My aunt has a problem: she wants to join Zoom meetings, but they're all hosted in different time zones. And she can't convert them to her local time.

She has to ask for help every time.

Yes, there's google, but that requires a certain level of technical sophistication. You still have to open it and use the right search term. It adds friction.

And, for the less technically minded, it's also error-prone.

Last week I had a thought: what if you could share a link that would do the work for you. Click it and you get your local time.

Seemed simple enough, so I tried doing just that.

Aaaaand quickly learned that time zones are hard.

Here are some of the pitfalls I ran into (a tweet storm):

10 False hoods Programmers believe about Time Zones

Your nuggets for the week:

  1. The island that skipped December 30th
  2. An easier way to change the world
  3. Alternatives to the five year plan

#1 The island that skipped Dec 30th

Watch Tom Scott explain just how insane timezones can be:

  • A few years ago Samoa skipped December 30th
  • A couple centuries ago some countries skipped entire weeks
  • Some cities are split between two time zones

I was pointed to this video after posting the above tweet storm. I highly recommend watching it, you will be thoroughly entertained

#2 How to change the world

Instead of trying to solve all the problems, Richard Hamming tried to make it easier for others to solve problems. He:

  • Developed better methods for solving problems, to
  • Expanded what was possible, and
  • Taught others how to use them

Excerpt from The Art of Doing Science and Engineering

#3 My missing five year plan

I've never known what I wanted to do 5 years from now

I still don't

Instead, I try to:

  • Gain skills I think would be useful in five years
  • Learn whatever I'm interested in

It's worked out pretty well so far

Your Turn

👊

How do you think about yourself five years from now?

Do you even think about it?

Reply back and let me know. I'd love to compare notes, and I respond to every message.

Till next week

--Zain