Clock drift refers to several related phenomena where a clock does not run at the exact right speed compared to another clock. That is, after some time the clock "drifts apart" from the other clock. This phenomenon is also used for instance in computers to build random number generators. On the negative side, clock drift can be exploited by timing attacks.
Read more about Clock Drift: Clock Drift in Normal Clocks, Atomic Clocks, Relativity, Random Number Generators, Timing Attack
Famous quotes containing the words clock and/or drift:
““Pop” Wyman ruled here with a firm but gentle hand; no drunken man was ever served at the bar; no married man was allowed to play at the tables; across the face of the large clock was written “Please Don’t Swear,” and over the orchestra appeared the gentle admonition, “Don’t Shoot the Pianist—He’s Doing His Damndest.””
—Administration in the State of Colo, U.S. public relief program. Colorado: A Guide to the Highest State (The WPA Guide to Colorado)
“But now they drift on the still water,
Mysterious, beautiful;”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)