Date formats around the world

[Bill Vlahos]

How do folks deal with storing dates when the formats around the world vary so much?

Table below is for different countries according to Mac OS 10.6.2

Australia	05/01/2009	5/01/09
Canada	2009-01-05	09-01-05
Hong Kong	5 Jan 2009	05/01/2009
India	05-Jan-2009	05/01/09
Jamaica	Jan 5, 2009	1/5/09
South Africa	05 Jan 2009	2009/01/05
United States	Jan 5, 2009	1/5/09

A date string in one country isn't a date in a different country. How do you make them consistent if the user changes the formatting options?

Bill Vlahos