I am amazed at the mounting hysteria among IT people about the upcoming clock change on March 11. Thanks to a congressional act, we’re getting rid of daylight savings time three weeks early this year, and I for one, am glad for it.
But … you’d think Y2K was coming back to haunt us for all the noise being expended talking about it. So Windows 2000 users won’t get an automatic update … um, probably Microsoft Me and Bob users won’t either. Will planes crash, power plants go dark, and cats start dating dogs? Yeah. Just like they did in 2000, when everyone toasted the New Year expecting looting to break out by dawn.
Here’s one example from ZDNET:
“Some say those companies that don’t pay full attention to the issue are in for a rude awakening.
“We’ve been aware of the DST changes since late last year. But the tools and patches keep changing, or weren’t available, which made it difficult to create a solid plan,” said Warren Byle, a systems engineer at an insurance company. “This change might go smoothly for those who are prepared, but I think it will be the ‘Y2K that wasn’t’ for the rest.”
The move could impact time-sensitive applications other than calendaring, such as those that process sales orders or keep track of time cards. Gartner, for example, says the bug could lead to incorrect arrival and departure times in the travel industry and result in errors in bank transactions, causing late payments. In addition, trading applications might execute purchases and sales at the wrong time, and cell phone-billing software could charge peak rates at off-peak hours.”
I have a solution. It’s called changing the clock. You know the drill. Go to the clock and spin the hands forward an hour? Do the digital equivalent on your desktop and be done with it. And sure, any IT person who doesn’t reset the server clock should get spanked.