According to the NYT and 60 Minutes, it is believed the Conficker worm will launch some sort of undefined attack over the internet and on infected computers like sleeper cells called into action.

However this is not backed up by any credible source such as name brand antivirus sites I can find. It appears to be a rumor. It would be childs play to set the clock ahead on any computer and see what happens. It would be possible in a lab to even create a fake internet connection to date and time setting sites on the net to see what happens and to study the activity of any programs searching for anything over the net.

Therefore, I am not guaranteeing anything, but I beleive it to be a rumor or a hoax much like the year 2000 meltdown, creating FUD, fear, uncertainty and doubt.

I had Conficker and Downadup on my computer and I was able to eliminate it with Malwarebytes. I also usw AVG antivirus but it did not detect the two worms.

To be safe, I will be setting my computer's clock back on day today and I will be watching the news before I start it up on April 1.

Could April 1 be Conficker's trigger date?
Chris Keall March 30 2009

  The super-worm has made tens of millions of PCs vulnerable, yet so far delivered no payload to any. One "expert" warns that April 1 could be the date that the other boot drops.
  In a 60 Minutes video preview, reporter Lesley Stahl, without citing any source, says the Conficker worm, which "lies dormant in millions of American PCs" (and many non-American PCs, in point of fact) "could be triggered on April 1."
  Ms Stahl correctly describes the virus as "a sleeper cell programmed to receive instructions" before diving into more speculative territory about "D-Day": "No one knows if on April 1 they'll just issue instruction to just stay sitting there, or whether it will start stealing our money, or launch a spam attack."
  Ms Stahl's comments have sparked a wave of panic on the net but experts at security companies have lined up to say there is no evidence whatsoever that Conficker will trigger on April 1. A surpisingly detail-free New York Times piece echoes Ms Stahl's sentiments, adding that some kind of April 1 prank effect could be triggered (or does the entire rumour have a wiff of April 1 about it?)
  The worm's true purpose – beyond jacking up 60 Minutes ratings – remains a mystery. Conficker could well be malevolent, and could well trigger soon, but April 1 is just a date pulled from the air. And regardless of when Conficker drops, your protective advice remains the same: keep your antivirus software up-to-date and, if you're a Windows user, install Microsoft's anti-Conficker patch via http://microsoft.com/conficker.

Conficker Tests Limits of Reality and Hype
By Lawrence Walsh 2009-03-29

      April 1 is reportedly D-Day for the latest variant of the global worm, but is the hype living up to reality. Dire predictions for the wave of destruction coming with Conficker.C's activation may be grossly exaggregated, but that doesn't mean solution providers shouldn't help their customers prepare for this and many other security threats.
      In just three short days the world will learn how dangerous the latest variant of the Conficker worm is. Some reports say that more than 10 million PCs are already infected and the activation of the worm will cause massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks.
      The concern is so great that the alarms have been sounding for more than a week and the battlements manned in anticipation of an overwhelming assault by this digital menace.
      Conficker concerns have created a wave of hype so great that the FUD threatens to overwhelm networks and administrators more so than the actual worm. Over the weekend, Symantec even warned that searching for information about Conficker could open users to compromise by the malware.
      The truth about malware is much more sublime and boring than the hype of pending disaster and unthinkable destruction.