The Ambiguity of Midnight

On which day is midnight? For example, is it June 5th or 6th at midnight tonight? Some time ago I had convinced myself that midnight must be on the day it begins, since, using 12 hour notation, it has the same hour, 12:00, as any arbitrarily close time within the following hour. It turns out that the answer is ambiguous. Midnight is both the end of one day and the beginning of the next. So, if someone specifies a time as midnight on some particular date, first, be aware that they could mean either of two times differing by 24 hours. Second, you are justified in concluding that they are not apt to think critically about their statements.

posted @ 08:56 AM EDT

Changed 2012 Pan-Mass Challenge Routes

Previously, I had posted maps for the 2012 Pan-Mass Challenge routes. Since then, the Sunday waterstop, formerly in Sharon, has been moved to Patriot Place in Foxboro. And the PMC has provided new maps for the affected routes:

• Mass Maritime Academy to Patriot Place
• Babson College to Patriot Place
• Patriot Place to Babson College

I have removed the obsolete maps from my Ride with GPS routes.

posted @ 08:49 AM EDT