I'm an hour behind

June 29, 2003 8:48 AM

I've got AEST (UTC+10) selected as my time zone on MeFi - but it's an hour fast. Any idea why?
posted by cheaily to Bugs at 8:48 AM (8 comments total)

Do you celebrate daylight savings time? I noticed that mine is labelled EST (Eastern Standard Time) but the time displayed is pushed forward an hour for daylight savings time.
posted by boaz at 1:32 PM on June 29, 2003

Spring forward, fall back. Australia (being in the southern hemisphere) is not on daylight savings currently, it being winter there.
I think (wild guess) it could have something to do with southern hemisphere clocks going back as northern hemisphere clocks go forward, and vice-versa...
posted by plep at 2:40 PM on June 29, 2003

Timezones are pretty much a clusterfuck if you want to be perfect. I think I've got about 28 different timezones (lots of odd 1/2 hour ones in there) and no one has complained about a missing zone. The times at which people switch between standard and daylight time varies greatly around the globe, and to simplify matters, I just stick to the way it's done in the US - first sunday in April and October get the change.

posted by mathowie at 4:36 PM PST on April 2
posted by dg at 5:28 PM on June 29, 2003

I have the same problem cheaily, and I guess matt's explaination sums it all up - daylight savings switches being reversed here down under. Although I'm vaguely offended by my 1/2 hour timezone being descibed as "odd"...
posted by Jimbob at 6:11 PM on June 29, 2003

Be glad you don't live in Nepal, Jimbob...
posted by Vidiot at 6:26 PM on June 29, 2003

Yes, odd indeed.
posted by Jimbob at 6:41 PM on June 29, 2003

Actually, jimbob, I think that the daylight savings switches are reversed in the northern hemisphere, not the southern. The 1/2 hour timezone is not the only thing that is described as odd about Adelaide, either ...
posted by dg at 6:44 PM on June 29, 2003

Shut the hell up, dg, or you'll end up in a barrel.
posted by Jimbob at 7:27 PM on June 29, 2003