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Smart & Easy Software Tips: Daylight Savings Time
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Smart & Easy Software Tips, Tricks & Techniques: Issue #34
Publisher: Dawn Bjork Buzbee mailto:Dawn@SoftwarePro.com
The Software Pro(R), Certified Microsoft Office Expert
http://www.SoftwarePro.com
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In This Issue: Preparing for Daylight Savings Time
* Tips For Everyone
* Daylight Savings Time Resources
For everyone in the United States, we are springing forward much earlier this year. For the first time, Daylight Savings Time (DST) in the U.S. will kick off three weeks early this year, on Sunday, March 11, and end a week later, on November 4. These changes are part of an effort to conserve electricity by extending Daylight Savings Time for a month.
Although not comparable to Y2K when there were worldwide concerns over the impact of the year 2000, the change in DST is sometimes called BabyY2K. You won't need to stock rations or prepare for blackouts but you should still be prepared for some inconveniences.
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Tips For Everyone
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Readers living outside of the United States will not be affected by the change to Daylight Savings Time, and so, are less likely to need the resources provided below. For added value then, check out the variety of software handouts and shortcuts found at:
http://www.SoftwarePro.com/tips/handouts.htm
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What Should You Expect From DST?
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Many IT departments are working overtime to install and test patches designed to update calendars and other programs that are time-critical. While most of your digital world will likely automatically update with the time change, be prepared to double-check your schedule and not count on your Outlook reminders for the upcoming week.
Check out this sampling of the issues and actions related to BabyY2K:
ABC News:
http://tinyurl.com/yut7ar
PC World:
http://tinyurl.com/2l5c6a
PC Magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/3axcs3
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Microsoft Updates for DST
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If you don't happen to have your own IT department supporting your business or home computers, head to the Microsoft website to find out more about the updates that are available for your computers:
http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst
In the short run, be prepared to update your computer system clock manually and to double-check other important systems. Even with the available updates, I'm seeing a lot of technology press about a "Microsoft Meltdown." The word is that Microsoft's online DST chat room is full of customers who can't get their patches to work. Plus, Microsoft support phone lines are jammed with users with DST problems. Residual problems will likely continue when the U.S. "falls back" in November.
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DST Costly to Business
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According to a posting at ZDNet.com, Forrester analyst Jeffrey Hammond provides a conservative estimate of the costs of the DST change to be in the range of $200 million to $300 million. These costs do not, however, factor in lost productivity and other intangibles. Learn more at: http://tinyurl.com/3bk4rn
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DST Survival Tips
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Be kind to your company IT professional; they may not be getting a lot of sleep this weekend. To make sure that your sleep is not affected by the time change, check out these survival tips from ZDNet.com:
Top Ten DST Personal Survival Tips:
http://tinyurl.com/26fwbm
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Wishing you a smooth transition to Daylight Savings Time!
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Please pass this along to others who may appreciate it!
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Dawn Bjork Buzbee
The Software Pro(R)
11675 Bent Oaks Street, Suite 200
Parker, CO 80138 USA
(303) 699-6868, Fax (303) 766-0886
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