While I’ve used my Raycast Timezone Converter daily and have been happy with it, there’s always been a major missing feature: support for time ranges. While it’s great to convert a start time, I end up manually adding end times, which, let’s be honest, is downright silly when we have computers.

Well, I’ve fixed that, while keeping the base functionality and ease of use. In fact, I levelled it up considerably. 

Before this process, I had no idea that there are over 600 combinations of time zones and cities in the database used by the apps we rely on. For example, Chicago, Belize, Mexico City, Saskatchewan, and the Galapagos Islands have the same offset from Greenwich (-6) and are included in the comprehensive list. 

That said, there are gaps. For example, my hometown of Austin is absent, as are many other large cities. So the extension supports a bunch of aliases.

Ranges

To the heart of the change: you can now specify a time range with natural language:

• 1pm - 3pm
• 1pm to 3pm
• 11pm through 1am
• 2pm until 4pm.
• next Friday 1pm - 3pm
• Thursday 9am to 11am

Format

The extension continues to support two output formats (inline and list). For example, you could enter 1pm - 3pm for the time and Austin, London, Sydney for the locations and have it output as either:

Inline

1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Austin / 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM London / 6:00 AM - 8:00 AM Sydney

List

• 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM Austin
• 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM London
• 6:00 AM - 8:00 AM Sydney

(I use the bullet character (•) for appearance, but to ensure support in plaintext, it doen't paste as a proper list in apps like Gmail or Word.)

Overnight ranges

Working with global teams sometimes results in dealing with different days, not just different hours. So, when a time range crosses midnight in any output timezone, or when the input includes an explicit date, the extension will include day labels :

• 11:00 PM (Friday) - 12:00 AM (Saturday) Austin
• 5:00 AM - 6:00 AM (Saturday) London
• 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM (Saturday) Sydney

A range that stays within the same day gets one label after the end time. One that crosses midnight gets a label on each side.

Timezone coverage

As noted above, the extension now uses the JavaScript Intl API, which covers roughly 600 IANA timezones. That means that most city, country, and region names work out of the box.

There's also a curated list to handle what the native API misses, including standard abbreviations, airport codes (NYC, LAX, SFO, LHR, CDG, DXB, NRT, among many others), and informal names (howdy ATX!).

Abbreviations

There are now over 350 abbreviations.

Africa

• EAT → East Africa Time (Nairobi)
• SAST → South Africa Standard Time (Johannesburg)
• CAT → Central Africa Time (Harare)
• WAT → West Africa Time (Lagos)

Cities & Airport Codes

• JNB / SOUTH AFRICA / CPT / CAPE TOWN / DUR / DURBAN → Johannesburg
• NBO / KENYA / MBA / MOMBASA → Nairobi
• CAI / EGYPT → Cairo
• LOS / NIGERIA → Lagos
• ACC / GHANA → Accra
• CMN / MOROCCO → Casablanca
• ADD / ADDIS ABABA / ETHIOPIA → Addis Ababa
• DAR ES SALAAM / TANZANIA → Dar es Salaam
• ALG / ALGERIA → Algiers
• TIP / LIBYA → Tripoli
• KRT / SUDAN → Khartoum
• ABJ / IVORY COAST → Abidjan
• DKR / SENEGAL → Dakar
• UGANDA → Kampala
• ZIMBABWE → Harare
• ZAMBIA → Lusaka
• TUNISIA → Tunis

Asia

• IST / INDIA → India Standard Time (Kolkata)
• JST → Japan Standard Time (Tokyo)
• KST → Korea Standard Time (Seoul)
• CST-CN → China Standard Time (Shanghai)
• HKT → Hong Kong Time
• SGT → Singapore Time
• PHT → Philippine Time (Manila)
• ICT → Indochina Time (Bangkok)
• WIB → Western Indonesia Time (Jakarta)
• GST → Gulf Standard Time (Dubai)
• PKT → Pakistan Standard Time (Karachi)
• BDT → Bangladesh Standard Time (Dhaka)
• NPT → Nepal Time (Kathmandu)
• MMT → Myanmar Time (Yangon)

