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Why New Zealand is on a map of the USA
20 days ago
- A Reddit subreddit exists for maps that omit New Zealand, including a humorous map of the USA, which technically lacks New Zealand but includes its distant connection through Swains Island (Olohega).
- Swains Island, a tiny uninhabited coral atoll in American Samoa, is geographically part of Tokelau and historically linked to New Zealand through cultural and political disputes over sovereignty.
- The island's history involves Polynesian settlement, Western exploration, exploitation via copra plantations and blackbirding, and annexation by the US in 1925, with ongoing territorial claims by Tokelau despite New Zealand's recognition of US control.
Rare copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives
19 days ago
- A rare copy of the US Declaration of Independence, printed in Exeter, New Hampshire in July 1776, was discovered in The National Archives in Kew, UK, by volunteer Michael Scurr.
- It is one of only 11 surviving copies from that printing, seized by the Royal Navy in 1776 from an American ship and hidden for centuries, described as 'an extraordinary discovery.'
- The document was restored and will be displayed in an exhibition on American independence; it is the only known copy taken by military action.
How railway timetables became Unix time
16 days ago
- Local mean time (LMT) varied by region until railways necessitated standardization, leading to the adoption of GMT.
- GMT is based on solar time, but its irregularities led to the development of atomic time and UTC, which includes leap seconds for corrections.
- Computers use Unix time, measured from Jan 1, 1970, and handle time via system time, RTC, and NTP, with challenges like the Year 2038 problem and leap seconds.
- Application-level time handling requires careful management of time zones, using standards like ISO 8601 and TZDB, and monotonic clocks to avoid issues.
- Time systems in computing are complex due to historical, political, and technical factors, necessitating robust APIs and databases for accurate representation.
All Star Wars Games Ever Made – Released, Cancelled and Mod Archive
15 days ago
- Over 100 officially licensed Star Wars video games have been released across multiple platforms since 1982.
- The history of Star Wars gaming is divided into eras: Early Licensing (1982-1992), LucasArts Golden Era (1993-2005), Transition (2006-2012), EA Exclusivity (2013-2023), and the Modern Multi-Studio Era (2023-present).
- Notable cancelled projects include Star Wars: Battlefront III, Star Wars 1313, and a Darth Maul game.
- Key releases include classics like X-Wing, Knights of the Old Republic, and recent titles such as Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Star Wars Outlaws.
- The franchise has explored nearly every major genre, from space simulators to RPGs and MMOs.
- Community efforts, including modding and private servers, play a significant role in preserving and extending Star Wars games.
New Sweden: the US's long-lost 'secret' colony
13 days ago
- New Sweden was a secret Swedish colony in the Delaware Valley from 1638-1655, now largely forgotten.
- It introduced log cabins and Lutheran Christianity to America, and maintained peaceful relations with Native tribes.
- The colony was founded by Peter Minuit as a covert trade venture but was later absorbed by New Netherland in 1655.
- Remnants like flags, churches, and museums in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware preserve its legacy today.
Bayeux Tapestry delivered to British Museum in dead of night
12 days ago
- Bayeux Tapestry delivered to British Museum at 02:50 from secret location in France.
- 70-meter 11th-century embroidery depicts events leading to 1066 Battle of Hastings.
- Loaned for nine months by French government, part of agreement with UK Prime Minister.
- Tapestry transported in climate-controlled crate with shock absorbers to prevent damage.
- British Museum sold record 100,000 tickets on first day of sales for exhibition.
- Tapestry survived nearly 1,000 years despite risks like moths, damp, and fire.
- Norman Conquest reshaped England, introducing French words and Norman nobles.
- Some in France opposed loan, calling it a "heritage crime" due to fragility.
- Tapestry will be displayed flat, allowing full view for first time in history.
War Atlas: An interactive cartography of every named war in human history
11 days ago
- War Atlas is an interactive map displaying all named wars throughout human history
- It covers a timeline from 3000 BCE to the present, with periods like Bronze Age, Iron Age, Classical, Medieval, Early Modern, and modern eras
- The tool allows filtering, exporting, and includes a tour feature for exploration
The multiplication method Russian peasants used for a thousand years
5 days ago
- The Russian peasant multiplication method, which involves halving one number and doubling the other, requires no multiplication table and relies only on halving, doubling, and adding.
- The method is historically ancient, traced back to Ancient Egyptian scribes around 1550 BC, not originally Russian, with the name popularized by a British journal before World War I.
- It operates on binary principles, where odd and even patterns correspond to binary digits, making it identical to the algorithm used in modern computer chips for multiplication.
- Yakov Perelman, a prolific Russian science writer, translated and highlighted this method in his book 'Entertaining Arithmetic,' emphasizing its depth and connections to broader concepts.
- The book marks the first English translation of Perelman's work, featuring 66 problems with solutions and figures, available in various formats as of 2026.
How Did Node.js Come About?
6 hours ago
- Node.js was created by Ryan Dahl in 2009 as a server-side JavaScript platform to solve concurrency and file upload progress issues.
- Dahl initially tried Ruby (with Mongrel) and C but found them inadequate; he chose JavaScript for its nonblocking I/O and large developer community.
- The first public presentation at JSConf EU 2009 led to sponsorship by Joyent, enabling full-time development.
- Native Windows support was added in version 0.6 (November 2011), and npm became an integral part of Node.js from version 0.6.3.
- Dahl retired in 2012, passing development to Isaac Schlueter; version 0.8 improved performance and stability.
- In December 2014, a community fork called io.js was created due to dissatisfaction with Joyent's management.
- Node.js and io.js merged into the Node.js Foundation in June 2015, leading to version 4 and a regular LTS release cycle.
- In 2018, Dahl introduced Deno, a new JavaScript/TypeScript runtime addressing Node.js regrets, and in 2019 the OpenJS Foundation formed from merging JS Foundation and Node.js Foundation.

Hasty Briefsbeta

#history

Why New Zealand is on a map of the USA

Rare copy of US Declaration of Independence found by volunteer in UK archives

How railway timetables became Unix time

All Star Wars Games Ever Made – Released, Cancelled and Mod Archive

New Sweden: the US's long-lost 'secret' colony

Bayeux Tapestry delivered to British Museum in dead of night

War Atlas: An interactive cartography of every named war in human history

The multiplication method Russian peasants used for a thousand years

How Did Node.js Come About?