The surprising whimsy of the Time Zone Database The surprising whimsy of the Time Zone Database muddy.jprs.me Time zones are hard. As a well-known Computerphile video so eloquently puts it:
What you learn after dealing with time zones, is that what you do is you put away your code, you don’t try and write anything to deal with this. You look at the people who have been there before you. You look at the first people, the people who have dealt with this before, the people who have built the spaghetti code, and you thank them very much for making it open source, and you give them credit, and you take what they have made and you put it in your program, and you never ever look at it again. Because that way lies madness.
The Canadian province of British Columbia recently decided to switch to permanent daylight time. I wanted to see if this update made it to the IANA Time Zone Database yet. Luckily, we can now view updates to this database as commits on GitHub. And there it was in the news file!
I’ve perused the tz repository before, and I always learn something interesting. For example, during WWII Britain adopted double summer time, adding two hours to the clock in the summer and one hour in the winter. The bulk of the comments in the database are dedicated to documenting this extensive history of time zone changes across the world.
Time zones are hard. As a well-known Computerphile video so eloquently puts it: What you learn after dealing with time zones, is that what you do is you put away your code, you don’t try and write anything to deal with this. You look at the people who have been there before you. You look at the first people, the people who have dealt with this before, the people who have built the spaghetti code, and you thank them very much for making it open source, and you give them credit, and you take what they have made and you put it in your program, and you never ever look at it again. Because that way lies madness. The Canadian province of British Columbia recently decided to switch to permanent daylight time. I wanted to see if this update made it to the IANA Time Zone Database yet. Luckily, we can now view updates to this database as commits on GitHub. And there it was in the news file! I’ve perused the tz repository before, and I always learn something interesting. For example, during WWII Britain adopted double summer time, adding two hours to the clock in the summer and one hour in the winter. The bulk of the comments in the database are dedicated to documenting this extensive history of time zone changes across the world.
modern.css Modern CSS Code Snippets | modern.css modern-css.com A collection of modern CSS code snippets. Every old CSS hack next to its clean, native replacement, side by side.
A collection of modern CSS code snippets. Every old CSS hack next to its clean, native replacement, side by side.
Building Bulletproof React Components - Shu Ding Building Bulletproof React Components - Shu Ding shud.in The real test isn’t whether your component works on your current page. It’s whether it works when someone else uses it.
The real test isn’t whether your component works on your current page. It’s whether it works when someone else uses it.
A Broken Heart A Broken Heart allenpike.com Or, getting a 100x speedup with one dumb line of code.
Or, getting a 100x speedup with one dumb line of code.
The challenges of soft delete The challenges of soft delete atlas9.dev Exploring alternatives to the archived_at column pattern: triggers, application events, and WAL-based change data capture.
Exploring alternatives to the archived_at column pattern: triggers, application events, and WAL-based change data capture.
Agent Skills vs. Rules vs. Commands Agent Skills vs. Rules vs. Commands builder.io Agent skills, rules, and commands offer different, strategic context for AI agents. Here’s when to use each and how to optimize them for production.
Agent skills, rules, and commands offer different, strategic context for AI agents. Here’s when to use each and how to optimize them for production.
LLM predictions for 2026, shared with Oxide and Friends LLM predictions for 2026, shared with Oxide and Friends simonwillison.net I joined a recording of the Oxide and Friends podcast on Tuesday to talk about 1, 3 and 6 year predictions for the tech industry. This is my second appearance …
I joined a recording of the Oxide and Friends podcast on Tuesday to talk about 1, 3 and 6 year predictions for the tech industry. This is my second appearance …
The element should actually do something The <time> element should actually do something nolanlawson.com A common UI pattern is something like this: People do lots of stuff with that “4 hours ago.” They might make it a permalink: Or they might give it a tooltip to show the exact datetime u…
A common UI pattern is something like this: People do lots of stuff with that “4 hours ago.” They might make it a permalink: Or they might give it a tooltip to show the exact datetime u…
Write to escape your default setting – kupajo Write to escape your default setting - kupajo kupajo.com Writing serves as a foundation for clarity in thought. It can help you engage more deeply with your ideas.
Making macOS Bearable making macos bearable — seg6 seg6.space my workflow on macos with aerospace, tmux, and keyboard-first navigation.
ramblings
Voyager 1 will reach one light-day from Earth in 2026. Here’s what that means | CNN Voyager 1 will reach one light-day from Earth in 2026. Here’s what that means | CNN cnn.com Voyager 1, NASA’s deep-space probe, could soon become the first spacecraft to reach a historic milestone. In November 2026, the probe will be one light-day from Earth.
Voyager 1, NASA’s deep-space probe, could soon become the first spacecraft to reach a historic milestone. In November 2026, the probe will be one light-day from Earth.
The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction. The Secret History of Indian Science Fiction. altermag.com Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
Before Asimov, there was Rokeya.
Treat test code like production code Treat test code like production code blog.ploeh.dk You have to read and maintain test code, too.
You have to read and maintain test code, too.
How to write a great agents.md: Lessons from over 2,500 repositories - The GitHub Blog How to write a great agents.md: Lessons from over 2,500 repositories github.blog Learn how to write effective agents.md files for GitHub Copilot with practical tips, real examples, and templates from analyzing 2,500+ repositories.
How to write a great agents.md: Lessons from over 2,500 repositories
Writing a good CLAUDE.md Writing a good CLAUDE.md humanlayer.dev `CLAUDE.md` is a high-leverage configuration point for Claude Code. Learning how to write a good `CLAUDE.md` (or `AGENTS.md`) is a key skill for agent-enabled software engineering.
`CLAUDE.md` is a high-leverage configuration point for Claude Code. Learning how to write a good `CLAUDE.md` (or `AGENTS.md`) is a key skill for agent-enabled software engineering.
We stopped roadmap work for a week and fixed 189 bugs We stopped roadmap work for a week and fixed 189 bugs lalitm.com How quarterly fixit weeks help teams tackle small annoyances that never bubble up to the priority list.
It’s Friday at 4pm. I’ve just closed my 12th bug of the week. My brain is completely fried. And I’m staring at the bug leaderboard, genuinely sad that Monday means going back to regular work. Which is weird because I love regular work. But fixit weeks have a special place in my heart. What’s a fixit, you ask? Once a quarter, my org with ~45 software engineers stops all regular work for a week. That means no roadmap work, no design work, no meetings or standups. Instead, we fix the small things that have been annoying us and our users: an error message that’s been unclear for two years a weird glitch when the user scrolls and zooms at the same time a test which runs slower than it should, slowing down CI for everyone The rules are simple: 1) no bug should take over 2 days and 2) all work should focus on either small end-user bugs/features or developer productivity.