Daylight Savings Time Patch is here. All my appointments on my BlackBerry are showing up 1 hour behind now! I think this patch will fix them.

- You need to open the Install Page in IE(!) - this update is implemented as an activeX control.
- Be sure to have your Desktop Manager closed.
- Plug in your device after you get to the install page with the ActiveX plugin loaded. It will auto-sense the Blackberry is connected.
- Click the Update button to download the update to your Blackberry.
- You will get an alert telling you it can take up to 20(!) minutes to reset your device. Mine just took a couple of minutes.

Finally, I can report thtat this DID work. My appointments during the next week have been shifted to their correct times.

Note: If you upgrade the Blackberry system software you have to COME BACK HERE to re-install the DST patch.

Daylight Saving Time is defined in the US Code. But it has not been updated to reflect the change made in the Energy Policy Act of 2005.

Historical Daylight Saving Time:
First Sunday in April - Last Sunday of October

As amended by The Energy Policy Act of 2005 (begins 2007):
Second Sunday of March - First Sunday of November

The effect of the law is to give us 238 days of DST. Depending on the year, the old rules gave us either 203 or 210 days of DST. The Energy Policy Act adds either 4 or 5 weeks to DST (theoretically saving energy since we'll be up earlier in the day and go to bed earlier at night).

The following Excel formulas calcuate the start and end dates of Daylight Saving Time, following the new rules:
=DATE(Year,3,MOD(1-WEEKDAY(DATE(Year,3,1)),7)+8)
=DATE(Year,11,MOD(1-WEEKDAY(DATE(Year,11,1)),7)+1)

The change may NOT be permanent.

Quoted: ENERGY POLICY ACT OF 2005, SEC. 110. DAYLIGHT SAVINGS.
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 3(a) of the Uniform Time Act of 1966(15 U.S.C. 260a(a)) is amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘first Sunday of April’’ and inserting ‘‘second Sunday of March’’; and
(2) by striking ‘‘last Sunday of October’’ and inserting ‘‘first Sunday of November’’.
(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (a) shall take effect 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act or March 1, 2007, whichever is later.
(c) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later than 9 months after the effective date stated in subsection (b), the Secretary shall report to Congress on the impact of this section on energy consumption in the United States.
(d) RIGHT TO REVERT.—Congress retains the right to revert the Daylight Saving Time back to the 2005 time schedules once the Department study is complete.

For reference, here's the 2005 list of Time's 50 coolest web sites.

Quoted: Our annual survey of top sites to inform, amuse and delight

Time magazines pick for the 50 coolest web sites of 2006.