Eternia.com

SAN FRANCISCO — The tech industry largely avoided a daylight-saving time disaster this month, but a few new glitches might pop up this weekend.

Daylight-saving time began three weeks early this year, causing a problem for thousands of older PCs, cellphones and other electronic devices. They were programmed to automatically switch the time on the traditional daylight time start date, this Sunday.

Tech devices required a software update to adjust to the new schedule. And it appears that most received those updates, since reports of problems were few, says Gary Beach, publisher of CIO Magazine.

Microsoft Vice President Rich Kaplan agrees. The company’s update Web page was accessed by millions of visitors each day in the period leading up to the time change. Visits have since dropped off.

“Things went well,” Kaplan says. “It was pretty uneventful.”

But there were some glitches. Kaplan says he’s heard tales of hotel wake-up calls coming an hour late and airport message boards posting the wrong time.

And there may be more on Sunday night. It’s likely that some consumers didn’t upgrade their older devices. Instead, they changed their clocks manually. That’s worked so far. But the devices are still programmed to change the time on the original daylight time start date. They will change the time by an hour unless that feature has been turned off.

Most businesses have already completed their daylight time upgrades. But consumers who haven’t yet tackled it should take the following steps:

•Check your devices. Most brand-new electronics, including PCs running Microsoft’s new Vista operating system, have the correct date programmed. PCs set to automatically receive software updates from Microsoft and Apple should also have the correct time.

Most cellphones and digital video recorders, such as TiVos, also automatically received an update. But other electronics, especially those with calendar features, may need it. Check with the manufacturer.

•Download needed updates. Microsoft plans to leave its update software online for at least a year. Updates for Apple, Research In Motion’s BlackBerry line of smart cellphones and other devices are still up, too.

•Take precautions. For a few weeks, double-check times of meetings and appointments stored in electronic calendars. Include the time of a meeting in the description of an event, Kaplan says. (Write “Becky’s birthday party, 5 p.m.,” instead of only “Becky’s birthday party.”)

Also, do the same in the fall, when daylight-saving time ends a week later than previously.

Source: USA Today

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