[JustPiper]

exactly what time of day (eastern time) does the clock go off at?

Good question, is this 'their' time?

[Oorang]

It is a good question. I would guess it would be by their time zone, but, what time zone is that? Are "they" setting the clock by Iran, Pakistan, Saudi, etc. etc. time zone? It seems they are using their calender year end instead of our calender year end so it would make sense they would go by their clock.

[LayoutGuru2]

An important note about the countdown clock is that it is not a physical clock that is running anywhere. I've seen so many posts here and at other sites that imply this. It is simply some Java code that tells your browser how much time remains until the stroke of midnight (LOCAL TIME for you and your browser) on the night of February 3, 2004. Because of this I don't see it as a countdown to something that will occur at a specific time, but rather as a countdown to something that will have occured for everyone (or at least for the first time zone to hit midnight if you want to stretch it) before midnight tolls on the night of Feb 3rd, morning of February 4th. I guess the time zone of the party making the threat might have some bearing if you want to look at it as a countdown to specific event in time. Done rambling for now, let me know if I managed to make any sense. :)