by Sandy Berger

At the end of the year our thoughts turn to time and its importance in our lives.

At this time last year, many of us were worried about Y2K, and there was much talk about celebrating the new millennium. Well, those of you who rang in the new millennium last year will have to do it all over again because, in actuality, the year 2001 begins the new era.

A millennium is 1000 years. The first millennium began at the start of the year 1 and ended at the end of the year 1000. The second millennium then began with the year 1001 and will conclude at the end of the year 2000. So this year we will celebrate the beginning of the third millennium.

Whether defining millennium or enjoying the New Year's eve countdown to midnight, at the end of the year our thoughts often turn to time and its consequence on our lives. In today's world, time and precise time synchronization are very important. Time synchronization is necessary for our high-speed communication systems, radio and television broadcasts, power grid functionality, and calculating bank transfers.

Don't forget its importance in getting the kids to school on time and picking up that prescription before the pharmacy closes.

How do we know what time it is anyway? Technological advances have enabled us to create the cesium oscillator, which is generically called the atomic clock. Like the swings of a pendulum, the transitions of the cesium atom moving back and forth between two energy levels keep time. The best cesium oscillators are accurate to within 1 nanosecond per day.

If you would like to keep your computer clock synchronized with the official US atomic clock, it's easy. For manual synchronization, just go to http://www.time.gov. This site is a public service provided jointly by the Department of Commerce and the US Naval Observatory. After selecting your preferred time zone, the site gives the official time and provides a world map shaded to show where the sun is shining and where dark has fallen. It also offers great links to other interesting sites concerning time - educational exhibits about time, clocks, daylight saving time, and calendars.

You can also visit the Web site of the Time and Frequency Division of NIST, which allows you to download a free program to synchronize your computer clock automatically. Although accurate, this program is a little archaic to use. Instead I use a little shareware program (free to try, $10 to register) called AtomicTime 98. Download this program and you will see a pop-up window showing both the current atomic time and the current time according to your computer. Click on "Adjust," and your PC will be synchronized.

Now you will be sure to get to work on time and to make all your meetings on schedule. Unfortunately, simply knowing the correct time probably won't help you find enough hours in the day to do everything that you would like to do. As you approach this New Year and think about time and all it's consequences, you may want to remember what Albert Einstein knowingly said, "Space and time are modes by which we think, not conditions under which we live."  Happy New Year!