Well Well Well, alls good if you don't have to pay taxes

http://www.nandotimes.com/global/story/0,1024,47645-76831-548805-0,00.html

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Millennium bug has an upside, could erase parking tickets

Copyright ) 1999 Nando Media Copyright ) 1999 Associated Press

Nando's special in-depth coverage of the Israeli election.

JERUSALEM (May 11, 1999 1:39 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) - Israeli drivers may have mixed feelings when the millennium computer bug kicks in Jan. 1, potentially shutting down traffic lights and even erasing parking tickets.

Israelis may also find that the property taxes they've paid have been reinstated by municipal computers, said Adi Eldar, chairman of the Association of Local Authorities, an umbrella organization for the country's municipalities.

"We have just started to prepare the local authorities right now and we might not be ready in time for the new year," Eldar said.

Because of an old programming technique, some computer software views dates in a two-digit format, such as "99" for 1999. There is widespread concern that without repairs, computers will malfunction on New Year's Eve as the clock strikes midnight and the year changes to "00," which some computers might read as 1900 instead of 2000.

Alex Lubotsky, an Israeli lawmaker overseeing the preparations to avoid complications from the bug, has warned that sewage systems, traffic lights, water supplies and other vital services could collapse on Jan. 1 unless work proceeds much faster. He is especially concerned about preparations at the local level.

Still, Eldar cautioned traffic violators against getting their hopes up. "I wouldn't recommend that traffic violators don't pay, because the systems could work fine," he said.

-- helium (heliumavid@yahoo.com), May 11, 1999

Answers

Ummmm....I am hoping it erases my tax records.

-- R. Wright (blaklodg@aol.com), May 12, 1999.