Cities & Airport Codes

• NRT / HND / JAPAN / OSAKA → Tokyo
• ICN / KOREA → Seoul
• PVG / PEK / BEIJING / CHINA → Shanghai
• HKG / HONG KONG → Hong Kong
• SIN → Singapore
• BOM / MUMBAI / DEL / DELHI / NEW DELHI → Kolkata
• BLR / BANGALORE / MAA / CHENNAI / MADRAS → Kolkata
• HYD / HYDERABAD / COK → Kolkata
• MNL / PHILIPPINES → Manila
• BKK / THAILAND / HAN / HANOI → Bangkok
• CGK / INDONESIA → Jakarta
• KUL / MALAYSIA → Kuala Lumpur
• DXB / UAE / AUH / ABU DHABI → Dubai
• DOH / DOHA / QATAR → Qatar
• RUH / SAUDI ARABIA / JED / JEDDAH → Riyadh
• TLV / TEL AVIV / ISRAEL → Jerusalem
• KHI / PAKISTAN / ISB / ISLAMABAD / LHE / LAHORE → Karachi
• DAC / BANGLADESH → Dhaka
• KTM / NEPAL → Kathmandu
• CMB / SRI LANKA → Colombo
• RGN / MYANMAR → Yangon
• SGN / SAIGON / VIETNAM → Ho Chi Minh City
• PNH / CAMBODIA → Phnom Penh
• VTE / LAOS → Vientiane

Europe

• GMT / BST → London
• UTC → UTC
• WET / WEST → Lisbon
• CET / CEST → Central European Time (Paris)
• EET / EEST → Eastern European Time (Helsinki)
• MSK → Moscow Time
• IST → India Standard Time (Kolkata) — see Asia section
• IST-IE → Irish Standard Time (Dublin)
• IST-EU → Turkey Time (Istanbul)

Cities & Airport Codes

• LHR / LGW / UK / ENGLAND → London
• BHX / BIRMINGHAM / MAN / MANCHESTER → London
• CDG / FRANCE → Paris
• FRA / GERMANY / HAM / HAMBURG / MUC / MUNICH → Berlin
• AMS / NETHERLANDS → Amsterdam
• MAD / SPAIN / BCN / BARCELONA → Madrid
• AGP / MALAGA / VLC / VALENCIA / SEVILLA / SEVILLE → Madrid
• FCO / ITALY / MXP / MILAN → Rome
• ZRH / SWITZERLAND / GVA / GENEVA / BERN → Zurich
• VIE / AUSTRIA → Vienna
• ARN / SWEDEN → Stockholm
• OSL / NORWAY → Oslo
• CPH / DENMARK → Copenhagen
• HEL / FINLAND → Helsinki
• WAW / POLAND → Warsaw
• PRG → Prague
• BUD → Budapest
• ATH / GREECE → Athens
• LIS / PORTUGAL → Lisbon
• BRU / BELGIUM → Brussels
• SVO / RUSSIA / LED / SAINT PETERSBURG / ST PETERSBURG → Moscow
• TURKEY → Istanbul
• IRELAND → Dublin
• KBP / KIEV / UKRAINE → Kyiv

North America

• EST / EDT / ET / EASTERN → Eastern Time
• CST / CDT / CT / CENTRAL → Central Time
• MST / MDT / MT / MOUNTAIN → Mountain Time
• PST / PDT / PT / PACIFIC → Pacific Time
• AKST / AKDT → Alaska Time
• HST → Hawaii Time
• AST / ADT → Atlantic Time (Halifax)
• NST / NDT → Newfoundland Time

