# Does anybody know what time it is? Does anybody really care? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 19, 2002, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-time-it-is-does-anybody-really-care/99011 "2002-03-19T07:16:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-time-it-is-does-anybody-really-care/99011/1 "2002-03-19T07:16:09Z")
I notice that the board default time is set to GMT. However, the default time in the profile section is set to GMT+6 for Chicago. I’m wondering if this mismatch is 1) intentional and 2) possibly related to the instantly expiring cookies that make many of us have to log on four or five times in order to post. ---
**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-time-it-is-does-anybody-really-care/99011/2 "2002-03-19T08:04:55Z")
> [@](#): > > Does anybody know what time it is? I know Chicago ain’t GMT+6. > [@](#): > > Does anybody really care? Not unless I have to change planes at O’Hare. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-time-it-is-does-anybody-really-care/99011/3 "2002-03-19T19:50:32Z")
For what it’s worth, Chicago is actually GMT -6, but other than showing the times funny, I don’t think that that should matter. For all your browser knows or cares, the SDMB could be located in the middle of Asia, but that shouldn’t change things like the length of logins. ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-time-it-is-does-anybody-really-care/99011/4 "2002-03-20T00:51:18Z")
Well, I’m not so sure. It seems odd to me that there is a mismatch between the board time zone and the default time zone. Suppose, for example, the cookie time stamp is being set with one and then compared with the other? Anyway, _something_ is causing cookies to expire almost instantaneously. By the way, in order to post this, I had to log in three times. Once to write it, once to preview it and once to post it. It’s likely that I’ll have to login again after typing this. ---
**Author:** ![Nightsong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nightsong/32/3083_2.png) [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-time-it-is-does-anybody-really-care/99011/5 "2002-03-20T01:17:56Z")
How odd: I’m in the Central time zone also, and it’s been showing the right value (-6) for me. I did notice one time that when it was 10:00-ish in the morning, the board said it was 4-something. Unfortunately, I wasn’t awake enough at the time to do more than: “Huh? Oh. _click_” * * * \<\< Hmm. \>\> ---
**Author:** ![sirjamesp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@sirjamesp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirjamesp)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-time-it-is-does-anybody-really-care/99011/6 "2002-03-20T08:47:05Z")
**Earthling** mentioned this a while ago [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=103275), and some of the questions were answered, though the reason why GMT was chosen was not cleared up. Regarding the cookies thing - mine sometimes expire extremely quickly, even though my time zone is GMT +1, so I don’t think it’s anything to do with time zones. The glitch is rare enough for me to ignore, though. ---
**Author:** ![sirjamesp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@sirjamesp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirjamesp)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 8:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anybody-know-what-time-it-is-does-anybody-really-care/99011/7 "2002-03-20T08:54:12Z")
More on the cookies thing [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=104197). Check your CP settings to make sure you “browse with cookies” and “log in with cookies”. Other than that, it seems its a problem that the admins are looking into.