Re : How can do change default locale? (UTC time)
Not sure this is exactly related; but perhaps...
I changed General Preferences to: H:M in Ottawa (left out % since they screw up posting)
and my tiki-top_bar.tpl is:

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{include file="vball_header.tpl"} {if $feature_calendar eq 'y' and $tiki_p_view_calendar eq 'y'} {$smarty.now|tiki_short_datetime} {else} {$smarty.now|tiki_short_datetime} {/if} {if $tiki_p_admin eq 'y' and $feature_debug_console eq 'y'}  // {tr}debug{/tr} {/if}
BUT for some reason when i am logged in as Admin i get the correct output:
Tue 22 of Jun, 2004 12:49 in Ottawa
but when not logged in; i get GMT (I think??)
Tue 22 of Jun, 2004 16:49 in Ottawa
Any idea why something is changing this based on login level?