1016
xkcd #2867: DateTime
(imgs.xkcd.com)
Alt text:
It's not just time zones and leap seconds. SI seconds on Earth are slower because of relativity, so there are time standards for space stuff (TCB, TGC) that use faster SI seconds than UTC/Unix time. T2 - T1 = [God doesn't know and the Devil isn't telling.]
Obligatory "Falsehoods programmers believe about time"
I really wish that list would include some explanations about why each line is a falsehood, and what's actually true. Particularly the line:
If the author has proof that some software will run on a space ship that is orbiting a black hole, I'd be really interested in seeing it.
Technically isn't the Earth itself a sort of space ship which is orbiting (...a star which is orbiting...) the black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy? Not really close enough for time dilation to be a factor, but still.