From: stephen@sprunk.org   
      
   On 20-Jun-14 14:59, John Levine wrote:   
   >> ... and many countries don't do DST anyway; even within the US,   
   >> there are two (formerly, three) states that don't.  It's a silly   
   >> idea anyway; maybe it made sense a hundred years ago, but now the   
   >> theoretical energy savings are easily wiped out by all the energy   
   >> we expend switching our clocks back and forth.   
   >   
   > Aw, come on.  Where I am, for example, today DST moved an hour of   
   > daylight from 04:00-05:00, when almost nobody is awake, to   
   > 20:15-21:15 when almost everybody is.   
      
   Well, part of the problem is stubbornly insisting on a uniform "day"   
   dictated by clocks despite the obvious variations in solar day and   
   circadian rhythms.   
      
   Another is that our time zones probably aren't correct in the first   
   place.  If most of us (particularly along the borders) shifted one time   
   zone, we could keep the same time year-round.  Sure, the mornings in the   
   winters would be darker, but most of us have to get up in the dark   
   anyway and then head into environments that are artificially lit all day   
   anyway, so there's no energy loss there.   
      
   > If it takes a measurable amount of energy to change your clocks, you   
   > must have some pretty amazing clocks.   
      
   It's not just the specific effort of resetting the dozen or so clocks in   
   my life; it's the fact that we have to do it _at all_, all the energy   
   that is put into determining the right dates and explaining to people   
   why it "needs" to be done, making software learn how to deal with time   
   zone changes, etc.   
      
   Also, the Monday after we "spring forward" is referred to as "the   
   groggiest day of the year", and billions of dollars of productivity are   
   lost due, which easily outweighs the theoretical energy savings.   
      
   > Arizona doesn't use DST because summer days are so hot that the   
   > expense of turning on lights in the evening is dwarfed by the   
   > savings in turning down the A/C.   
      
   That's true for most of the Sun Belt, yet the other states still   
   stupidly cling to DST.   
      
   > Hawaii is so far south that the variation in day length is   
   > insignificant.   
      
   By that logic, Florida and at least half of Texas probably shouldn't do   
   DST either.   
      
   S   
      
   --   
   Stephen Sprunk         "God does not play dice."  --Albert Einstein   
   CCIE #3723         "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the   
   K5SSS        dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking   
      
   --- SoupGate/W32 v1.03   
    * Origin: LiveWire BBS -=*=- UseNet FTN Gateway (1:2320/1)