Time zones

[ChrisGreaves]

I have lifted the introductory test from John Walker's Blog posting for Nov 1st 2013.

Alice, who is in an Atlantic seaboard state (one of the states of the U.S., that is) is talking on the phone to Bob, who is in a Pacific seaboard state (again, one of the states of the U.S.).
“What time is it there?”, Alice says.
Bob gives the correct time where he is.
“Funny, it's the same time here” says Alice.
How is that possible?

To see the hint (and the answer) you'll have to read John Walker's blog post (and scroll down to Nov 1st).

[Claude]

And, you can find John Walker's blog here

[HansV]

I find it rather strange that

Spoiler

the boundaries of the time zones in the United States don't always coincide with the state borders...

[ChrisGreaves]

I find it rather strange that

Spoiler

the boundaries of the time zones in the United States don't always coincide with the state borders...

Spoiler

Try Broken Hill which is in New South Wales, is reported to be in the Queensland time zone, but is on Adelaide (South Australia) time!
FWIW Queensland didn't used to observe daylight-saving times, and Adelaide is 1.5 hours ahead of Western Australia, half an hour behind Victoria.

HTH

[HansV]

One wonders how they cope with time zone differences in the Cooch Behar region on the border of India and Bangla Desh. India is at UTC+5:30 and Bangla Desh at UTC+6:00.

Cooch Behar, formerly an independent principality on the Indian subcontinent and now a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, possesses 106 exclaves in Bangladesh, totaling 69.6 km². Of those, 3 are counter-enclaves and 1 a counter-counter-enclave. The biggest Indian enclave is Balapara Khagrabari (25.95 km²), the smallest Panisala (1,093 m²).
Conversely, Bangladesh possesses 92 exclaves inside India, comprising 49.7 km². Of these, 21 are counter-enclaves. The largest Bangladeshi exclave is Dahagram-Angarpota (18.7 km²), the smallest is the counter-enclave Upan Chowki Bhaini (53 m²), the smallest international enclave in the world.

[John Gray]

One wonders how they cope with time zone differences in the Cooch Behar region of India

It would seem to be a prerequisite that they understand the meaning of 'exclaves', 'enclaves', 'counter-enclaves' and 'counter-counter-enclaves'. Me, I am ignorant beyond measure!

[Claude]

Chris: FWIW, Queensland still has no DST.

[ChrisGreaves]

Chris: FWIW, Queensland still has no DST.

Thanks Claude. I'll adjust my thinking.
One day.
(I realise more and more how hopelessly out of touch I am; also how remote some of this all seems to North Americans)

[HansV]

Queensland seems quite remote to Europeans too...

[ChrisGreaves]

Queensland seems quite remote to Europeans too...

Europe? Is that part of Paris?

[Timelord]

Until 1995 (I think that was the year of the change) Indiana (a state in the midwest of the US) did not have a law regarding Daily Savings. This meant that different cities, within miles of each other, had different times for about 1/2 of the year. That got confusing. Thankfully the state finally inacted a law forcing everyone to follow daylight savings time.

[AlanMiller]

Queensland seems quite remote to Europeans too...

It's come a long way, but a few decades ago the standard line in Victoria was to remind people going to Queensland for a holiday "And don't forget to turn your watches back 20 years."

Alan