Getting my local time on posts instead of PST

February 25, 2002 6:11 PM

How about, when previewing a comment, showing the current time in much the same way that the actual posted comment is flagged? (more)
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken to Feature Requests at 6:11 PM (15 comments total)

I know it's lazy, but I'm always going through mental gymnastics off in my far-flung time zone trying to figure out how late to the party I am on a given thread, or conversely if the previous comment was posted scant seconds before. I invariably get it wrong.

Just asking, at preview stage, for :

posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:42 AM PST

rather than just

posted by stavrosthewonderchicken

...
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:13 PM on February 25, 2002

Um...I don't see the point.

Why don't you just figure out what your time zone is in relation to PST?

You can look at your watch and know what time it is and convert it to PST in seconds in your head or online and know if you're posting a few hours after the last comment or minutes...

Perhaps we should just switch to Internet Time.
posted by jacobw at 8:03 PM on February 25, 2002

I could add that, if it really matters to you.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 8:09 PM on February 25, 2002

Why don't you just figure out what your time zone is in relation to PST?

I think the point is that computers are really good at doing stuff like this. Much better than humans.
posted by daveadams at 9:00 PM on February 25, 2002

Why don't you just figure out what your time zone is in relation to PST?

Perhaps it's just me jacobw, but I find it gives me a headache trying to add subtract 17 hours (is it 17? I'm not even sure at the moment, with daylight savings and stuff), or alternately think to myself "OK - yesterday, plus 7 would be.... uhhhh" every time I post...if it were 2 or 3 hours difference, it might be a bit easier, but I'm on the other side of the planet here.

I got a degree in math way back when, but it would appear that that part of my brain that is responsible for calculating stuff like this is on permanent hiatus.

It's a very minor pony I know, but it would certainly make my life that much easier, and perhaps those of other similarly with similar time-zone-calculation-blind-spots in their brains. If it's not a hassle, mathowie?
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:00 PM on February 25, 2002

The part of my brain that stops me from writing phrases like "those of other similarly with similar" is also broken, it would seem.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 9:01 PM on February 25, 2002

You can use Virtual Reality Time which is the one time in the world where no one actually lives in the flesh. There's nothing but Atlantic Ocean and a few islands maybe. Therefore it's equally annoying to everybody.
posted by ZachsMind at 9:03 PM on February 25, 2002

I think Stavros' request makes sense, especially for people who don't live in areas where daylight savings is used.
posted by riffola at 9:48 PM on February 25, 2002

I'll put the timestamp in, but does that additional information factor into your posting habits at all? If you've got something to say, does it matter if it was 3 minutes or 3 hours after the last post?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 11:21 PM on February 25, 2002

I don't think the time factors into posting, but it does give a bit of a clue as to how fast the discussion is going/whether it's dying down, and how likely you are to get a response to your own comment. I personally don't browse by most recently commented, for example.
I have absolutely no sense of time(besides the fact that my days start at 3AM lately), and have enough difficulty remembering all the timestamps are Pacific. Can imagine the hell that can be for Stavros.
posted by Su at 2:05 AM on February 26, 2002

Can imagine the hell that can be for Stavros.

Yow. What a special Hell.

"Huh!?! What!?! Where'd all these empty bottles come from!?! My head hurts..."
posted by y2karl at 6:13 AM on February 26, 2002

If you've got something to say, does it matter if it was 3 minutes or 3 hours after the last post?

Yes, it does, quite often.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:40 AM on February 26, 2002

Yup, if it's 3 minutes or 3 hours he just doesn't bother. The man's looking for something in between - and who can blame him? ;)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 7:58 AM on February 26, 2002

There's also the current (server) time in the top right hand corner of the page.
posted by gi_wrighty at 8:14 AM on February 26, 2002

...does that additional information factor into your posting habits at all?

I'm one of the people who gets bored with some of my own replies, deciding at the preview stage not to post them. Putting the time in the preview would help me make that decision when I've arrived way too late.
posted by rcade at 8:23 AM on February 26, 2002