March 9, 2007
Federal Fridays - Changing DST (Is that LEGAL??)
You wouldn't believe it, but someone already did it, legal or not. Yes, DST has already been changed, even though your calender doesn't say so. Who is the culprit? According to the Chicago Tribune: "At 2 a.m. Sunday, daylight saving time starts three weeks earlier than usual in a federal effort to save energy." http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-daylight6mar06,0,6382414.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed Yes, the Federal government has changed it, and failed to give us a year so that our calenders could be changed! OK, so that would be a little overboard, but still, it's kind of weird. However, now that we know, we can deal with this, right? I mean, what could go wrong? A lot. "[M]illions of computers, servers and networks are programmed to move the hands forward on the first Sunday in April." "[H]eat and lights in some buildings could come on an hour later than they should. Meeting rooms may be double booked. Sprinklers might go haywire. Doors may lock and unlock when they aren't supposed to. People could be late to meetings with their bosses if their computerized calendars aren't tweaked in time." http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-daylight6mar06,0,6382414.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed Many things have been fixed, are fixable, or are tolerable: "[T]echnologists are racing against the computer clocks to make the software fixes." "TiVo and other digital video recorders have made fixes. Those with older computer systems may have to hunt online for software fixes called "patches," or just endure having a clock out of sync for three weeks. Still, Kevin Watne, president of Los Angeles technology consultant Generation IX, has a novel solution for Californians if all else fails: set their haywire technology on Mountain Standard Time for three weeks." http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/la-fi-daylight6mar06,0,6382414.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed Now, that, was a good idea. Isn't it hilarious how much can be affected - how many people have to work, how many news stories are written, how much annoyance is caused - by the Federal Government?
3 comments:
I think the Fed is supposed to affect lots of things. Would it be a government if it couldn't?
But I think they dropped the ball on this, majorly. They didn't even give all the calendar companies enough warning: there are several calendars in my house that have DST starting in April!
Yeah, it would be a gov, and someone or something does need to regulate it. Yet, it is just a little bit crazy that now 8 months of the year (a clear majority) are going to be different from the "standard" time. I mean, aren't we kind of playing with the globle time table just a little bit?
The funny thing is, my calendar is correct even though most aren't...
Technically we could start (objecting) at the months not being on the moon much less the time on the sun! ;-)
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