title: How can I parse dates and convert time zones in Perl?
body: <p>I've used the <a href="http://perldoc.perl.org/functions/localtime.html" rel="noreferrer">localtime</a> function in Perl to get the current date and time but need to parse in existing dates. I have a GMT date in the following format: "20090103 12:00" I'd like to parse it into a date object I can work with and then convert the GMT time/date into my current time zone which is currently Eastern Standard Time. So I'd like to convert "20090103 12:00" to "20090103 7:00" any info on how to do this would be greatly appreciated.</p>