This coming Sunday, Americans gain our precious extra hour of sleep — unless, of course, you live in Arizona, where the clock stays the same or select Indian reservations in Arizona that do observe daylight savings. Why you gotta make things so complicated, AZ?
Be warned: There seems to be a glitch in the Mac matrix that could trip users up. (Hey, programmers are human too.) Given evidence from last week’s time change in the European Union, iPhone users may want to check their alarms to keep from screwing up brunch plans or arriving early to Sunday school. According to CNN, social networks were abuzz with bitching and moaning about the alarm clock function on the phone not properly adjusting accordingly during Europe’s time change on Monday. Europe loses an hour instead of gaining one like the US (yes, this is confusing), but while the actual time on the iPhone swung back, the alarm settings stayed the same. And just like that, European Apple fans were late to work.
Since archaic kitch like clock radios and home lines are dissapearing in the wake of do-it-all smart phones, most of us need our mobiles to get moving in the morning. If you’ve got a backup timepiece, you may want to use it, ’cause that “spring back, fall forward” business is always hella confusingon that first morning anyway. And why stop there? Turn your iPhone or iPod into a sassy musical alarm clock. Follow this simple tutorial for shaking things up (and ditching the programmed ringtones).
Apple is, no doubt, already on top of fixing the bug. We’ll know for sure on Sunday.
FYI: Daylight savings originally started as an effort to save energy during WWI. Of course, we need to save energy now as much as ever, but there are probably still more florescent lights glaring at high noon than any cubicle needs. Flip the switch and opt for natural sunlight, unless you’re partial to florescent. And for the record, Hawaiins, Puerto Ricans, Pacific Virgin Islanders and American Samoans are not part of the daylight savings movement, likely in part because of their near equatorial locations where daylight hours don’t change much. Just making sure all of our American Samoan readers feel accounted for …
Photo courtesy of James Chutter via Flickr.
Caroline Walker is a Brooklyn-based freelance writer and editor. She has worked in both the entertainment and the nonprofit sector. Walker holds a BA from the University of Southern California and an MA from New York University’s Gallatin School.
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