Daylight-Saving Switch Sparks Concern

Normally the switch to daylight-saving time isn't a big deal, but this Sunday, Jeff Ronner has to put people on the case.

Ronner is a San Francisco-area field services manager for technology outsourcer Perot Systems Corp., and he handles computer systems for a big Perot client, Catholic Healthcare West. This week he was putting final touches on his plan to make certain that Catholic HealthCare's voicemail systems and other networks recognize daylight time.

Those computers, like those of all but the most recent vintage, probably were programmed to believe that daylight-saving time begins on the first Sunday in April and ends the final Sunday in October. Those rules, in place for two decades, were overturned by a 2005 U.S. law that extended daylight-saving time by three weeks in the spring and one week in the autumn.

"It's an annoyance and it's an inconvenience," Jonathon Giffin, a Georgia Tech professor, told CBS News correspondent Daniel Sieberg.

This change is nice for after-dinner strolls and might even save some energy (which was Congress' motive), but the computing industry has had to scramble. Many people only recently realized the change would even impact computers.

"This has been a little bit of a sleeper issue," said Brian Mulford, chief technology officer at Regulus Group LLC, which handles payments and other transactions for large consumer companies.

Microsoft and Apple users are covered if they have the latest versions of their operating systems, but very few people have upgraded to Microsoft's new Windows Vista, CBS News technology analyst Larry Magid said. Apple says it adjusted its calendar when it released OS X 10.4.5 in February 2006, though the company recommends users update again because "some additional regions that recently adopted time zone and DST changes."

Computing vendors developed and sent out patches that alter how software deals with daylight-saving time — which should cover most home PC users. Those who rely heavily on calendar programs should visit their software providers' Web sites for advice.

"The average person, John and Jane computer user, is unlikely to see much of a problem, if anything," said David Keller, founder of Compu-Doctor, a computer-help provider in Florida.

Of course, Magid notes that some devices might have to be manually updated, such as DVD players, microwave ovens, clocks, digital watches or car clocks that are automatically programmed to change to daylight-saving time. If that's the case, you'll probably have to manually reset the clock this weekend and every other time switches are made between daylight-saving and standard time.

But in many complex networks with a range of newer and older equipment, on-the-fly tweaks sometimes have been unavailable. That has forced systems engineers to study how various computing applications deal with time, and make manual fixes if necessary.

The process reminded some people of the planning for the widely feared Year 2000 bug, even if the effects of this glitch — computer time is an hour off — appear way less threatening.

"We're going back to our Y2K lists to refresh our memories, to see what we did where and whether any of those areas are applicable to this, and sometimes the answer is yes," Ronner said.

Some of Ronner's telecom engineers will be able to dial in remotely Sunday to make sure the time change went seamlessly at Catholic HealthCare's offices and hospitals. But in some cases they might have to drive to a hospital to make a manual update.

Otherwise, Ronner said, things like voicemails about patient care might get an erroneous time stamp.

"There's a lot to consider," Ronner said. "Something that seems as simple as turning a clock back has amazing and extensive implications in everything you touch here, because so many things are date- and time-stamped."

Mulford said one potential issue for Regulus' customers was that improperly updated computers in financial services companies could register deposits or other transactions on the wrong day, if being one hour off made them miss some daily cut-off point.

He said customers' systems were patched and secured by January — though just to be safe, he plans to have extra support staff around this weekend in case clients have time-related problems. All that remained on Mulford's checklist this week was ensuring that his company's own employees' PCs and portable devices were up to date.

"It's the random printer out there with a time stamp that we're fixing this week," he said.

Some computer glitches may not show up until Monday, the first business day under the new daylight-saving schedule. But computing experts don't expect major problems to erupt.

Even Ronner, with his meticulous plan for dealing with the switch, doesn't seem too worried. When asked what he'd be doing early Sunday as standard time changes to daylight time, he replied: "I'm sleeping in. I'll only be called if something doesn't work."

Time Change Brings Relief To One Indiana County

Folks in Pulaski County in northwest Indiana hope the move actually ends a time zone muddle born of the state's 2005 decision to observe daylight-saving time statewide.

"Whenever I make an appointment I say, 'It's 11:45 here, what time is it there?"' said Sheila Garling, owner of Gear Up Sports & Apparel, who has trouble keeping track of which time zone she's in.

Pulaski County was pulled an hour into the future — at least on the clock — when lawmakers approved statewide observance of daylight-saving time two years ago.

The U.S. Department of Transportation initially recommended that Pulaski and several surrounding counties remain in the Eastern zone. But the department ultimately placed Pulaski in the Central zone and most other nearby counties in Eastern.

Pulaski County officials disliked being an hour out of sync with their neighbors and vowed to move to Eastern time on their own. They changed their minds when government lawyers threatened to sue and decided instead to formally petition for a return to Eastern.

But many individuals and institutions never took to Central time. The county's biggest school district, which has students who live in Eastern time zone counties and shares programs, decided to observe Eastern time to minimize confusion.

The clock on the county courthouse in Winamac stayed on Central time, while the digital clock a half mile away outside the First Federal Savings Bank moved to Eastern. So one shows 10:15 a.m. while the other displays 11:15 a.m., and neither is wrong.

County officials switched the work hours for most county employees from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST to 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Central time — making the change in time zones a change in name only for some.

"That was confusing in itself, but people lived through it," County Commissioner Michael Tiede said.

To the relief of many, federal officials in February approved Pulaski County's request to return to Eastern time.

But Dennis Gutwein, the pastor at the First Baptist Church, thinks there's still room for confusion come Sunday.

Gutwein has kept his clocks on Central time, so with daylight time and the return to Eastern time, he'll move them forward two hours Sunday. He predicts some people might show up for Sunday school at 9:30 a.m. EDT, others at 9:30 a.m. EST and others at 9:30 a.m. CST.

"It will be strange," he said.

Confusion on U.S.-Mexico Border?

Mexico will not change its clocks until April 1. That means three weeks of confusion for those who split their lives between the two countries.

But no one along the border expects major problems, and some said it would be just like before Mexico adopted daylight-saving time in 1996.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Felix Garza said the two governments had to coordinate schedules for closing the international bridges across the Rio Grande at night.

"Let us suppose we open our hours of operation at the cargo lot at 6 a.m. ... It's going to be 5 in Mexico," he said. "For that one hour we're not going to get any business because the Mexican government is not operational. We just cannot afford to sit there and not have any activity."

Miriam Medel Garcia, spokeswoman for the Mexican consulate in McAllen, Texas, said Mexicans and Texans need to be careful.

"We're only telling people they need to pay attention to flights, to office hours, that sort of thing."

"It's almost like an advantage for us, though maybe not for the people coming this way," said Bill Summers of the Rio Grande Valley Partnership in Texas. "For us, we can leave an hour later, get there an hour earlier."