And You Thought The Early Daylight Savings Chaos Had Passed...

from the snooze dept

Fri, Mar 30th 2007 8:22pm — Carlo Longino

We all seemed to manage to survive the early daylight savings switch a few weeks ago, despite the predictions of aclockalypse. But, just when you thought everything was okay, you'd better start stockpiling water, canned goods and toilet paper, since older devices might shift an hour ahead on Sunday morning, since it's the old date for the spring forward. So make sure your coffee pot is properly set, and heed the advice of USA Today to double-check those meeting times for a few weeks. Hopefully we'll see everybody safe and sound Monday morning.

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

36 Comments

If you liked this post, you may also be interested in...

Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread

seriously, 30 Mar 2007 @ 9:03pm

seriously, i missed a couple of meetings because my calendar was all screwed up for the past few weeks. i accidently almost made my assistant cry. damn you energy bill!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- insomniac4104, 30 Mar 2007 @ 10:00pm
  
  Re:
  That would make one nasty April fools joke. Lets hope windows patch actually works and wasn't a quick fix. As I understand unix and linux use UTC time so they are in no danger. But as far as Lotus Notes goes I am not confident there "patch" works since it made an entirely new calendar for DST.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - David Dove, 31 Mar 2007 @ 10:02am
    
    DST 2007 redux
    Folks, Just about ALL servers use UTC time and most workstations have an NTP client installed as part of the OS. I just remediated all of the systems for a branch of Connecticut's state government prior to DST2007. The CLIENT must have the DST patch (which modifies the timezone files - just like Unix) or the CLIENT will misinterpret the date and time. It does not matter which OS the client is running, it is the workstation's responsibility to interpret the data.
    
    As for the calendar entries, many vendors (including Microsoft) provided "rebasing" tools. Microsoft's tool was a joke since it required you to have dedicated workstations with priv'd access cycle through EVERY user's mailbox. My first run for 2000 people took over 12 hours. The performance of the tool improved one week before DST2007 but by that point it was too little too late.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Zach, 31 Mar 2007 @ 8:59pm
    
    Their vs There
    Please, you illiterate bastards, stop posting comments if you cannot understand the difference between "there" and "their". Go back to school.
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Zach is a wack, 1 Apr 2007 @ 8:05pm
      
      Re: Their vs There
      For the umpteenth time all you anal spell and grammar checkers need to stop using this blog to make yourselves feel better about your useless ability to point out faults in the writings of other people. We dont tease you about your inability to mate with the opposite sex.
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
    - Wizard Prang, 2 Apr 2007 @ 7:17am
      
      Relax... don't do it.
      I don't like it either (loose/lose, their/they're/there, to/too and don't get me started on the misuse of the apostrophe)... but if bad grammar offends you that much then you are in the wrong place.
      
      For some, English is a second language. Others type faster than their brains can catch up or can't be bothered to preview/proofread. Still others don't care. And AFAICS there is no "edit" option even if they wanted to fix things afterwards.
      
      It's a whole new frontier; no place for the thin-skinned. Relax...
      [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - Craig, 1 Apr 2007 @ 9:45pm
    
    Re: Lotus Notes
    Yeah. I missed a conference call the week after the DST change because of Lotus Notes not updated correctly. Oh how I can't wait when we switch to Exchange!!
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2007 @ 5:28pm
  
  Re:
  same my laptop has kept changing back a hour and just out of pure lazyness i have not told it not to update its self
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- UrbanSage, 1 Apr 2007 @ 2:33pm
  
  Re:
  Way to blame someone else for your shitty morals.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Lawrence D'Oliveiro, 30 Mar 2007 @ 10:24pm

UTC
It's not just that Linux and Unix use UTC time, but that they have a systemwide timezone database (zoneinfo) that (nearly) all apps use, instead of inventing their own systems for keeping track of timezones and daylight saving. Thus, a single update to this database is generally enough to get your apps to work with the updated rules.
Also, it's very easy to test the rules, using standard tools like the date command, to ensure that they're correct beforehand.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
EdB, 31 Mar 2007 @ 12:24am

Oh good. I live in a state that doesn't do that stupid stuff, but my damned computer insists on shifting an hour every time I turn it back on. Since that only happens a couple of times a week I'm still falling for "wow it's late". So maybe tomorrow the stupid box will fall back in line and trust me when I tell it what time it is.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2007 @ 5:30am
  
  Re:
  Why don't you tell it to ignore daylight savings time?
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
simon, 31 Mar 2007 @ 6:41am

internet time servers
even since windows xp, there is a time synchronization of the system to 1 of the 2 time server existent, which, if u set correct time zone on pc problem should be fixed only on the time servers, pretty easy job, but if pc is not connected to internet, or time synchronization is not enabled, all you need is to correct time yourself in the morning after pc will push time ahead 1 hour, since is programed to do so.

for win 2000 and early windows systems, users should check out and change system time (really easy job) but again, people this days, tend to let them selfs controlled by technology, and not vice-versa...

ps. just trust better the wrist watch you carry or just use this problem as argument on being late on meetings
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Jeeper8788, 31 Mar 2007 @ 9:07am
  
  Re: internet time servers
  the time synchronization only works if its a few minutes off... not if its an hour off
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Araemo, 2 Apr 2007 @ 6:04am
  
  Re: internet time servers
  "even since windows xp, there is a time synchronization of the system to 1 of the 2 time server existent, which, if u set correct time zone on pc problem should be fixed only on the time servers, pretty easy job, but if pc is not connected to internet, or time synchronization is not enabled, all you need is to correct time yourself in the morning after pc will push time ahead 1 hour, since is programed to do so."
  
