This year is a bit longer than usual as we have an extra day in February. But it’s probably not the day you think it is. Almost all calendar systems are an attempt to model the motion of the sun and/or the moon. Unfortunately the duration of these cycles don't easily fit well together. A common solution in many calendars is to occasionally insert a leap day, leap days or even leap month to keep the calendar in sync with the motion of the heavens. The primary purpose...
Exploring ideas for better Temporal Software
"If you work on anything for long enough, then every year becomes the anniversary of something." - attributed to Peter Hook A month or so ago I was putting together my desktop calendars for 2020, when I realised I've now been doing this particular activity for almost 20 years. More importantly though, I've somehow managed to do it continuously, through marriage, children, numerous moves, career and technology changes, and you know... real life. Admittedly, it's not a particularly onerous task....
I've kept a box in my office for the last few years. On it is marked, "In Emergency, Open Box and Start Company". I keep it there because I've been working for a startup and cashflow has been bumpy. Also I was (until recently) contractually prevented from starting something else - but that's another story. I've had the phone call more than a few times; "...we're sorry we can't make payroll this month". Much of the last six months have been like this. They usually come through in the end...
A few weeks ago I gave a talk about Leap Seconds at Electromagnetic Field (EMF) - an extraordinary camping festival for hackers and makers, held in the UK every two years. I'll be speaking a bit more about my time at EMF in an upcoming Worthing Digital talk: What we did at camp. Speaking of Worthing Digital - since January, I've been working with Mark to put on a series of monthly talks, kindly hosted by our friends at Fresh Egg, Colonnade House and Freedom Works. In October we're getting...