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> GPS fix+UTC time isn't sufficient to determine time zone Most people understand that position alone can't determine time zones because their definitions chan
by perrygeo 3y ago
> GPS fix+UTC time isn't sufficient to determine time zone
Most people understand that position alone can't determine time zones because their definitions change constantly. But surely with time + better positional accuracy we could do it? Nope.
Even with infinite precision in four dimensions, it's still a logical fallacy. Why? Because timezones are political definitions and many regions of the earth are contested (i.e. political control is ambiguous). So it is fundamentally impossible to determine time zone without identifying the political affiliation of the observer.
- awhitty 3y agoI came here curious if anyone would point this out. I was surprised to see the post describing UTC + lat/lng as a common practice in APIs without discussing this quirk. E.g. to your point, China's border with Bhutan is politically "fuzzy". Bhutan uses UTC+6, and Beijing Time is UTC+8. Weird that the post acknowledges timezones are a political construct but misses the fact that borders are too.
- perrygeo 3y agohttps://www.972mag.com/the-worlds-only-ethnic-time-zone/ https://www.972mag.com/the-worlds-only-ethnic-time-zone/