new years
Gadgets
10:30AM Nick Broughall | Hot on the heels of the top 10 posts from our US brethren comes the top 10 stories on Giz AU for 2008. And boy, they’re totally not what I expected… More »
Gizmodo AU’s Most Popular Posts From 2008
10:30AM Nick Broughall | Hot on the heels of the top 10 posts from our US brethren comes the top 10 stories on Giz AU for 2008. And boy, they’re totally not what I expected… More » 
Random Stuff
10:53AM Nick Broughall | If you’re heading out to watch the midnight fireworks tonight to say goodbye to the year that was 2008, be prepared for a slight delay. And when we say slight, we mean slight – one second, to be precise. Boffins at Greenwich will be adding a single second onto the year 2008 to adjust time for the minute slowing of the earth’s rotation. According to AP, the move has reignited the debate between GMT and atomic time as the worldwide standard for timekeeping – atomic clocks are precise to the nanosecond and don’t need sporadic adjustments of a second to maintain accuracy. However, they don’t take into account changes to the planet’s rotation, either and in hundreds of years midday would actually be closer to 1pm than today’s 12pm. In any case, if any of you have an X-men like ability to slow down time and you’re wondering why tonight’s fireworks don’t kick off until 12:00:01, now you know.
[AP] More »
2009 Will Arrive One Second Late To Its Own Party
10:53AM Nick Broughall | If you’re heading out to watch the midnight fireworks tonight to say goodbye to the year that was 2008, be prepared for a slight delay. And when we say slight, we mean slight – one second, to be precise. Boffins at Greenwich will be adding a single second onto the year 2008 to adjust time for the minute slowing of the earth’s rotation. According to AP, the move has reignited the debate between GMT and atomic time as the worldwide standard for timekeeping – atomic clocks are precise to the nanosecond and don’t need sporadic adjustments of a second to maintain accuracy. However, they don’t take into account changes to the planet’s rotation, either and in hundreds of years midday would actually be closer to 1pm than today’s 12pm. In any case, if any of you have an X-men like ability to slow down time and you’re wondering why tonight’s fireworks don’t kick off until 12:00:01, now you know.
[AP] More »
Entertainment
Oslo Celebrated New Year’s Eve With More Fireworks Than You
3:05AM Adam Frucci | This incredible photo was taken two minutes after midnight in Oslo, Norway. While some cities might set off fireworks from one location to celebrate the ringing in of 2008, the people in Oslo went crazy, setting off fireworks pretty much everywhere. But hey, when you’re a city where spending over $10 on a beer is pretty normal, I guess you can probably afford to go a little crazy on New Year’s. Hit the jump for a bigger version. And a local’s explanation of the display. More »
