- tz - lists.iana.org

IANA and the tz database - diverging from Theory
by Tobias Conradi Sept. 26, 2011

Sept. 26, 2011

The 2011-05-19 text by E. Lear and P. Eggert at http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-lear-iana-timezone-database-04 defines an update rule that is different to the ones in the Theory file, it reads: "3. Making Updates to the TZ Database New TZ names (e.g. locations) are only to be created when the scope of the region a name was envisioned to cover is no longer accurate." Also the Terminology section defines only three TZ specific terms, while the Theory file contains several more. Does anyone know why the rules of tz names are changed in the IANA tz text? -- Tobias Conradi Rheinsberger Str. 18 10115 Berlin Germany http://tobiasconradi.com/tobias_conradi

3 3

Proposal for UTC offset coloring in maps based on 6 RGB colors
by Tobias Conradi Sept. 26, 2011

Sept. 26, 2011

This proposal is restricted to UTC offset zones, i.e. it does not propose anything for the tz zones. In the following text main zone will refer to any zone with an offset from UTC that is a multiple of 1 hour. ==Current situation== http://www.worldtimezone.com/ uses 3 colors, RGB, for main zones, as of today the map on the home page shows Kyrgysztan as +5 in the same color as neighboring China +8. repetition after 3 hours https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/maps/refmap_tim… uses 4 colors, 2 kinds of green, 1 brown, 1 yellow for the main zones. repetition after 4 hours http://www.worldtimeexplorer.com/WorldMapBig.gif uses ca. 9 colors, main zones and zone with other offsets share colors. repetition: none, e.g. orange in America is preceded by grey, while in Asia it is preceded by cyan Wikimedia offers maps with several different schemes: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Worldwide_Time_Zones_(including_DST)… ca. 9 colors, includes coding for DST usage Even where the following files share offsets from UTC, the colors are not necessarily shared: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Russia_-_Time_Zones_(2009).svg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sakha_time_zones.png http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Russia_-_Time_Zones_(April_20… http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Time_zones_of_Europe.svg http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Africa-timezones.png ==Proposal== Use 6 colors that are easily distinguished for the main zones and order them so that mixing two colors from two zones that are 2 hours apart result in the color of the zone in between. The same mixing process shall be applied for zones with an offset of 30min from a main zone. The RGB space, if each color can only be on or off, gives 2*2*2=8 possibilities which include white and black. That means there are 6 colors (Level 1 colors) that can be used. One possibility, denoting colors in hexadecimal shorthand form (f = ff, 0 = 00): UTC = f0f magenta +1 = 00f blue +2 = 0ff cyan +3 = 0f0 green +4 = ff0 yellow +5 = f00 red The repetition starts with +6 = UTC = f0f. As middle position between x00 (0) and xff (255) use x80 (128) as listed at http://www.w3.org/TR/css3-color/#html4 The zones with a 15min offset from a main zone get to use 40 (64) or c0 (192) e.g. +5:45 = ff00c0 (used in Nepal) Even if the colors apart from the Level 1 colors are not desired because they are too difficult to distinguish, one can use the main colors. One can memorize: +1 = CET most parts of the EU = base color of the EU flag +3 = Arab Standard Time, Mecca lies in the +3 zone = green = base color of the flag of Saudi Arabia The one can derive that the color for the zone in between, namely +2, is cyan. Since colors repeat after 6 main zones, +8 will also be cyan. A matrix of colors and offsets can be found at: http://www.tango.info/wiki/UTC_offset_representation_by_6_base_colors If anyone can make a map of the UTC offsets using 6 base colors, not necessarily those that are used in the proposal, I would be happy to see it. Any suggestions for improving the system are welcome. -- Tobias Conradi Rheinsberger Str. 18 10115 Berlin Germany http://tobiasconradi.com

1 0

DateTime::TimeZone::Tzfile for tz-link.htm
by Zefram Sept. 24, 2011

Sept. 24, 2011

Possible addition to the "Other tz binary file readers" part of tz-link.htm: <li> <a href="http://search.cpan.org/perldoc?DateTime::TimeZone::Tzfile">DateTime::TimeZone::Tzfile</a> is a <code>tz</code> binary file reader written in Perl. It is freely available under the same terms as Perl (dual <abbr>GPL</abbr> and Artistic license). </li> You already have a note about DateTime::TimeZone in a different section. There's work underway to make DT:TZ use DT:TZ:Tzfile for its Olson needs, but currently they're essentially unrelated. -zefram

1 0

Re coming Russian-Belarusian-Ukrainian timezone change
by Yury Tarasievich Sept. 24, 2011

Sept. 24, 2011

Hello, They say that for denoting the new timezone there's FET (further-eastern european time) proposal in the works, but this seems Very Bad and Confusing English to me. Please consider denoting the new timezone as EEFT (East European Forward Time) -> minimal changes in abbreviature and mnemonic, clear semantic. Better English, too. -Yury

