In article , Edward Erbeck
writes
On 2/23/12 2:35 PM, in article , "Mad
Cow" wrote:

The EXIF data say I took the picture at 1315 GMT/Z; local noon is about
1150 GMT/Z.
[ Section: 1/1 File: z0126.JPG UUencoded by: Turnpike Integrated Version 5.02
S ]


Sue, you're going to need to wind up that Sundial! I 'd be surprised to
find out that was taken at ~ 04:45 in the morning! ;-)


Ed, it's possibly the most useless sundial on the entire planet.

It has a history though. It's on a summit visible from Grenoble and
much climbed even in the 19th century. A 1901 postcard shows a big
walk-on sundial with handsome metal fittings; a 1962 ski-tow was named
"cadran solaire" but by the early 2000s there was an absence of sundial.

This dial was made from a half-metre gear wheel taken from the mechanism
of a little 1952 cable car, probably in 2006, and was mounted on top of
a vast concrete drum that anchored the support cables. A 2008 blog post
found it not obviously inaccurate, but when I saw it in 2009 it was two
and a half hours slow and an object of ridicule.

In 2010 the cable car was replaced and the sundial remounted: you see
the result. Even more ridicule!

Sometimes the French are just irritating.
--
Sue ]