Yeah, I reckon it's something to do with if you're logged in or not. When i'm logged in I get GMT and when i'm not I get Ernie Ball time (GMT +/- something).
If your always using the same computer to go to the forums and are (not a public computer) check the box that says remember me when you log in. It's pretty handy. Nothing worse than being logged in with out checking that box, typing a long post, hitting submit, and losing everything you typed because your login time was exceeded.
You guys are correct about the Time Zones
When you're logged in the times reflect the time zone you are in.
When you're logged out it reflects Pacific Time, i.e. the time zone in Coachella, California where the forum server resides.
If you're in the Pacific Time zone and wondering why it says GMT - 8 while lurking and GMT - 7 while logged in, it's because of Day Light Savings Time. However, now it should be GMT -7 when logged out, cause I just told the forum to observe DST even for logged out users.
And of course who knows, could be off an hour becuase of Dubya changing the days DST starts and ends. That's probably not a factor though unless you've never run the updates for your Operating System, whether it be Windows Update, Software Updates on Mac, or my favorite Synaptic on Ubuntu.