Daylight Saving Time Ends Sunday - Check Your Gadgets!

At last, our long national nightmare is almost over: Our new, extra-month-long Daylight Saving Time is finally coming to an end. No more stumbling around in the dark while you try to get dressed for work. No more turning on your headlights as you drive to the office! Yay!

Of course, this also means it's time to be a little extra-vigilant when it comes to your gadgetry, which may or may not be updated to handle the new DST ending date. Last year, Daylight Savings ended a week earlier, and some gadgets may have already "fallen back" as of last Sunday.

First, check your gadget or computer to make sure it is currently showing the correct time. Also make sure that it is set for the correct time zone. If not, correct the errors. If you at all suspect your system may not yet be up to date or can't remember if you installed DST updates, proceed to the page I wrote about DST in the spring. Find your gadget or operating system on the list and click through to download the appropriate patches. All links on this page are checked and are currently up to date.

There's no harm in re-downloading a patch even if you're already installed it. Windows, for example, just aborts the installation if it finds you already have the DST patch in place. You won't fall back two hours on Sunday.

It's a good idea to ensure any patching you do is done before the time change rolls around early Sunday morning. So take a few minutes to make any updates now... and get ready to enjoy some morning light at last!

UPDATE: For those unclear on what to do, this article is written with computers and cell phones in mind... this is Yahoo! Tech, after all. If you're wondering about the regular old clocks in your house, YES, turn them back an hour!