Computer bugs in the year 2000

[jrb at wdl1.UUCP]

Referring to an article on Julian Dates  by  Gordon  King  in  Dr
Dobb's Journal #80 (June 1983) pages 66-70.

Most computer systems use  some  form  of  modified  Julian  date
internally  because  it is compact to store and simple arithmetic
can be used on them.

A Julian date algorithm for a 16 bit computer is valid for ~179.4
years  (65,536  days) This is used as an offset from a base year,
usually 1900.  Such an algorithm would then stop working in 2079.
The  base  year has to be chosen fairly carefully because of leap
years.

				John R Blaker
				UUCP:	...!fortune!wdl1!jrb
				ARPA:	jrb at FORD-WDL1
				and	blaker at FORD-WDL2