An electronic information retrieval device includes a time source, a communication interface capable of communicating with one or more external devices, and at least one I/O device. The electronic information retrieval device further includes a memory storing a plurality of time values and storing a corresponding plurality of time-based initialization default values. The electronic information retrieval device obtains a current time value from the time source upon initialization of the device, compares the current time value to the plurality of time values, retrieves a corresponding particular time-based initialization default value from the plurality of time-based initialization default values, and uses the particular time-based initialization default value in the initialization.