Don't Be Late! Plan for Daylight Savings Time!

This year daylight savings time has been bumped up on the calendar in order to help save energy, but PC and consumer devices didn't get the memo.

That means you could potentially be an hour off for every appointment you have scheduled from March 11 (the new daylight saving time, 2007) through the first Sunday in April (the traditional, often programmed-into-software calendar date).

While experts are saying we're not headed for a Y2K scare, there are some concerns. Microsoft is reminding users to be cautious with calendar appointments during DST.

Blaming your PC for being late is going to get as old as "my dog at my homework", so here are some tips on how to plan ahead for the change:

1.This isn't just a personal computer problem! The new DST affects a lot of consumer electronics including your cell phone, PDA, DVD player, TiVo, digital camera, etc. As a general rule, anything that has a date setting can be affected. Check the manufacturer's web site for solutions for specific devices.

2. Cover your butt! The time changes could theoretically affect bank deposits and bill payments. To account for this, save receipts of financial transactions.

3. To circumvent PC problems, software patches are available on the Microsoft DST website. These patches will adjust the old DST information programmed into the Windows operating system and other Microsoft applications. These quick-fixes will be a part of Microsoft's "automatic update" feature. To make sure that Automatic Updates are turned on for your computer, navigate to the control panel. Vista users can rest easy because Vista is so new that it already knows about the change this year.Here are some other useful habits to engage in:

1. Put the time and date of your meeting in the body or header of an email. This way you're not relying on the system calendar or Microsoft Outlook's notifications.

2. Send verification of a meeting or appointment a day or two in advance.