by Michael S. Kaplan, published on 2007/03/11 04:01 -04:00, original URI: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/michkap/archive/2007/03/11/1857439.aspx
So I wrote a post and set it to go live at 12:01 am (an hour before this one is set to go live), yet it went live at 11:01 pm the day before.
Even though the changeover time isn't supposed to be midnight.
And why? Well, the server is (I am told) on the East Coast of the United States, so they are well into the changeover. Even though they are translating to Pacific time on my posts since that is what my settings are.
Time zones are still hard, and our software still doesn't get them most of the time. Of course in this scenario people disagree on what the behavior should be....
I can't wait to see which electronic devices are screwed up over the next few hours. I do have those ReplayTV units running Linux that are supposed to be patched now (manual install steps required).
# Michael S. Kaplan on 11 Mar 2007 4:10 AM:
Just so no one thinks I don't understand what is happening, I do get it. But it strikes me as a scenario where what software (in this case Community Server) does is different than what the user expects....
# Peter Karlsson on 12 Mar 2007 9:53 AM:
I've always had problems with computers and timezone changes, which is why I in recent years have switched to always run computers on normal time, which means that they will be one hour behind the wall clock in the summer. That gives me, and the software I run, the least amount of surprise.
I know people who always run their machines on UTC for the very same reason.
# anne j flynn on 12 Mar 2007 10:14 AM:
Please help I am unable to change the hour my clock is reading 9 but it should be 10 AM Thank you.
# Michael S. Kaplan on 12 Mar 2007 11:58 AM:
Sounds like you did not go to Windows Update to install the time zone update, and aren't automatically installing updates?
# Michael S. Kaplan on 12 Mar 2007 2:10 PM:
Hey Peter -- that is certainly one way to go, though of course the same problem will happen on these boundary times when your thought on the time and someone else's will be different even allowing for time zones due to DST issues on their side?
Unless of course they are doing the same thing, in which case everything will work well. :-)
# Mikkin on 12 Mar 2007 6:03 PM:
I have a dedicated device that would solve the problem perfectly well, if anyone can suggest how to connect it to my computer. It only works during daylight hours, but the sundial in my garden tells absolutely correct local time. ;-)