GMT is one hour off

March 11, 2007 8:40 AM

Probably because of the US move to DST, the time stamp in GMT is one hour off (so that posts and comments are showing as having been made up to an hour in the future).
posted by sueinnyc to Bugs at 8:40 AM (22 comments total)

Hellza. End of the world as we know it.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:03 AM on March 11, 2007

Matt just couldn't wait to switch us all to BST. Don't hate his youthful enthusiasm.
posted by cillit bang at 9:09 AM on March 11, 2007

It's been that way for years. Matt's indicated that fixing it so that everyone's time zone is correct is hard to impossible, so he has to decide whose time zones he wants broken and whose he wants correct, and since he lives in the US and so does a large chunk of the user base, he's happier with the US time zone being correct and non-DST time zones being incorrect.
posted by Bugbread at 9:09 AM on March 11, 2007

Only if he continues with the fixed offset method. What he really needs to do is run timestamps against a daylight savings database. That'll make it straightforward to convert the PST/PDT dates to a fixed reference (like GMT), then to the user's local time (based on actual locations rather than offsets, since daylight savings varies).

If you're on a Unix system (including a Mac), /usr/share/zoneinfo has all the data you need to make this happen.
posted by cillit bang at 9:24 AM on March 11, 2007

I get soooooooo confused. Are we (east coast US) now on EST? or EDT?
posted by mmahaffie at 9:26 AM on March 11, 2007

We're on EDT -- DST just started.
posted by Doofus Magoo at 9:39 AM on March 11, 2007

Yeah, I knew this was coming and was dreading it. Stupid new Bush time means that everyone in the EU is off for a few weeks. I would suggest changing to another time zone +1 hour for now.

While I'd like to do the giant timezone db around the world, I'd also like to keep from having to hit the database for something seemingly trivial like this.

Also, every time I research it or programmers bring it up here, the word most often used is "clusterfuck".
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:55 AM on March 11, 2007

As far as I understand, this new "America Time" was introduced by our Government in order to fight global warming, by putting clocks back a couple hours from the "two minutes to minute" scenario that those eggheads are always warning us about.

But - in that context - isn't it about time that metafilter started reporting on its own carbon emissions?

I for one would like to see the administrators provide some leadership in the website social responsibility (WSB) dialogue-space by issuing an annual Environmental Report, vetted by a highly regarded firm of extremely rich accountants. I also think that metafilter should donate 1% of its annual profits to worthy causes - which I understand Mr. Howie is already considering doing via a scholarship fund. Furthermore, I think that metafilter should start drilling for new posts in the hitherto pristine Alaskan wilderness. And how come we don't hunt any whales for scientific porpoises? Other countries do! Call me Ishmael, but I say we get revenge for Matt's wooden leg once and for all.
posted by the quidnunc kid at 10:14 AM on March 11, 2007 [2 favorites]

Thanks Doofus... I lose track of whether we are entering DST or leaving it. Why can't we just leave it alone?
posted by mmahaffie at 10:20 AM on March 11, 2007

[emits carbon]

'scuse me.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:32 AM on March 11, 2007

For the life of me I can't think of a single instance where I needed to know what time a post was made, much less whether that time was exact to the hour.
posted by five fresh fish at 11:25 AM on March 11, 2007

Well, it is kind of weird to see posts from tomorrow.
posted by smackfu at 11:28 AM on March 11, 2007

Embrace the weirdness. (And check for stock tips.)
posted by languagehat at 11:33 AM on March 11, 2007

I think it's great, actually. Now I can get all my procrastinating done well in advance.
posted by Abiezer at 2:14 PM on March 11, 2007

I don't have time for this.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:38 PM on March 11, 2007

> Why not use javascript to determine what the user's timezone is?

The current situation sounds bad, but it's predictable and comparatively easy to compensate for. Depending on users to configure their systems to your liking and report the results truthfully is worse.
posted by ardgedee at 4:06 PM on March 11, 2007

You run and you run to catch up with the sun but it's sinking
Racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in a relative way but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death
posted by Meatbomb at 7:06 PM on March 11, 2007

Does anybody really know what time it is?
Does anyone really care?
posted by yhbc at 7:13 PM on March 11, 2007

"I don't have time for this."

Neither do I. For some reason, I've been an hour late to everything today, including helping my girlfriend move.
posted by Eideteker at 7:45 PM on March 11, 2007

Oh, look out you rock 'n rollers.
Pretty soon you're gonna get a little older.
Time may change me,
But I can't trace time.
posted by team lowkey at 7:58 PM on March 11, 2007

A more serious problem is the RSS feeds spend the whole summer claiming their dates are -8:00, when PDT is -7:00. This makes the feed sort wrongly in some RSS readers, since everything appears dated an hour in the future.
posted by cillit bang at 8:10 PM on March 11, 2007

Huzzah, finally I'm in the right timezone rather than out in the Pacific Ocean. :-)
posted by PuGZ at 11:08 PM on March 11, 2007