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Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Question to all readers: Martian Calendar

I'm looking for a free website hosting site now that I've completed the easiest, by far, of the tasks surrounding the creation of the Martian calendar and clock software I mentioned a couple of posts ago. In short, I've created the calendar. It's based largely on the Darian Mars Calendar, but while his is more logical, I took issue with the fact that 3-4 weeks in his Martian year would be shortened by a day. I realize the value of a weekend, and while his method is far easier to deal with from a mathematical standpoint, it just wasn't me. So, instead of his 24-month calendar, I have condensed it to 22 months, while keeping his month names, omitting the last two. Regardless of how this was accomplished, however, the Martian year is 668.59... sols (Martian days) long, which works out to 95 weeks and 3-4 days. My calendar, instead of removing a day from a week, adds days to the end of 3-4 weeks out of the Martian year, essentially creating three-day weekends. Since I had chosen to go with Esperanto names (Unua, Dua, Tria, Kvara, Kvina, Sesa, and Sepa) for the days of the Martian week, I chose the Esperanto word for return, "Reveni," as the name of these extra days.

The HTML coding of this was made far easier with the use of the software reviewed below.

So, any suggestions?

9 comments:

Sheryl said...

I created a calendar while I was living in NZ. I got sick of the weather being ass backward to what I was used to, so I created a calendar based on the position of the sun, so that I could figure out how to reverse all the holidays.

That may sound insane, but I was used to looking forward to my birthday in April as a time of rejuvenation, but in NZ April is the Fall, so instead of warming up for, it would be cooling down (and I hate cold.) So I needed a way to celebrate things when it made sense.

Christmas should not be in Summer. Easter should not be in the Fall. Thanksgiving should not be in the Spring. IT was just all ass backwards.

Anyway, it was a nice way to waste time. :-) OK, I admit it--I'm weird. Hahahaha But then a martian calendar is kind of different too. :-)

Snave said...

Waste of time? Check out my comment on the post "I Find Myself Haunted" below... whew.

I like your ideas very much, MC. Seriously, you are developing what look to me like some sensible sci-fi concepts for use in a detailed story.

Mandelbrot's Chaos said...

I'll let others write the story. All I've written in the last decade have been some poetry that lacked the fire of my earlier work, and a couple of pieces of fanfiction that would've belonged more on Blondage's site than mine. I just want to rule the world. Mwuhahaha!!! And if it's formally adopted (a longshot at best), I don't even want to be remembered for it, at least not at this point. I may change my mind when I'm 45 years old in a house full of cats quoting lines from Star Wars, Star Trek, and Babylon 5 in place of normal conversation. But then again, if that were to happen, who'd believe me? lol

Snave said...

Hey, I'm getting close to 49, and I talk to my three cats! Heh... I know what you mean, though. If I wasn't married and overseeing a couple of teenagers, I would very likely have about 8-10 cats to whom I would gibber various quotes from the same sources you mentioned... "I have a bad feeling about this..." "There is no try, only do." "Let the Wookiee win!" etc. I occasionally look at Baby Mackie and say "Mack... I am your father." All he usually does is swivel his ears and give me a wary glance.

Mandelbrot's Chaos said...

I can quote entire scenes from the movie "Twister". But if I'm 28 and doing this... I shudder for my tomorrow. lol

Sheryl said...

I recall reading a story book as a kid called Space Witch. The way the witch got her cat into soace travel and stuff was to discuss the Milky Way Galaxy. So there is no reason you can't persue your martian obsession and still talk to your cat. Just find a way to make it relavant to feline friends, and they'll lap it all up. X-)

Snave said...

Having lived with cats for a number of years, I have come to the conclusion that they are either autistic or they are aliens. I am beginning to believe the latter. The title of a Bill Watterson "Calvin and Hobbes" collection continually comes to mind: "Weirdos From Another Planet"!

Mandelbrot's Chaos said...

I tend to believe they're generally just too cool to care, though I like the alien theory as well. At least they're smarter than some of the more famous aliens. lol

Snave said...

It has been speculated that many of our prominent American politicians are in fact space aliens. There have been hints that Bill Clinton is an alien, and Tom Tomorrow once exposed Newt Gingrich as such.

If it's true about both of those guys, and because I know my cats are cooler than both of them... I'd have to say I hope cats are just cool, and not actually from another planet.