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Info center on alert for Y2K glitches
WASHINGTON, DC -- The eyes of federal officials will be on New Zealand early the morning of Dec. 31, looking for any signs of Y2K-related technological glitches. Any problems will be reported to a $50 million global information center established by the Clinton administration for timely reports on possible Y2K problems in the U.S. and around the world. The rollover into 2000 will begin at 6 a.m. EST on the 31st in New Zealand. It will be followed two hours later by Australia, then Asia, Eastern Europe and Western Europe before finally hitting the U.S. More than 100 countries are expected to report to the U.S. center. In addition to twice-daily news briefings, reports will be posted on the council's web site -- Y2K -- which will be able to handle up to 40 million hits a day. The center will accept Y2K reports from all federal agencies, state and local governments, private industry and foreign nations. The center's work won't be done after Jan. 1, however. It will continue operating around the clock, monitoring how billing and payroll systems manage their first operating cycles throughout the month. The center is slated to shut down at the end of January, but will reopen in late February to monitor how computer systems deal with a second potential Y2K glitch -- a Feb. 29 leap year phenomenon. Centuries are not leap years, except when they are divisible by 400. Thus, 1900 was not a leap year but 2000 will be. Some tests of the potential problem have uncovered errors, and the government plans to keep a close watch on the situation.
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