neilk, 
Hoo boy, does anyone remember this old web hack?
The goal is to ensure you call at a reasonable time in Calgary.
There would have been a tiny gif of the current time in Calgary, generated by a CGI script for every page visit.
There was no other way to do dynamic inclusions that worked in every browser
Also a sign of the times: the "last updated" footer, flexing that not only did you have a website, but you updated it