STORY:
Y2K's Little Glitches

Y2K didn't cause major disturbances but it did cause some date discrepancies

Planes didn't fall out of the sky, ATM machines didn't eat cash and the world continued to turn through the transition from 1999 to 2000. Yes, most of us survived Y2K without as much as a scratch. However, the little bug did make its way into some unusual places in an odd way: by changing the date on web sites.

Instead of reading January 1, 2000, some computers came up with odd dates like the year 192000 or the year 3900. The Y2K bug managed to sneek in, but didn't cause any real damage.

What is unusual is some of the sites struck by that little New Year pest. For example, of all places the Y2K bug managed to show up right here, on the Everything2000 web site. It's true for a short time on January 1, 2000 our date read January 1, 192000. The problem was caught right away and changed to the proper date. However, we weren't alone the pesky little bugs found its way on computer screens around the world.

The popular Nintendo Pokeman site posted the date January 2, 3900. It was a small problem that wasn't fixed until Monday afternoon. Microsoft said the year 3900 glitch was caused by a defect in the way Microsoft Explorer renders JavaScript. The glitch didn't stop production of Pokeman products or any other such catastrophe; it just showed the wrong date- that's it. Pokeman fans with Netscape browser didn't see the wrong date; it was only a glitch for Microsoft Internet Explorer users.

At the Auckland International Airport planes were flying, landing and nothing in the air was messed up. On the ground, however, computer screens read the date as January 1, 100. A little trip back in time for New Zealand.

The American Blimp Corporation's date read 192000, the Star Trek Web site showed a Voyager program would run on 1/1/1000 and at a Huntsville Hospital a little girl born just after midnight on January 1 was listed as Julia Amalia Christl- age 100. Korea University issued graduation certificates dated January 13, 1900.

Date changes were a small but significant enough problem for some. There were some other small issues.

How about the guy in Germany he logged onto this home banking computer account to find he had about $6 Million extra in his account! Not a bad problem for anyone, however, his account was also dated December 30, 1899. We doubt he gets to keep the cash.

DATE: 1/4/2000

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