I think I just found the first media coverage of a 1999 failure. Here are the quotes:

"BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Thousands of people using outdated accounting software in their homes or businesses run the risk of being bitten by the Y2K bug a year earlier than expected.

"Cougar Mountain Software Inc. of Boise rushed the newest version of its Act Plus accounting program to Lynn Electric on Thursday after the small Bluefield, W. VA., company tried to close its 1998 payroll.

"It was using 3 1/2-year old software unable to translate dates that included the year 2000.

""All the documents reverted to 1944," Cougar Mountain spokesman Dave Lakhani said.

""They were unable to process their payroll and had to order the update to correct the problem.""

http://www.cbcnews.cbc.ca/news/cp/world/990101/w010102.html

"Year 2000 bug felt even before 1999 dawns" is the article's title.

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 01, 1999

Answers

Ahhh, yes. l944 was a good year. Sounds like they got bit by the cougar that did accounting for them.

-- gilda jessie (jess@listbot.com), January 01, 1999.

I just tried calling Lin Electric in Bluefield, West Virginia to see if I could find out anything else about this story. The call was answered by their answering service, but the operator did say she'd been receiving calls similar to mine. She suggested I call back on Monday.

Lin Electric

1400 Bluefield Ave.

Bluefield, WV 24701

(304) 325-2467

This story is on USA Today's web site now too. The link for the USA Today story is:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/ndsfri02.htm

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 01, 1999.

Here are two more web sites carrying this same story:

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,30004316,00.html?

http://www.canoe.com/TechNews/990101_y2k.html

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 01, 1999.

Cougar Mountain has been after people to upgrade for about 6 months now. If I remember correctly, only their Windows product is compliant - and they were still selling the Dos version till 96 or so.

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), January 01, 1999.

well, this is certainly one way to take care of that nasty software piracy problem in asia...

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), January 02, 1999.

Y2K Bug Affects Singapore Taxis

Sunday January 3 9:40 AM ET

Y2K Bug Affects Singapore Taxis

SINGAPORE (AP) - Singapore's first reported computer failure caused by the millennium bug struck an unlikely target - taxi meters - a full year before 2000, a newspaper reported.

Computerized meters on about 300 taxis went dead at noon on Jan. 1 for about two hours, The Sunday Times said Sunday.

The new meters were supposed to be ``year 2000 compliant,'' the report said.

The millennium bug is expected to strike computers and software that only recognize the last two digits of a year. Although most of its disruptions are forecast for the first day of 2000, the glitch is also predicted to affect systems during 1999.

The supplier of the meters was investigating the incident.

Taxi meters in Sweden also acted up on Jan. 1, but passengers there hardly complained. The meters continued to work but gave riders unexpectedly low fares.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), January 03, 1999.

But low fares aren't a problem?

I guess only for the taxicab companies trying to pay for gas, taxes, repairs, salaries, .....

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), January 04, 1999.