Compact Calendar Change for Reported Easter Calculation Bugs

This year's Compact Calendar added "automatic holiday calculation" when the year is changed in the Excel spreadsheet. Holiday calculations are terribly tricky, though, and a bug in the Easter Calculation was reported by Mike Kennedy with OpenOffice. The Easter calculation I'm using, he pointed out, assume date entry in a certain text format which is not universal. I went back and looked at it and saw he was right, though I couldn't duplicate the other reported bug. Anyway, I've uploaded a more robustly-coded version of original Easter calculation, which substitutes the locale-specific date string with the Excel DATE function.

UPDATE: After downloading OpenOffice and cross-checking the calculation with Google Spreadsheet, it appears that the cause of the bug is due to a difference between in how the DAY() function works for values under 61. So if you are using Excel you are fine, but OpenOffice users should probably use the EASTERSUNDAY() function.

UPDATE2: Here's an explanation of why Excel's DAY() function is buggy; it was originally to maintain compatibility with Lotus 1-2-3, which used to be the dominant spreadsheet.

In Excel 2007, Easter appears to be calculated correctly for the next five years. If you are outside the USA, you can re-download the ZIP file from the Compact Calendar Page for the more robust version of the calculation.

Virtual Terrain Maps IV: Inspired Guessing

SUMMARY: I write about the experience of unintentional, high-quality collaboration leading to insights of how I know more than I knew, and that I should apply GUESSING more frequently because it actually works well as a starting point.

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Virtual Terrain Maps III: Reframing Tasks

SUMMARY: Exploring the difference between a "values-based" task list and a "goals-based" task list.

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Virtual Terrain Maps II

SUMMARY: I did a dump of everything that's on my mind, and then started to sort it out to figure out what's really the management challenge I'm facing. A sudden epiphany why the word "shrine" keeps coming to mind in this context.

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My “Most Important Productivity Message”?

Jack Kinsella, who blogs at Hermes Technology LTD, emailed me a question: What is your most important productivity message for 2010. I usually don't think in terms of "The Most Important", but it seemed like I should give it a go. You can see my answer to the question along with the responses from other productivity bloggers Gretchin Rubin, Mike Torres, Terry Prince, Scott Young, Kelly Sutton, Monica Ricci, and Eyal Sela. Many of these names are new to me, so I'm looking forward to checking them out when I catch a little time to myself. Thanks Jack!