I've been creating kml files for a while now, using TimeStamps so that I can use the time scaling control. It used to be that times specified as UTC (with a 'Z' character at the end) would not be changed by Google Earth. They've apparently changed their approach and now adjust the UTC time to the local time of wherever a Placemark is located. For example:
<Placemark>
<name>1324</name>
<description>Local time: 13:50:12</description>
<Point>
<altitudeMode>relativeToGround</altitudeMode>
<coordinates>-79.344437,43.679943,0</coordinates>
</Point>
<TimeStamp><when>2012-09-26T13:50:12Z</when></TimeStamp>
</Placemark>
This location is set to 13:50:12 (1:50:12 PM), but will appear in the time slider control as 08:50:12, the "adjusted" local time for Toronto (North American Eastern Time Zone). I tried different formats for the timestamp:
<TimeStamp><when>2012-09-26T13:50:12Z</when></TimeStamp>
<TimeStamp><when>2012-09-26T13:50:12</when></TimeStamp>
<TimeStamp><when>2012-09-26T13:50:12+00:00</when></TimeStamp>
<TimeStamp><when>2012-09-26T13:50:12-00:00</when></TimeStamp>
And only specifying the offset (which I want to avoid) makes Google Earth give out the correct time:
<TimeStamp><when>2012-09-26T13:50:12-05:00</when></TimeStamp>
What is the format (if any) to tell Google Earth to ignore the timezone, to basically not adjust times?
Add-on: Working example at http://pastebin.com/DahChjsT, save as .kml and open.
Using latest version of free Google Earth, 7.0.1.8244 (beta)