IP: he New Millennium from TELECOM Digest V19 #290

[Dave Farber <farber@cis.upenn.edu>]

>Subject: The New Millennium
>Date: Sun, 8 Aug 1999 20:40:36 -0400
>From: Monty Solomon <monty@roscom.com>
>
>
>Special Information Leaflet No. 29: 'The New Millennium' 
>
>Answers to all your Questions about the Start of the New Millennium.
>
>1. Summary 
>
>This leaflet covers the most frequently asked questions regarding the 
>start of the new (Christian, Gregorian) millennium and where to see the 
>first sunrise. In summary; the year 2000 will be a leap-year, the New 
>Millennium and the New Century start at zero hours UTC (commonly known 
>as GMT) on January 1st 2001 and on this basis, the first sunrise of the 
>new millennium will be at places around the world where the sun is 
>rising at that moment. 
>
>http://www.rog.nmm.ac.uk/leaflets/new_mill.html
>
>
>[TELECOM Digest Editor's Note: Maybe, maybe not. I risk getting a
>flood of mail as a result of even printing this here, but it makes
>the mistake of saying that the new (anything -- day, year, millennium)
>starts at zero hours GMT. It starts at zero hours *local time*. By
>coincidence, GMT and local time are the same thing in the UK, although
>I believe the UK also makes an adjustment in the (northern hemisphere's) 
>summer months. 
>
>If this were not so, that the cutover was at zero hours by the local
>time in each community, instead of zero GMT, then what precisely are
>the people in New Zealand supposed to do with the time between midnight
>and eleven AM on January 1; go into some state of suspended animation?
>If anyone feels like answering, please address this statement only,
>not the 2000 vrs. 2001 thing.  At least the folks in that part of the
>world will have warm, pleasant weather in which to deal with problems
>like the computers not working correctly at the electric and gas works.
>We here in the USA will have to address those problems as we sit in
>the darkness and bitter cold of January in the northern hemisphere.
>
>Just keep reading this Digest, as I will have full and live coverage
>of the riots around the world that day as everyone goes out to loot
>the stores in their community looking for food and things to use to
>start fires for warmth, etc. I certainly hope military authorities in
>the different parts of the world have gotten the computers working
>correctly regards their nuculear arsenals. That would be quite a way
>to resolve the whole problem wouldn't it ... oops, sorry about that
>nuclear missle coming your way, our computer malfunctioned. You'll
>wish the 'only' things wrong were the phones, electricity and bank
>cash machines were not working correctly. Meanwhile, over in Quantico,
>VA, those big, tough, manly Marines continue their daily training
>exercises in case you decide to act out on that Friday night/Saturday
>morning which will live in infamy.   PAT]