Issues running Windows Azure SDK (Ruby/C#) from Local Time when GMT -3 change didn’t happen

I was working on the Ruby Windows Azure SDK and I started receiving HTTP/1.1 403 errors, I figured out which is the problem so here you can get a simple issue analysis

Symptom
While trying to connect to Windows Azure (Storage at least) from Argentina, you get 403 errors even dough the message seems to be formatted correctly.

Issue
Argentina was supposed to change the time by adjusting it to DTS (Daylight Time Saving), one day before that happens the Argentinean Government decided not to make that change, generating a lots of implications for computer systems adjusted to DTS.

Since Windows Azure relays on UTC Timestamp for making an assertion on the signature, the current time for GMT -3 isn’t what is expected from the server side causing the whole message to fail after the an assertion of the signature.

Workaround
There’s no apparent solution yet, but there are a couple of workarounds in order to properly develop against Windows Azure from a not changed GMT -3 time zone.

• Change your time zone to GMT -4. I switched my computer back to Halifax – Canada that has GMT -4 for an Windows Azure started accepting my requests
• Keep your computer with the clock one hour ahead . Keep the current time zone without tweaking the Date/Time, but remember that you will be out of sync with the country

Both of the workarounds listed above proved to be successfully working, I will stick with GMT -4 since I guide myself (eating, sleeping, and all that) in my computer clock.

Hope it helps,
~johnny