Precise founding time

[Far Tholk]

Hi,

I want to know my nation's precise founding time. The two sources I can see are World Census statistics and the forum User Control Panel, but these two sources differ on the date; the World Census first has statistics for my nation starting at Sunday, Jan 8, 2017 at 00:00, and my User Control Panel (set to UTC-8) says Joined Forum: Mon Jan 09, 2017 10:07 pm. If the time I 'Joined Forum' is exactly when my nation was founded, and if the World Census uses UTC, statistics for my nation should start some time on January 10, which is not the case. Is 'Joined Forum' the same as nation founding? Which source should I trust, and when was my nation founded?

Thanks,
Far Tholk

Edit: The NationStates API also allows use of a founded shard, but this just gives a number of days since founding, and ideally I would like a precise time.

[The Free Joy State]

This is as accurate as I can find, though someone more involved on the technical side might be able to tell you more:

http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/api.cgi/nation=

then the nation name

For you, this would be:

http://www.nationstates.net/cgi-bin/api ... =far_tholk

This generates the information for your nation, including your founding date.

EDIT: Ah, you've found the API. I can't find you an exact time.

[Far Tholk]

Thank you anyway. I hope someone can, or at least explain the apparent inconsistency.

Edit: I just noticed the firstlogin shard, which gives what appears to be UNIX time for 04:42:19 UTC on Tuesday, January 10, 2017—But this is not January 8 or January 9! It seems the more I find out, the less sure I am. Is firstlogin the actual founding time, or possibly the first time a nation logs in after founding and logging out? Insight appreciated.

[Trotterdam]

The "joined forum" date is not when you founded your nation. It is when you first clicked from your nation to the forum, which would surely be at least a few minutes later, and possibly days.

[Far Tholk]

Thanks, Trotterdam.

I found this post, in which Frisbeeteria explains to another nation that their early World Census statistics are "spurious," and nations do, in fact, have an absolute founding date. I have determined that mine is... Mon Jan 09, 2017 8:42 pm (PST), which I think is the definitive answer! I am shocked at how I missed the 'Founded' date and time when it was on my forum profile... I only saw the link to my User Control Panel, which does not list it.

Thank you to those who tried to help. Mystery solved.

[Ghost Land]

Another way you could find your exact founding date is by using the boneyard; typing your nation's name in there I can also confirm 10 Jan 2017, 4:42:19 (GMT), equivalent to 9 Jan 2017, 20:42:19 (PST). Your founding date is also to the left of every post you make.