8 21

UTC as basis for time legislation
by Tobias Conradi Sept. 23, 2011

Sept. 23, 2011

On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 11:01 PM, Steve Allen <sla(a)ucolick.org> wrote: > On Fri 2011-09-23T22:53:10 +0200, Tobias Conradi hath writ: >> IIRC UTC and not GMT is the basis for most time legislation that is >> currently in place. > > It would be interesting to find reliable indicators about whether UTC > or GMT is the basis in any given region. Even recently I've seen > official decrees using the geographic terms "meridian" and "Greenwich". UTC used in EU law to define the start and end of summer-time: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2011:083:0006:01… Germany http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/me_einhg/__4.html "koordinierte Weltzeit" ~ coordinated Worldtime -- Tobias Conradi Rheinsberger Str. 18 10115 Berlin Germany http://tobiasconradi.com/tobias_conradi

4 5

Regarding tz changes
by utkal santra Sept. 23, 2011

Sept. 23, 2011

Hi, I wanted to know when is the next timzone update is happening.Currently I found fw data are missing. I would like to add the Russian (Moscow) timezone changes to that. Please let me know the next release. Thanks, Utkal

1 0

FW: Re coming Russian-Belarusian-Ukrainian timezone change
by Olson, Arthur David (NIH/NCI) [E] Sept. 22, 2011

Sept. 22, 2011

I'm forwarding this message from Yury Tarasievich, who is not on the time zone mailing list. Those of you who are on the list, please direct replies appropriately. --ado -----Original Message----- From: Yury Tarasievich [mailto:yury.tarasievich@gmail.com] Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:24 To: tz(a)lecserver.nci.nih.gov Subject: Re coming Russian-Belarusian-Ukrainian timezone change Hello, They say that for denoting the new timezone there's FET (further-eastern european time) proposal in the works, but this seems Very Bad and Confusing English to me. Please consider denoting the new timezone as EEFT (East European Forward Time) -> minimal changes in abbreviature and mnemonic, clear semantic. Better English, too. -Yury

1 0

Zone proposal for Russia: Asia/Yuzhno-Kurilsk
by Tobias Conradi Sept. 22, 2011

Sept. 22, 2011

Yuzhno-Kurilsk District Currently in tz part of Asia/Magadan, but according to http://www.garant.ru/hotlaw/federal/346568/ in Zone 8 (MSK+7) are http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurilsky_District http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzhno-Kurilsky_District Citing http://www.garant.ru/hotlaw/federal/346568/ : 8-я часовая зона - московское время плюс 7 часов. ....Курильский ..... Южно-Курильский районы, город областного значения 9-я часовая зона - московское время плюс 8 часов. ... Северо-Курильский район ... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severo-Kurilsky_District will use Magadan Time, as according to tz it currently does. Zone proposal: NEW Asia/Yuzhno-Kurilsk covering http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurilsky_District http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzhno-Kurilsky_District -- Tobias Conradi Rheinsberger Str. 18 10115 Berlin Germany http://tobiasconradi.com/tobias_conradi

1 0

America/Sitka LMT bug
by Zefram Sept. 22, 2011

Sept. 22, 2011

I noticed this recent addition to the database: |Zone America/Sitka -14:58:47 - LMT 1867 Oct 18 | -9:01:13 - LMT 1900 Aug 20 12:00 | -8:00 - PST 1942 ... For local mean time to jump by 5.6 hours, implying that the city jumped 89 degrees to the east, would be a neat trick. Obviously the first offset is meant to be +14:58:47, and the city jumped by 24 hours or 360 degrees, crossing the IDL. -zefram

1 0

Re: Fwd:data2011j
by gunther Vermeir Sept. 21, 2011

Sept. 21, 2011

not really what you ask but an excellent high level overview of changes is kept by the java team http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/tzdata-versions-138805.html Gunther On 21/09/11 22:40, ALAN KAPLAN, BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEXIN wrote: > --- Original Sender: STEFANO PACIFICO, BLOOMBERG/ 731 LEXIN --- > > Hi, I was wondering if it might be possible to modify the process create a .txt file containing the changes you are making for tz stuff.(like you indicated below) Eg. If you release a new file tzdata2011j.tar.gz, then you have on the same ftp server, tzdata2011j.txt or something like that. > Please let me know if something like that is possible. > > Sincerely, > Alan Kaplan > Bloomberg LP > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: tz(a)elsie.nci.nih.gov > To: tz(a)lecserver.nci.nih.gov > At: 9/12 9:31:09 > > The file... > ftp://elsie.nci.nh.gov/pub/tzdata2011j.tar.gz > ...is now available; this reflects the changes circulated recently on the times > zone mailing list (contemporary changes for Samoa; past changes for Kenya, > Uganda, and Tanzania); there are also two spelling corrections to comments > in the australasia file (with thanks to Christos Zoulas). > > I expect another version will appear soon to handle changes in the > Middle East (and perhaps in Russia); folks seeking to avoid version churn may > want to wait a bit. > > --ado >

1 0