No, view new posts should update every time you log in to the site. You can also use the button on the left at the top that says "view last days posts" and that will bring up all the threads with activity in the last 24 hours. The time is set to GMT on the server because we have users from all over the world. If you click on usercp in the upper right hand corner and then click on user options down near the bottom you'll see where you can set what time zone you are in.
-Steve