[ale] Converting time in perl

[cfowler at outpostsentinel.com (Christopher Fowler)]

I am receiving time strings in the format like this

"00:00:00 UTC"

I could receive timezones like EDT.  What I need to do is convert
that time into an epoch on my server.  The server will receive that 
string from the remote device and the server is in Eastern or Central.
Anywhere in the US.  So I will be converting that UTC time int the exact
time on the server.  Any ideas on how best to accomplish this?

Chris