[u][b][url=http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/12/30/newyear-second.html]Get a load of this:[/url][/b][/u]
Celebrants gearing up to say goodbye to 2008 will have to wait an extra second before popping bottles and pursing lips to usher in the new year.
Timekeepers at the Royal Observatory of Greenwich will be adding a "leap second" of time to the clock on Wednesday, a method used sporadically over the past 30 years to offset the fractional slowing of the Earth's rotation.
The extra second will be squeezed in on Dec. 31 after 6:59:59 p.m. and before 7 p.m. ET. Combined with the extra day on Feb. 29, the extra second will make 2008 the longest year since 1992.
The seconds have been added as needed since 1972, sometimes at the end of December and sometimes at the end of June, depending on the speed of the Earth's rotation. ...
The decision to add an extra second to the clock was made by an international consortium of timekeepers, and ]b]announced earlier this month[/b].
I missed the damned announcement. Now my New Year's Eve planning is shot to hell.