At 2AM Sunday March 14th, a good chunk of the world will spring their clocks forward one hour and Daylight Saving Time will begin. (If you’re not sure whether you do or not, the Time and Date website can guide you along.
For more recent Windows and Mac OS based machines, if your system is configured to automatically set your time and elected to observe Daylight Saving Time, then most likely you should be ok. If your systems are not up to date then now might be a good time to do so as some of the time changing rules may have changed. Of course, the biggest change in the US came in 2007 with the new US Energy Policy Act of 2005 (and as polite Canadians, of course we followed suit), changing the time of the year from April and October to the 2nd Sunday in March – (March 8th), to the first Sunday in November – (November 7th), still at 2:00 AM.
In Windows 7, right-click the clock on the taskbar, select Adjust Date/Time. It may be a good idea to check the “Notify Me when the clock changes”. Also check your time zone settings to see if the Daylight Saving auto-adjust has been selected. You may also want to have your system synchronized with one of the Internet Time Servers.
If you’re not sure, check out this Microsoft Support document for Windows operating Systems or Microsoft Daylight Saving Time & Time Zone Blog.
To check your Mac, simply select Apple Menu–> System Preferences–>Date & Time or alternately click on your clock and select same. If “Select date and time automatically” is checked off , you should be ok. If you are running Mac OS 10.4.8 or higher and have done all your updates including the 10.4.8 DST update you’re fine. Also check out the info on the 10.3.9 update if you’re a little behind.
Remember that time changes not only affect your computer, but your email, calendars and schedulers.
Now for phones, again, most will automatically switch over, but best to ensure they do. Refer to your user’s manual if you know where it’s been stashed or look on-line. Many vendors have PDF images of their manuals on the web or support docs on their sites. It may also be a function of your carrier. Even if you are supposedly good-to-go, when the time comes, pardon the pun, it just doesn’t happen! Just ask my good friend Kevin Achtzener, who found out the hard way with his 1st generation Razr. If you rely on your device to be your alarm clock, maybe have a backup just in case.
One note: if you are running a Windows Mobile based device there is a Daylight Saving (DST) cumulative update that covers several OS versions and for various countries.
Thermostats too!
But it’s not only phones and computers you need to look out for. There are also wall clocks, alarm clocks and of course your microwaves and clocks in your car. But there are also a few you may not think of – like alarm systems, automatic timers and even thermostats. I set my digital thermo to kick in at 6:30AM, so the house will be nice and toasty when I finally get out from under the covers.
I never bother with the VCR as it seems to forever flash 12:00 and I never use it anymore anyway.
Personally I have a semi-annual ritual – springing forward or falling back before I hit the sack on Saturday night. The first thing I change is my wrist-watch, then my alarm clock and proceed to walk around the house until I more or less get them all.
And one final thing, I like to keep my coffee vacuum sealed – but if you’re the type who prepares the morning brew the night before on a timer, better spring forward, or your coffee will be cold.
Tags: apple, clocks, daylight saving time, Gadget Guy, gadgetguy, mac os, microsoft, time, windows