Looking into the past

I recently bought a copy of Code Complete. As I was reading it, a thought struck me: being in India and hence outside the mainstream, so to speak, I get to experience a lot of things quite late, be it becoming aware of must-read books or even watching sitcoms on TV for that matter (Zee is right now proudly announcing the premiere of new seasons of Caroline in the City and The Sopranos; at a best guess, these are at least four/five years old).

The best analogy I can think of is astronomy; as we gaze at the sky, what we see is not the stars as they are now, but what they were when the light started its journey from them. Not a very good analogy, I'm afraid.

Dang, as I was searching for a link to Code Complete, it looks like I didn't even manage to get the new edition. I rest my case.