When Time Stamps Go Bad

The biggest application for our audio recording program is logging telephone calls. Sound-activated recording is used to separate calls, and the time code display is handy for displaying when calls occur.

So this news item (which AFAIK does not involve our product) caught our attention:

A Hempfield Area High School sophomore spent 12 days in juvenile detention after authorities in Westmoreland County mistakenly charged him with making a March 11 bomb threat, in part because the district had not changed its clocks to reflect daylight-saving time.

…

The teen said he did call the school’s delay hot line early Sunday, March 11. But that was an hour before the bomb threat was phoned in, said the family’s attorney, Tim Andrews. After Webb’s parents obtained his cell phone records, Andrews found the call times did not match.

…

“All the time stamps were screwed up. Some did (change over), some didn’t,” Charlton said. “Everyone’s system had to be set manually. There were a lot of clocks involved.”

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

This is a good reminder that accuracy in recording systems could have consequences, and I had better go back and test program code carefully.