Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with daylightsavingstime

How Does the Military, Police, Etc. Notate the "second" 1:30 am when we "fall back"?

WCityMike — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 08:25:20 -0800

How do places where precise timekeeping is essential handle the repeat of an hour when we go off Daylight Savings Time? There are certain professions in which I imagine very specific denotation of time is particularly important — hospital, military, first-responders (police, fire, ambulance), specialized equipment, etc.

"Spring forward" is probably not a problem, because it "removes" an hour — 2:00 jumps to 3:00. But in the fall, an hour is repeated — that's what I'm curious about.

In these venues, how do they handle properly distinguishing the first 1:30 am from the second 1:30 am? Is it done informally (i.e. Joe the ambulance driver writes down "1:30 am (second time 'round)" in his log while Frank the ambulance driver writes down "1:30 am post-DST" and George the ambulance driver forgets and just writes down "1:30 am"? Or is there a generalized standard in the field.

PC didn't change for Daylight Savings Time. Now what?

copystar — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 04:20:36 -0800

Uh-oh. My computer (MS XP) didn't make the leap and change itself for daylight savings time. I thought I was ready - I installed all the recommended updates. (Someone left the computer on overnight - that couldn't have caused our trouble, could it?) Is there any I should do other than manually change the clock in the systems tray?

How does my computer know about DST?

Joleta — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:33:14 -0800

What (if anything) do I have to do to my computer to make sure it knows about the new U.S. Daylight Savings Time rules? Usually my computer adjusts itself for DST, but how will it know that the dates have changed? I'm running Windows XP Media Center Edition, and I have automatic updates turned on. Will I need to do anything to make sure that the new Daylight Saving Time rules (2nd Sunday in March, 1st Sunday in November) are used? Also, how about my Dell Axim X50v Pocket PC, running Windows Mobile 2003? My husband's Mac (running OSX)?

How prepared is your organization for the Daylight Savings Time changes?

mendel — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 08:24:33 -0800

Mostly directed at IT types: What have you/your department/your company done to prepare for the upcoming changes to the start/end dates for Daylight Savings Time in Canada and the US? I'm really surprised at how little mainstream or IT press the change has been getting so I'm wondering how ready other IT departments are for the change.

(Background: The US Energy Policy Act of 2005 changes the start date of DST from the first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March, and the end date from the last sunday in October to the first sunday in November, so any software that deals with timezones needs to be updated to account for the change. Most Canadian provinces are implementing the same change.)

How do the TV networks account for the time shift while entering/leaving daylight savings time?

ewagoner — Mon, 22 Mar 2004 10:35:05 -0800

How do the TV networks account for the time shift while entering/leaving daylight savings time? [More inside] This has had me stumped for years. Next month we'll all lose an hour, and in the fall we'll gain an hour (offer valid only in participating jurisdictions). With virtually every TV station broadcasting around-the-clock, you'd think that they have to pay attention to that hour, but the printed program listings just ignore it. Even my TiVo tells me what will be broadcast during the nonexistent hour, and it really ought to know better.

So what happens? Will the stations store the tape of what's scheduled to be broadcast at 2am and store it until October when they have an extra hour to kill? Is there a general practice at all?