Cities & Airport Codes

• NYC / NEW YORK / NEW YORK CITY / BOS / BOSTON → Eastern (New York)
• ATL / ATLANTA / MIA / MIAMI → Eastern (New York)
• PHL / PHILADELPHIA / PHILLY / CLT / CHARLOTTE → Eastern (New York)
• JAX / JACKSONVILLE / CMH / COLUMBUS → Eastern (New York)
• DC / WASHINGTON / WASHINGTON DC → Eastern (New York)
• DTW → Eastern (Detroit)
• IND → Eastern (Indianapolis)
• LAX / LOS ANGELES / LA / SFO / SAN FRANCISCO / SF → Pacific (Los Angeles)
• SEA / SEATTLE / SAN / SAN DIEGO → Pacific (Los Angeles)
• SJC / SAN JOSE / PDX / PORTLAND → Pacific (Los Angeles)
• LAS / LAS VEGAS → Pacific (Los Angeles)
• ORD / CHI → Central (Chicago)
• DFW / DALLAS / ATX / AUS / AUSTIN → Central (Chicago)
• HOU / HOUSTON / SAT / SAN ANTONIO → Central (Chicago)
• MSP / MINNEAPOLIS / BNA / NASHVILLE → Central (Chicago)
• OKC / OKLAHOMA CITY / FORT WORTH → Central (Chicago)
• DEN → Mountain (Denver)
• SLC / SALT LAKE CITY → Mountain (Denver)
• PHX / ARIZONA → Mountain (Phoenix)
• YYZ → Eastern (Toronto)
• YUL / MONTREAL → Eastern (Montreal)
• YVR / YYJ / VICTORIA → Pacific (Vancouver)
• YYC / CALGARY / YEG → Mountain (Edmonton)
• MEX / MEXICO → Central (Mexico City)
• HAV / CUBA → Cuba Time (Havana)

Oceania

• AEST / AEDT → Australian Eastern Time (Sydney)
• ACST → Australian Central Standard Time (Darwin)
• ACDT → Australian Central Daylight Time (Adelaide)
• AWST → Australian Western Time (Perth)
• NZST / NZDT → New Zealand Time (Auckland)

Cities & Airport Codes

• SYD / AUSTRALIA / CBR / CANBERRA → Sydney
• MEL → Melbourne
• BNE → Brisbane
• PER → Perth
• ADL → Adelaide
• AKL / NEW ZEALAND / NZ / WLG / WELLINGTON / CHC / CHRISTCHURCH → Auckland
• FIJI → Fiji
• HAWAII → Honolulu

South America

Cities & Airport Codes

• GRU / SAO PAULO / BRAZIL / GIG / RIO / RIO DE JANEIRO → São Paulo
• EZE / BUENOS AIRES / ARGENTINA → Buenos Aires
• SCL / CHILE → Santiago
• BOG / COLOMBIA → Bogotá
• LIM / PERU → Lima
• UIO / QUITO / ECUADOR → Guayaquil
• CCS / CARACAS / VENEZUELA → Caracas
• MVD / URUGUAY → Montevideo

Let me know if you have questions or ideas!

China takes energy security seriously. The enormous effort it has made to build low-carbon capacity—solar, wind, and nuclear—has to be understood as part of a broader motivation to make the country dependent on energy sources within its borders. Beijing is trying to mitigate the pain if it ever loses access to sea-lanes that deliver its oil. That is also why, in 2023, China added twenty times more coal-burning capacity than the rest of the world put together. It is serious about addressing issues in climate change, yes. But Beijing is not turning its back on its rich coal reserves. That also explains why China is so enthusiastic about electrifying the auto fleet: It would rather burn domestic coal than Middle East oil to power its cars. Dan Wang in Breakneck

in reality, prediction markets produce the opposite of accurate, unbiased information. They encourage anyone with an informational edge to use their knowledge for personal financial gain. In this way, prediction markets are the perfect technology for a low-trust society, simultaneously exploiting and reifying an environment in which believing the motives behind any person or action becomes harder. Charlie Warzel in The Central Lie of Prediction Markets