. . . .

-- 
Best,
Wolf K
kirkwood40.blogspot.ca

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#69124

On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 11:18:54 -0500, Barry Margolin <barmar@alum.mit.edu>
wrote:

>In article <jcdfca1429ei503i3gv0e93me21cnpfjac@4ax.com>,
> Char Jackson <none@none.invalid> wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 27 Jan 2015 08:58:27 -0500, Warren Oates <warren.oates@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> 
>> >In article <ma74pu$ste$1@solani.org>, Sage <sage@mail.invalid> wrote:
>> >
>> >> My "Time Zone" has almost 7 bits of identifying information.
>> >
>> >No it doesn't.
>> 
>> I wondered what "almost 7 bits" meant. Is that like 6 bits?
>
>Entropy can have fractional bits, since it's a statistical average. So 
>it could be something like 6.8 bits.

Got it, thanks. I took him too literally. It's not the TZ itself that has
any bits of identifying information, it's the entropy.

-- 

Char Jackson

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