🚀 go-pugleaf

X-Orig-MsgId: <kusogb9mtqn.fsf@buphy.bu.edu>

DaFt <daft010@hotmail.com> writes:
> I have a question about reading headers from Usenet or mail. It doesn't
> concern tracing (well it could). I was wondering how to read the time
> stamp that are on the posts. Examples: 
> 
> Date:  Wed, 29 Dec 1999 06:07:54 -0500
> Date:  Wed, 29 Dec 1999 02:47:09 -0500 (EST)
> Date:  Wed, 29 Dec 1999 07:51:54 GMT
> Date:  28 Dec 1999 21:16:09 -0600
> 
> OK, I see on the first one that it came Wednesday Dec 29 but I don't
> understand the time. Is this AM or PM? Also what does the -0500 mean?
> What timezone is it in?

It means five hours before Greenwich Mean Time, which is the
"standard" time.

> The second one has (EST) at the end so I think
> that stands for "eastern time" but the first one didn't have anything.

That's correct. Eastern Standard Time, as opposed to Eastern
Daylight Time (during daylight savings time). Here in eastern
USA, we're five hours behind the Brits.

> Now here on the third one it has (GMT). What does GMT mean?

Greenwich Mean Time. Note how the time (07:51:54) is five
hours ahead of the EST ones.

> Also the third one doesn't have -0500. Here on the fourth one it
> has -0600. Can anyone tell me how to read and understand this? 

-0600 would be Central Standard Time (CST), 
-0700 would be Mountain Standard Time (MST),
-0800 would be Pacific Standard Time (PST)

The format is specified...probably not in RFC 977 which is
the NNTP specification, but rather in another RFC which
is cited in RFC 977 (ISTR, some reference to "Internet Mail"
standard format, or something like that).

The last format you had, Date:  28 Dec 1999 21:16:09 -0600,
is close to what I put when I "manually"[1] post to newsgroups,
except I put ABC as the timezone, just to throw off the
newsreaders. :)

[1] telnet nntp.server.edu 119, or use a Perl script

-- 
While the brown ale he quaffed,
Loud then the champion laughed,
And as the wind-gusts waft
The sea-foam brightly,
So the loud laugh of scorn,
Out of those lips unshorn,
From the deep drinking-horn
Blew the foam lightly. --Longfellow