Ron,
We've been doing some thinking about things that will help optimize the auction clock, especially at the end of auctions, and wanted to run some stuff by you. Because all client browsers and computers are different, we need a way to make sure that all clients are keeping the correct time based on the server. To achieve this, we have historically been sending down a message from the server to all clients with the current time on the server.
A few problems have occurred with this approach. One is that, since we moved you from a custom web sockets implementation to Pusher, you are now being charged based on the number of messages sent to the clients. This means that our messages to each connected client will add up very quickly, and we want to avoid that for you. The second problem is that the constant pusshing of information can be a drain on resources for the server, especially when it is unnecessary for the auction to be updating so frequently when the auction is weeks, days, even hours, away from exp