swatch internet time is a way to measure time invented in 1998 by the swatch manufacturing firm in biel/bienne, switzerland. time is shown as an "@" mark with three numerals. the day starts with @000 for midnight. noon is @500. just before midnight is @999. the thousand parts which make up a day are called "dot beats" (.beats). each dot beat is one minute and 26.4 seconds long. midnight is the same as central european winter time (utc+1)and internet time is the same all over the world. it does not change during the summer. people can use it to plan phone calls or internet meetings. most types of linux can show internet time as the desktop clock.