Chapter10: HowtoWorkinDifferentTimezones 114 6. Time ZonesAreMerciless,SoKeepYourClocksSynced GMT—otherwiseknownasUTC—isabeautifulthing.It’sthe“meansolartime at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London” according to Wikipedia, and it’s what every time zone is based on. If it’s midnight in London (GMT), then it’s 7a.m.inBangkok(GMT+7)and8p.m.thepreviousdayinNewYork(GMT-4). If you travel the world frequently, knowing which a time zone you’re in relative to GMT is crucial—and it’s also important if you’re working with a distributed team. Knowing the difference between Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time alone isn’t enough anymore. You’ll need to know the new year starts in Japan,whichtimesofthedayyou’recolleagueinLondonwillbeawake,andthe timesyou’remostlikelytogetsupportticketsfromyourAustraliancustomers. It’s not actually that hard, as long as you think about it relative to GMT/UTC.