The next Y2K

The US government decided in 2005 to change the beginning and end of daylight savings time. The following changes occurred:

• Previous start: first Sunday of April (1 Apr. 2007)
• New start: second Sunday of March (11 Mar. 2007)
• Previous end: last Sunday of October (28 Oct. 2007)
• New end: first Sunday of November (4 Nov. 2007)

Since the Canadian economy is heavily dependent upon the US economy, our government has also decided to follow suit on these changes. The rationale behind these changes is increased energy savings, due to greater sunlight during the day. I have discussed the rationale behind daylight savings time in a previous post.

These new start dates will catch most people and businesses by surprise. Especially, in the business world, many IT systems may have the incorrect date for three weeks.

This issue is similar to the computer problem encountered during the turn of the century, known as the Y2K bug. People were afraid that computer systems would not process dates correctly after January 1st, 2000. Fortunately, there were only minor issues reported. However, the business world at that time took advantage of the panic of consumers to cash-in. This time, there has not been much awareness made about the daylight savings time change and I expect there will be disruptions to many services. For those people who are responsible for IT systems, I recommend you take your vacation during the week of March 11th ;-).

Clock turner extraordinaire

Daylight saving time ends tonight in most parts of North America. We move our clocks back one hour to switch back to standard time.

The rationale behind moving our clocks forward an hour in the summer is to have more sunlight during the summer days. Since peak energy (mostly electricity) consumption occurs in the evenings, by artificially moving our clocks ahead one hour means the sun sets later, saving an extra hour of energy. No additional energy consumptions occurs in the morning since the sun has already risen when people usually wake up regardless of whether we move ahead an hour or not. We change our clocks back an hour in winter because the energy savings of moving ahead an hour is offset by the sun rising later in the morning.

Supporters of daylight saving time argue that the increased daylight helps the economy because it leads to increase shopping, greater outdoor activities and less crime because of darkness.

I have always disliked daylight saving time, especially this year because it occurs in Ramadan. Since the suhoor and iftar times are changed, my biological clock will require a few days to adjust. The amount of clocks that I need to change in my house is time-consuming and painful. It is easy to move ahead an hour, but moving back an hour requires you to change the clock forward all the way around. Then there are those clocks that no one knows how to change, they remain with the incorrect time all year.

Starting in 2007, the United States wants to start daylight saving time earlier and end later. Since the Canadian economy depends heavily on the United States economy, the Ontario government has also decided to follow suit. This decision means an extra headache and inconvenience for everyone.

On a positive note, since most desi people are always late for everything, at least for one day, we can all use daylight saving time as an excuse for being late.