# SDMB Time - what zone/country?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-time-what-zone-country/180238>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [June 7, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-time-what-zone-country/180238 "2003-06-07T02:59:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-time-what-zone-country/180238/21 "2003-06-11T12:48:14Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \*  
> \*\*So it’s like, always 10:00 am? 😉 \*\*

“Even a stopped clock gives the right time twice a day”. 😛

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**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\
**Post date:** [June 11, 2003, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-time-what-zone-country/180238/22 "2003-06-11T14:59:31Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by jjimm \*  
> The SDMB clock is set incorrectly for six months every year.

SDMB server’s clock reflects Chicago local time, not GMT. The server’s clock is set correctly.

> [@](#):
>
> …I don’t know if this is **Arnold’s** decision, or a vagary of the software, but it is just plain incorrect.

The  
The labels in the drop-down box (on User Control Panel \> Edit Options \> Time offset:) are incorrect 6 months of the year. That’s why there’s a FAQ post explaining it. The labels are not automatically modified when the server clock changed. That’s not my decision (I am not a vBulletin developer).

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**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:** [June 12, 2003, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-time-what-zone-country/180238/23 "2003-06-12T20:09:15Z")

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The point is, that what the Board calls “GMT” is (almost) always the time in England, but the time in England is not always GMT. Of course, even if that were fixed, there’s still the brief discontinuity from England and the U. S. not switching at the same time, but that’s relatively minor.

And while the British Isles may not see as much temperature variation as does the U. S., they see more variation in the length of the day than we do, so if anything, it makes more sense for the Isles to go to some sort of “summer time”.

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