The year 2000 problem has resulted from the common practice of using two digits to designate the calendar year instead of using four. When the year 2000 arrives, 2 digit year dates may be interpreted incorrectly causing many problems. Computer hardware and software may not recognize "00" as an actual date and will not run properly or not at all. Credit Card systems may not recognize "00" as a valid year for the expiration date, making transactions for those cards with "00" as the expiration date impossible. Day of the week calculations will be off. Computers may interpret 1/1/00 as Jan. 1, 1900. 1/1/1900 was a Monday but 1/1200 is a Saturday so all day of the week calculations will be two days off. The scope of this problem is world wide. All products using the two digit technology are potentially at risk. .

             The "Millennium Bug" could be bring failure to everything from personal computers, home security systems, mainframes, and telecommunications equipment. The effects of the Year 2000 problem will be felt in homes, business, and government. Year 2000 conformity shall mean that neither performance nor functionality is affected by dates prior to, during, and after the year 2000." According to the British Standards Institution Committee there are four general rules for Y2K compliance:.

             1. No value for current dates will cause any interruption in operation. .

             2. Date-based functionality must behave consistently for dates prior to, during and after the year 2000. .

             3. In all interfaces and data storage, the century in any date must be specified either explicitly or by unambiguous algorithms or inferencing rules. .

             4. The year 2000 must be recognized as a leap year. Every body that deals with this problem must be ready. To avoid the Y2K problems your computer must first be checked for compliance. .

             Software is available that can check your computer for compliance and even make your computer Y2k compliant. Desktop computers can be checked with a simple utility but larger systems and networks may require more expertise to avoid the potential dangers.