November 09 2014, 15:37

Is it just me or does “changing the clocks” bring a cloud of problems with time? Not only have I adjusted the time on my computer several times, but the real chaos happens with calendar invitations. I still haven’t fully figured out the reasons, but it seems that problems arise when the invitee and the inviter have different time zones (UTC+4 and UTC+3) but the same time (the first one changed the time zone, the second moved the clocks, so eventually both have the same time). Mail programs and calendars see that the time zones are different and perform the conversion themselves. As a result, you invite someone for 12:00, but they receive a completely different time in their email and on their calendar.

Here people are complaining about glitches in Google Calendar: http://roem.ru/2014/10/28/addednews110397/

Here’s a guide on how to tackle issues with Outlook:

http://habrahabr.ru/post/242115/

October 25 2014, 12:19

By the way, about time zones, I’ve been doing some research and dug up some interesting facts.

China does not have time zones. It’s always Beijing time. Until the Maoist Revolution in 1949, it was like everyone else (China spans 9 time zones), but afterwards, the great Mao mandated that everyone live by a single time UTC+8. So, it turns out quite amusingly — in Tibet, sunsets are delayed by about five hours — the sun sets at midnight.

Because of this, between Afghanistan and China, the clocks are shifted by a whole 3.5 hours. That’s really a place to lose time. Or find it.

Interestingly enough, India and England have a 5.5-hour difference. The English even have a very practical joke about it: “If you want to know the time in India, just turn the clock upside down.”

To emphasize its independence, Nepal moved its clock forward by 10 minutes from India’s time, then after some thought, shifted it another 5 minutes.

At the time of writing this post, it was 20:15 in Moscow, 21:45 in India, and 22:00 in Nepal. Additionally, in Australia, five cities live by UTC+8:45.