Mac Internet TIme 1.0 READ ME 2/25/1999 -- by David Shaw -- david@theresistance.net
Thanks for trying Mac Internet Time 1.0. This application is a Mac implementation of the Swatch Universal Time Standard (http://www.swatch.com/). The online version of this application was written in JavaScript and can be found at:
The JavaScript code on this page was the basis for Mac Internet Time, although all of my code was actually rewritten using RealBasic (http://www.realbasic.com/).
This application is free to distribute, download, upload, put on your web site, put on a CD, or give to a friend, as long as it is distributed in its original Stuffit archive, and you don't distribute it as your own work. If you do put it on a CD, please let me know so that I can get a copy of the CD if possible. Enjoy!
System Requirements:
MacOS 7.5.5 or later (most testing done with MacOS 8.5.1)
68020 or faster CPU, or a PowerPC
Using Mac Internet Time:
Mac Internet Time is very simple to use. Just double-click, and select your continent, and a city in your timezone. The Swatch Internet Time will be displayed in red preceded by the @ symbol. You can use this time to meet people in other timezones online. Someone in Sweden will see the same thing as someone in Canada when the chosen Internet time arrives. This is an excellent tool for organizing online games or meetings.
When you quit the application, Mac Internet Time records your timezone so that it will open to the correct time the next time you launch.
Cheap Plug:
This program is freeware. There is a lot of other freeware, along with some shareware that you might want to register (hint hint) at my main software web site: http://software.theresistance.net/ -- take a minute sometime and see if there's anything there of use to you. Enjoy the software!
Swatch's Description (from their web site):
What is this new Universal Time?
Timed by Swatch
Internet Time represents a completely new global concept of time. So what is the deal? Basically, the Swatch Beat, the revolutionary new unit of time means the following:
No Time Zones
No Geographical Borders
How long is a Swatch beat? In short we have divided up the virtual and real day into 1000 "beats". One Swatch beat is the equivalent of 1 minute 26.4 seconds. That means that 12 noon in the old time system is the equivalent of @500 Swatch beats.
Okay, so how can a surfer in New York, or a passenger on a transatlantic flight know when it is @500 Swatch Beats in Central Europe for example? How can the New York surfer make a date for a chat with his cyber friend in Rome? Easy, Internet Time is the same all over the world. (see converter, URL above)
How is this possible? We are not just creating a new way of measuring time, we are also creating a new meridian in Biel, Switzerland, home of Swatch. Biel Mean Time (BMT) will be the universal reference for Internet Time. A day in Internet Time begins at midnight BMT (@000 Swatch Beats) (Central European Wintertime).
The meridian is marked for all to see on the façade of the Swatch International Headquarters on Jakob-Staempfli Street, Biel, Switzerland. So it is the same time all over the world, be it night or day, the era of time zones has disappeared.
The BMT meridian was inaugurated on 23 October 1998 in the presence of Nicholas Negroponte, founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology`s Media Laboratory.