Springing Forward: Changes to Daylight Saving Time

by Greg Thomas

The 2005 Energy Policy Act moves daylight saving time forward by three weeks to March 11. This time change is likely to throw off computer users' operating systems and calendars during those three weeks. Now, we all know some folks prefer to just Ado the math@ rather than manually resetting the clock in their car. Computer users, though, may not have that option with their desktops, notebooks and PDA=s. Installing updates, software patches and reconfiguring calendars to reflect the new time is sure to help in avoiding missed appointments and confused schedules.

Luckily, most of the changes will be felt by technologists working with system-wide hardware, not by you. For computer users, the fixes are relatively simple. If you're using Windows XP SP2 (service pack 2), with automatic updates turned on then a patch has probably already been installed to your system. If you want to confirm this, or need to work through a solution for home computers, Microsoft has a web page that walks you through the process at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst.

Any XP computers not running SP2 will require manual updates. The best approach is simply installing SP2 and then running Windows Updates since this fixes a lot more than issues dealing with time change. Computers using Windows 2000 will require update tools found at http://support.microsoft.com/gp/dst_topissues#A6a. Windows 98 is no longer supported by Microsoft and users are pretty much left on their own.

PDA=s and cell phones usually receive time settings automatically from their service provider. However, operating systems and software applications should be updated using tools provided by the hardware manufacturer or service provider. For example, Palm Treos can be updated using patch software available at http://www.palm.com/us/support/downloads/dst.html.

While you could probably survive with your clocks off by an hour for three weeks, EIT recommends taking care of this issue now so you don't have to deal with it again in November.

Web Tips – Favorite “FUN” links

compiled by Jill Hughson

The Internet is a valuable research tool, providing relevant information at your fingertips, but it can also be a good source of entertainment. This month, we’re going to explore the “fun” side of the Web. We’ve polled our TTnT Editors and asked each of them to supply their favorite non-work link and to tell us why they like it.

• Greg Thomas – “What would you like to do? Play Texas Holdem?  Use Feng Shui?  Apply to Law School?   eHow (http://www.ehow.com/) is the world's most popular place to find step-by-step instructions on how to do just about everything. Learn how stuff works, how to fix things, how to find things, how to buy things, and how to make your life easier.”
• Jennifer Jahedkar – “I like the site WikiHow (http://www.wikihow.com/Main-Page). Sometimes it has really random how-to's that I probably won't use (e.g. How to Do a Back Handspring), but others could come in handy! For instance - How to Save a Laptop from Liquid Damage and How to Construct a Raised Planting Bed.”
• Jill Hughson – “My favorite fun link is LiveJournal (http://www.livejournal.com). I used to keep a journal back in high school. This is just more convenient (and is accessible from anywhere). I use it to keep my personal thoughts as well as to keep in touch with friends all over the country.”
• Jim Segers – “One of my favorites is Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/). Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia with a brief explanation for pretty much everything.”

It’s contest time again! Send in your top 3 favorite links. We just might use them in future editions of TTnT in the Helpful Links section. We’ll choose 3 names at random from the entries received. Winners will receive a 1GB flash drive.

Have a web tip you’d like share? Send it to ajhughson@ag.tamu.edu! Please be aware that if a tip doesn’t make it in right away, we’ll save it for future use.

Helpful Links

Possible URLs to link from your Websites this Month:

• FCS – Family Resource – http://www.familyresource.com/
• AG and Natural Resource – Natural Resources Conservation Service - http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/partners/for_farmers.html
• 4H – 4-H USA Forum - http://www.4husa.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=index

Other useful links:

• EIT Learning Resources: http://eit.tamu.edu/resources.html
• EIT Tech Ops Blog: http://tceblogs.tamu.edu/wtexas/
• Brazos Valley Adobe-Macromedia Users Group : http://bvamug.tamu.edu
• Brazos Valley Web Guild: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bvweb/

Tip of the Month: Entering Recurring Events into the GroupWise Calendar

by Robert Jenson

If you have recurring events to post to your calendar, there is an easier way to post them in GroupWise than entering the event multiple times. You can use the Recurring Event feature.

To Setup Recurring Events:

1. Create a new appointment (or open an existing one)

2. Click on the calendar icon at the end of the “Start Date” field (Figure 1)

3. When the calendar pops up, there will be a “Select Recurring” option at the bottom of it (see Figure 2.)

4. There are three ways to set up the timing of the event listed on the three tabs at the top of the window - “Dates,” “Example” and “Formula” (Figures 3 & 3a)

o The “Dates” tab should be the one that is selected (and is the easiest to use)

§ Click on each day of recurrence (date will become bold)

§ This method works well for random type events

o The “Example” tab makes it easy to add events that occur on the “X” day of each week/month

Click the “Days of the Week” button to change to “Days of the Month” or “Periodic” (Figure 4)

§ Use “Days of Week/Month” for a situation like every month on the 1^st and the 15^th.

Use for week relative to a date (i.e. the Tuesday before, after, near or on the 10^th of a month, or something that occurs on the last day of each month)

§ Use “Periodic” for events on a periodic basis (i.e. every 14 days)

o The Formula tab lets you write a formula for the days you want the appointment.

§ simple - “tue” to schedule an event every Tuesday, or “feb” to schedule an event every day in February

§ complex - rather than trying to cover formula options here, go to the calendar “Help” and look under “auto-dates”

o The “Example” tab and “Formula” tab work well for events that are recurring on a regular basis

5. Click “OK” when all recurring events have been scheduled

To Delete a Recurring Event:

1. Select the event and press “Delete” on the keyboard or click the “Delete” icon
2. Choose to delete “all occurrences” or just the individual occurrence that was selected (Figure 5)

Deleting an individual occurrence of a recurring event does not affect the other occurrences

Hopefully, this will make scheduling in your GroupWise calendar a little easier.