  3 things:
  1: There are many more than 2 time servers. Windows only has two listed(you can type in any time server you know of though.)
  2: The time servers distribute time in UTC. Your computer then converts that to your local time based on the timezone info, which on windows XP, requires a patch(that has been out since November, and shows up on windows update if you don't have it) to correctly adjust for daylight savings time 3 weeks early this year.
  3: Microsoft has released info on how to fix the timezone info on windows 2000, and once you follow microsoft's instructions, windows 2000 will update for daylight savings time correctly.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
  - FH, 2 Apr 2007 @ 6:30am
    
    That also presupposes....
    that one has administrator access to the system otherwise changing the time is not accessable.
    
    As to anal spell checker folks.... (I love it when you talk dirty) last I looked there (or is it their?) thar aint no dam spel chek on this hyar applicashun!@
    [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Aware, 31 Mar 2007 @ 9:43am

#6 Simon
Your English is so bad, your post makes no sense. If you're so tech savvy, install and USE a spell checker...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Republican Gun, 31 Mar 2007 @ 10:17am

Freebasing?
I just left my old samsung i700 alone. Didn't patch it or do anything. So now it is an hour behind, but soon eveything will be ok. Until the fall, where three weeks will be F'd up because of the time change. Why bother to upgrade the phone when its charging system won't make it through the month?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sohrab, 31 Mar 2007 @ 1:33pm

I think were all going to die
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Squegie, 31 Mar 2007 @ 3:35pm
  
  Re:
  @Sohrab
  
  Great scotts! You're right! We are all going to die!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2007 @ 6:09pm

The children!! Someone please think of the children!!!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Anonymous Coward, 31 Mar 2007 @ 9:34pm

Zack, please spell your name right. Your going to make your mom cry.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
|333173|3|_||3, 31 Mar 2007 @ 9:51pm

Re:
Zach can be a correct spelling, as in short for Zachary. It's his name, not yours, so leave his spelling alone. He can spell it how he likes.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- 3||_|3|371333|, 1 Apr 2007 @ 1:19pm
  
  Re: Re: by |333173|3|_||3
  whoooshh!! That was the sound of the Zach/Zack comment flying right over your head!
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
junglejim0745, 1 Apr 2007 @ 6:13am

Time
Does anyone really know what time it is?? LOL
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- rawheiser, 1 Apr 2007 @ 6:58pm
  
  Re: Time
  And the lyric continues ... does anyone really care?
  
  how about ditching the whole thing, and just get up an hour earlier/later as the season demands?
  
  adjust your schedule and not the clock.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
William, 1 Apr 2007 @ 11:15am

THank God I live in arizona!
I am so happy id ont have to play the clock game! I used to Live In Lousianna and hated the switch! I hope the law makers of out state dont start daylight savings time.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Ayal Rosenthal, 1 Apr 2007 @ 5:45pm

Does any of this actually matter
I'm curious if the costs will ever outway the benefits. Farmers wake up at sun-rise regardless of when we say sun-rise is. There may be some energy savings for companies that don't turn their lights on, but the costs have been tremendous to get us to where we are and of the savings don't materialize then its been a good waste of our nations resources. Thanks G-dub
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 1 Apr 2007 @ 6:56pm
  
  Re: Does any of this actually matter
  What the hell does the president have to do with acts of congress? Congress did this dumb shit to us, not the president.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
- Anonymous Coward, 2 Apr 2007 @ 5:23pm
  
  Re: Does any of this actually matter
  That is the whole point, this is a test. If the change doesn't save enough energy and/or it is too annoying then we will go back to the old schedule.
  
  Personally I hope we keep this new schedule. I live far enough north that during the winter the sun sets before I leave work. It is so NICE to go home in the evening and still have some daylight left.
  [ link to this | view in chronology ]
Capt. Kirk, 1 Apr 2007 @ 6:51pm

"But scotty,,,,, How soon can you fix it?"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
CB, 1 Apr 2007 @ 7:30pm

Blackberry jumped ahead
My girlfriend woke me up an hour early this morning as the blackberry pearl she got for Christmas sprung ahead an hour.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Pete, 1 Apr 2007 @ 7:36pm

For the record, windows also uses UTC. You can also specify any number of time servers to sync with. If your mahcine still won't set itself properly, allow windows update to run. And for those of you too cheap to buy a legit copy of windows(cant really blame ya though), update the registry yourself.
So quit complaining because you are too lazy to fix it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
angry hoosier, 2 Apr 2007 @ 5:00am

For 35 years we in Indiana didn't have to even care about this idiotic nonsense of pretending one day is 25 hours long and another is 23 hours long just because every other dimwit state thinks it's a good idea.

God only knows what they are hoping to achieve because in today's air-conditioned society I can guarantee you that it doesn't save any energy. Everyone leaves their efficiently cooled offices and fires up their inefficient home air conditioners.

Thanks to our brain-dead governor we are stuck with this bs. Oh well, I guess the Indiana Republicans don't need my vote anymore. I'm a morning person and I hate it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Sherman T. Potter, 2 Apr 2007 @ 6:50am

As far as why we did this early DST shananagins...

...when you become a colonel, they take the bone out of your head that makes you explain orders.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
rEdEyEz, 2 Apr 2007 @ 7:53am

Luddite buffoons, my trusty Windows Sundial 1.0 has never failed me!
...but I'm running out of the prerequisite feral felines to offer up in sacrifice...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]