August 8th, 2005
Hype Alert: New Daylight Savings Time Change is NOT Y2K
Alice’s Rant of the Week: After a nice weekend I woke up to find a bunch of alarmist articles on how changing daylight savings time is going to mess up everyone’s Palm Pilots and cell phone minute plans and plunge us into the fear and despair of the whole Y2K era.
I am here to say: relax. You can change your watch and your TiVo and your software will probably have a patch out long before you even remember this day and all this pointless worry. Shame on the writers looking for news to stir up a pot of technical fear, when a few more hours of daylight in my book beat re-setting my Blackberry any day. Sheez.
Here’s a sample of some of the hysteria:
“The upcoming transition evokes memories of Y2K, the Year 2000 rollover that forced programmers to adjust software and other systems that, relying on two digits for the year, never took the 21st century into account. “It wouldn’t be a society-wide catastrophe, but there would be a problem if nothing’s done about it or we try to move too quickly,” said Dave Thewlis, executive director of a group that promotes standards for calendar software.
“Newer VCRs and DVD recorders have built-in calendars to automatically adjust for daylight time. Users would have to override them, switching to “manual” to ensure shows continue to record correctly.
“Computers with Microsoft Corp.’s Windows operating systems would need to obtain updates. Though most affected applications would likely be taken care of by the Microsoft fix, calendar systems will need to be checked to ensure that appointments already entered get properly adjusted.
“Some electric utilities have advanced meters to adjust rates based on peak and non-peak hours, and studies would be required to determine if any modifications are needed. The telecommunications industry, meanwhile, must ensure that its clocks are properly adjusted to bill customers properly.” Source: Associated Press via Yahoo News
Oh my!
Russ says:
Whether it’s like Y2K or not I wish they’d quit mucking about with the calendar. More Daylight Savings? I wish there was none! If someone wants more daylight in their day then they can shift their own schedule around; don’t drag me alone with you.
August 8th, 2005 at 11:56 am
Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Hype Alert: New Daylight Savings Time Change is NOT Y2K
After a nice weekend I woke up to find a bunch of alarmist articles on how changing daylight savings time is going to mess up everyone’s Plam Pilots and cell phone minute plans and plunge us into the fear and despair of the whole Y2K era. I am here to…
August 8th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
Alice says:
realtechnews
August 8th, 2005 at 11:21 pm
Gilbert Baron says:
Well pardon me but I don’t like it. No, it will not cause the world to come to an end but with a PDA and 3 VCRs that I am going to have to change manually when it was paid for and worked perfectly before, I think it stinks. Many others will feel the same way.
August 9th, 2005 at 4:01 am
ed3 says:
Well, fortunately we have until March 2007 to get things patched and updated.
One should note there are some places in the US which do not observe DST at all, therefore proving the world does not come to an end when an area does not spring back or fall forward (yes, that was on purpose).
And the airline’s whining about the change effecting schedules is also unfounded. American DST (April) and British DST (March, as is most of the world) are already out of sync in the sprintime. The change to March brings us in sync with the rest of the world. We will share the November change with Brazil.
That said, still probably a good idea to buy stock in duct tape and generator companies. These doomsday stories are too good for the sheep to resist.
August 9th, 2005 at 6:28 am
Rahn says:
I also wish they would just drop daylight savings time everywhere. Here in Northern Indiana, where we use to ignore DST, our politicians have decided we must have it. If I am to believe the hype, it will save energy, bring more business to Indiana, grow hair on bald heads, and make life wonderful. Please, does anyone believe an hour difference one way or another is going to effect anything? It’s a stupid idea who’s time has passed. Maybe that’s why it appeals to the politicians?
August 9th, 2005 at 7:54 am
B en Oddo says:
Eventually our government with a short memory will realize that this whole Daylight Savings Time Change is as futile an attempt to save energey today as it was 30 years ago.
How can anyone be so naive to think that most Americas rise and sleep with the motion of the sun? Shifting the daylight ours by one during the months of March and October will not make a difference in energy consumption since most people are up and about before dawn anyway.
Once the powers that be wake up, then software updates will need to be re-issued to reverse the patch that was distributed for the change in the first place.
Daylight Savings Time should be scrapped althogether. It is an old agrarian tradition that has no place in modern society.
August 10th, 2005 at 1:57 pm
Rupert says:
Just had to share a Daylight Savings related funny: a few years ago in my local paper, in a section where people call in messages and some get printed, some genetic wonder had this to say:
“I think Congress needs to repeal this Daylight Savings thing because the extra hour of sunlight is killing my grass.”
Winner.
August 19th, 2005 at 10:59 am
Ed Costello says:
Does anyone know exactly what the changes are? How is DST start/stop determined?
August 23rd, 2005 at 10:52 am
ClapekDodki says:
erotica
July 16th, 2007 at 7:29 am