The origin of leap seconds, and why they should be abolished
WRITTEN BY
David Yanofsky
How many seconds have there been since January 1, 1972?
While that number is extremely large, it is pretty simply calculated. Multiply the number of years (and don’t forget leap years!) by the number of days in a year by the number of hours in a day by the number of minutes in an hour by the number of seconds in a minute and voilà: 1,371,513,600 seconds as of midnight on June 29, 2015.
Except that that’s not right. We’re leaving out leap seconds. Leap seconds, you ask? Yes, leap seconds. There have been 26 of them, and number 27 is just around the corner: It will be added to global clocks at 1am London time on July 1.
The leap second is a near paradox. It befuddles all common definitions of time. Notionally, it’s a way to unify all our ways of measuring time. In reality, it’s just an attempt to preserve an old definition of time that has long since been superseded by newer methods. In the process, the leap second—through no fault of its own—puts at risk countless critical computer systems around the world. And that is forcing even the people who are charged with administering the world’s supply of leap seconds to consider getting rid of them altogether.
much more
http://qz.com/432787/the-origin-of-leap-seconds-and-why-they-should-be-abolished/
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Thanks for posting!
The singularity is here!
Add or subtract 2? when crossing the IDL. 
