<nettime> What is @XXX? [Re: Stop the G8: Online Demonstration Scheduled]

[sebastian@rolux.org]

 > What is @XXX?
 > @XXX is called Internet Time and is a universal timezone. The time is the
 > same all around the world, simplifying planning and coordination. On our
 > website there is a program to help you convert to and from Internet Time.

if i'm not completely wrong here, @XXX is *swatch* internet time,
introduced by the swiss multinational in 1998, setting up a new global
meridian in biel (the location of their headquarters), and attempting to
unify and monopolize the variety of existing time zones.

there has been a long thread on nettime back then. as geert lovink put it:
"the ideology of 'global time' is the terror logic of the corporate world
state. it stands for the worst aspect of globalism: the 24-hour economy,
in which workers' rights have been abolished all together. an
impoverished, 'flexible' free-lance labour force can be employed day and
night, thereby disrupting biological rhythms and social time in general."
or, to quote swatch's promotional prose: "there is a revolution taking
place eliminating time-zones and geographical borders" -- which i'd say is
corporate propaganda as cynical as it can get.

want to read more? "biel meantime (bmt) is 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."

i think @791-916 is not a good time for an online demonstration against
the g8.




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