

When I scribbled for the popular detecting magazine The Searcher, I enjoyed looking back at the editions of twenty years ago. Do you remember 2000, known as the year of the Millennium Bug? We were told that because of the way computers were made to handle data major disasters would follow.

People were panicked by press coverage and media speculation, as well as government reports. Companies and organisations around the world had to check and upgrade their computer systems. Thus, the preparation for the year 2000 had a significant effect on the computer industry.
Huge sums were spent to prepare for the consequences of this bug – or rather feature – in the way some older systems handled dates. But midnight passed on the 1 January and the crisis failed to materialise – planes did not fall from the sky and power stations did not melt down. What an anti-climax that was!
Continue reading “All our Yesterdays”