From Deseret News archives:
Minor computer glitches as clocks spring ahead
Among the problems that were reported: Some customer-service call centers struggled to open at the proper hour. Calendar software inconsistently displayed meeting times.
But for the most part, the software patches and other tweaks applied by technology administrators worked as planned.
"It was not very serious, but a lot of work had been happening in the last weeks or two months to prepare for all this," said Julien Courbe, managing director of the financial services practice at BearingPoint Inc., a technology consultancy. "I think the work was comprehensive enough."
Courbe said his team at BearingPoint fixed the daylight-saving rules on 25,000 servers for its customers before the changeover and ended up with just a dozen "causing trouble." Usually those were in older programs, he said.
Like us humans, computers had to adapt to being told that daylight-saving time no longer begins the first weekend in April. The switch (along with a one-week extension of daylight time beginning this fall) stemmed from a 2005 federal law that sought to save energy by shifting more natural light to the evening hours.
If corporate tech administrators had done nothing, computers programmed before the 2005 law would have kept standard time until April 1. Nothing dire was likely to happen, unlike the computer crashes feared when the Y2K bug made machines think 1999 had given way to 1900. Still, being an hour off could disrupt calendaring software and transaction processing.
For example, some financial networks require that multiple machines coordinate, and an errant computer could screw it up. That's why the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq Stock Market ran tests Sunday before pronouncing their systems fit for Monday's trading sessions.
But while the markets ticked on as usual, not everything was running correctly.
Anthony Hersey went to the Office of the City Clerk in New York on Monday to get a marriage license, and noticed that its computer-controlled time stamp said 7:50 a.m., even though the office didn't open until 8:30.
Comments
- Utah women lag in higher education 1:16 a.m.
- Hatch empathizes with Muslims 1:14 a.m.
- Matheson gets no thanks from GOP 1:13 a.m.
- Mitchell seeks to block witnesses 1:12 a.m.
- Party insiders may take on Bennett 1:11 a.m.
- Input sought on nondiscrimination 1:11 a.m.
- Am. Fork band hopes for nationals 1:10 a.m.
- Healthy Toews leads Blackhawks 1:04 a.m.
- Sandy may give $10K to bowl game 12:45 a.m.
- Mayors compete for charity 12:43 a.m.
- TCU showdown has big implications
- Seniors helped BYU regroup
- Lambert surprisingly tops news
- Hope for single moms
- Bystanders framed for child porn
- Korver and Miles to be evaluated
- Soccer MVPs know how to win
- Utah Jazz Extra: Whose hot/not
- Matheson gets no thanks from GOP
- Newhouse Hotel, an explosive end
- House passes health care bill
228 - TCU showdown has big implications
183 - Lobo suspended
182 - Cougars crush hapless Cowboys
154 - Utah Jazz fall apart against Kings
131 - TCU 4th in AP poll; U. 16th, Y. 22nd
118 - Thousands protest health bill
114 - RSL rallies to advance
103 - No 'backlash' for pioneers, gays analogy
97 - Utes pound winless Lobos
89
NASA's Stardust probe continues to bring new knowledge about the nature...
Today's blog is brought to you by the letter S. That's right, it's...
f you don't have an Xbox 360 and always wanted one, Saturday is your day.
Sounds like a good option if you can't or won't switch to AT&T for the...
I worked with and around Bill Sederburg for 5 years while he was at...
hand. He needs to work on his moves to the basket and rebounding. Lateral...
play Fez or Koufos tonight. He went with a smaller line up and Boozer, Okur...
I've met Bennett before and he is a nice man. He also knows the Constitution...
That's never been a secret. Everyone will pay for it except those that don't...
I agree with NonMormon. I am active LDS, and I enjoy Ash's articles, and I...
I kept saying don't resign Milsap, especially after Portland offered that...
BYU is the slowest team that has ever been in the top 25. Utah will put up a...
i think u have the cowboys ranked too low! at least an A- LOL nice work!




You can be the first to comment on this story.