Software, Software

June 21 is the longest day of the year. Except this year, when it might be the day that just passed, June 30. That’s because atomic clocks world over added the extra “leap second” to that day:
“It's a measure that's required to keep the ultra-precise devices attuned to the Earth's actual rotation.”

The leap second addition in 2012 crashed the servers of several sites like Reddit, Foursquare and LinkedIn! So is this a milder version of the Y2K problem? More importantly, is the world better prepared this time around? Google is using the “leap smear” technique: split the extra second into millisecond chunks and sprinkle it through the whole day. The New York Stock Exchange just decided to shut down earlier!

Software, software. It can be used to create things bordering on the ridiculous like Microsoft’s still under development tool to make you come across as a funny guy in online chats!

Or software can provide practical and useful services like Google’s addition of alerts on Google Maps if you are coming close to a railway crossing (only in the US). Then again:
“It doesn’t help that drivers are using their phones more often while in the car.”

Or software can be used to create something like Feeding Forward:
“When companies or event planners have surplus food, they go to the Feeding Forward website and provide details of their donation. A driver is dispatched to quickly pick up the leftovers and deliver them to food banks. That keeps food waste out of landfills and puts food into the mouths of the chronically hungry.”

From threatening apocalypse (Y2K) to crashes to the ridiculous to the practical to the humanitarian. You name it, there’s a piece of software for it!

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