Is it Leap Year?

As the YEAR 2000 gets nearer and nearer, we hear about more and more exotic problems. And it is really amazing that there are so many 286,386, and even 486 based computers still out there.

But then again, we drive 30 year old cars, clean our cloths in 20 year old washing machines, cook on 15 year old stoves, and watch 10 year old TVs. Why shouldn't we still use 5 year old computers?

Are these marvels of our time not made with the best technology of OUR Lifetime. The best of the century even? Well they have a best of the century problem now called Time Dilation and the the strangest illness know to man called Croch-Echlin.You can read some of it here and then go to the website dedicated to this bizarre subject.

What is the YEAR 2000 (Y2K) fuss really about, in layman's terms?
OR
What has the ISO 8601 Date Standard have to do with me?

Those two digits

It may not seem like much, but those two digits are really going to cause us a few problems. IT was nice to keep the year as a two digit number like 76 for 1976 or 99 for 1999. We knew that the year was 1900 or should I say the century year anyway.

My Heater

Remember when we decided to get ride of those Honeywell analog thermostats for those digital beauties that allow us to control what temperature our homes are. The BIG ENERGY companies wanted us (and Uncle Sam) to conserve fuel by setting the temperatures back when we we at work and the house was empty or at night when everyone was safely tucked into their beds.

So we dutifully purchased these digital wonders. Set them for low temperatures during the week, and normal human temperatures during the weekend. We even turned down the temperature when we marched off to church on Sundays.

But....  did you know that January 1, 2000 will probably be a Saturday. And like most, we like to sleep in in a warm bed just to prove that this really is a weekend day and not a work day. However, the two digit bandit will raise it's ugly head. WHY Because January 1, 1900 was a Monday!

Yes, your digital wonder will now think that everyone has left for either school, work, or both. It will dutifully carry out your instructions and lower the temperature to Uncle Sam's suggested 69 degrees. This is not a good way to wakeup with the New Years Celebration still brewing in your head.

My VCR

But the two digit bandit has only just begun to fight. Not being a sports fan (but being American), I feel a bit of sorrow for those real fans who setup their VCRs to record those Y2K games (in my household it is the Mummer's Day Parade that takes the spotlight).

So, on this new years, you decide to visit friends and relatives and not let the sports mania take over your life. Of course, you VCR will record it for watching latter in the evening as you setback and enjoy your lovely easier chair.

You come home, having visited more friends and relatives than ever-before, and proud of it. You pickup your remote control and ..........

The tape is blank, and the VCR is cold, as is the rest of the house because of the two digit bandit. What happened?

Yes, today is really Saturday, and you always set you VCR to record by day, because it is one of those weekly kinds. You tell it the day, and does the rest. But today is Monday January 1, 1900 your program schedule is for Saturday at 3pm just five days away.

Now you think about that 20 bucks you saved by not buying the VCR that had the 8 event one year programming module. It would be the wrong date on the automatic timestamp, but it would still have recorded the show. Why? Because you entered the recording date as 1 January at 3pm, not Saturday at 3pm.

This would have taken a little bit out of the two digit bandit.

My Telephone

The Two Digit Bandit does not have a voice. But, it does like to play with voice messages. Especially answering machines and faxes.

The New Year has come and gone for 2000. Now we are back to work checking our eMail and phone messages. The little red light on your trusty answering machine is blinking, and calling your name.

You press the button to answer the call that you missed. "Hello Cez, the meeting is set for first thing tomorrow at 9am." the little box says. And then it says "Beep -- Message received 7am Tuesday." You never pay attention to that part of the message. But it did strike you as strange on this particular occasion.

So you think to yourself I have a whole day to go over my notes and re-arrange that presentation. How glad you are that you made that last midnight flight despite those tiny pillows that they give you and those thin blankets that do not keep you warm 30,000 feet above sea level.

Now you sit-down at your computer, gathering your notes and thoughts as your new system boots up in record time. Then, that little automated clock that you are so fond of blinks 6am Monday.

At first you think of all those dollars you just spent for your new computer, and it can't even get the date and time correct. Well, back to the computer store tomorrow.

So, you check your watch to get the correct date and time and.........

Yes, it was the Two Digit Bandit at work. The computer time agrees with your watch. And your watch agrees with your arrival and travel time from the airport. And, now that you think of it, you don't remember crossing any drastic time zones with datelines.

Then it hits you. Today is Monday, what did that answering machine say? The message must have come Sunday!

Yes today is Monday, and you received the message on your answering machine tomorrow! That's pretty good for a 6 year old answering machine that you decided not to replace for one of those all digital jobs.

Where is the latest version of that presentation anyway!!!!

Is it Leap Year?

  This is an excerpt from the Novell White Paper about the Y2K problem.

Another component of the Year 2000 issue is that 2000 is a leap year. This may not have been incorporated into date routines since years ending in "00" are only leap years if they are divisible by 400. Thus even if date routines use a four-position year, there is a concern that they may not incorporate the necessary logic to recognize that 2000 is a leap year.

Why is this important? Has the Two Digit Bandit gained a new power over us? Read the update to this and other crazy Y2K questions.