Cache found-it times

[+lee737]

The current time as I write this is 1050h Sunday, 27 October 2024 (Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)).
I found a cache today, at approximately midday local time in Sydney Australia, logged on the spot - this would be approx 0100UTC 27/10/2024.
The MyFinds PQ I downloaded today gives the following Found Date for this cache-
<Groundspeak:date>2024-10-27T18:48:35Z</Groundspeak:date>

How is this?
That is 8hr in the future.....

I've been writing some code to pull some stats from the MyFinds PQ and note that time periods I give it don't match other sources for find counts... otherwise this isn't a big deal... But it seems something isn't right in time/date recording....

Edited October 27, 2024 by lee737

[+fizzymagic]

I first complained about the time not being included in cache logs in 2003. I pointed out then that it's not like the timezone for any point on the Earth is a mystery.

 

It will never change.

[+lee737]

I know there has been issues with times and timezones for ages - but this shows what can only be a bug/error.... not only is the time stamp incorrect, at the time it was 'calculated' that time had never existed on the planet!

 

[+lee737]

Another one from this weekend.

Logged at 15:48h 2024-10-26 (UTC+11) - ie 04:48h 2024-10-26 (UTC)

 

GPX file shows - <Groundspeak:date>2024-10-26T22:48:41Z</Groundspeak:date>

 

I can only assume that 'Groundspeak date' is a special time zone, unrelated to UTC???

[+barefootjeff]

37 minutes ago, lee737 said:

can only assume that 'Groundspeak date' is a special time zone, unrelated to UTC???

 

It's the time zone on the planet where the Cosmic Quest aliens live. Makes as much sense as anything.

[+lee737]

These times are all 7hr out - 7hr has been added to the log date-time, and this is being called Z/UTC time.

Seattle is UTC -7hr.

Is the server taking my local time, and 'converting' it to UTC by adding 7hr, as you would do with Seattle local time?

[+barefootjeff]

34 minutes ago, lee737 said:

These times are all 7hr out - 7hr has been added to the log date-time, and this is being called Z/UTC time.

Seattle is UTC -7hr.

Is the server taking my local time, and 'converting' it to UTC by adding 7hr, as you would do with Seattle local time?

 

I've just run my own My Finds PQ and have started trawling through it. It looks like all the ones I've logged through the website have a time stamp of 19:00:00Z, but the most recent one I did through the official app, which was my FTF on Not Shy of a Spark (GCAWEZ6), has a date/time stamp of 2024-09-18T22:19:03Z. I found the cache at 3:10pm on the 18th of September, which would have been 05:10Z, so yes, it's added 7 hours to the local time here (instead of subtracting 10) to get the UTC time.

Edited October 28, 2024 by barefootjeff

[+JL_HSTRE]

Since logs aren't always written at GZ (and couldn't be for the first decade) time in a log seems to have a high likelihood of inaccuracy and therefore little value.

[+egroeg]

1 hour ago, JL_HSTRE said:

.... and therefore little value.

 

For those cachers who enjoy their souvenirs, an early or late time stamp might prevent them from receiving their souvenir of the day.  Therefore, great value.

[+lee737]

To be honest I don't really care about the time found - I'd prefer to just have the (accurate) local date recorded. It isn't that difficult to code in to my program to correct for this 7 hours, but just a headache that isn't needed!

[+JL_HSTRE]

21 hours ago, egroeg said:

 

For those cachers who enjoy their souvenirs, an early or late time stamp might prevent them from receiving their souvenir of the day.  Therefore, great value.

 

That should be based on the date of the log, not the time. 

[+egroeg]

22 minutes ago, JL_HSTRE said:

 

That should be based on the date of the log, not the time. 

And if the wrong Zulu time puts them into the wrong day??  If I make a find at 10PM on Tuesday, but the time is recorded as 5AM Wednesday??