The bug of the year 2000 did not generate the expected mess, on the other hand, that of February 29, 2024 destabilized certain systems.
While the approach of the new millennium had raised fears of a general computer breakdown on January 1, February 29, 2000 caused more fears.
Police computers had been temporarily blocked in Bulgaria, as had the Japanese weather services, the American Coast Guard message archiving system and the Montreal municipal tax service.
The computer system of the Paris parking meters had to be corrected machine by machine, because it did not predict February 29, 2000...
24 years later, this date still holds its own.
This Thursday, New Zealand drivers had unpleasant surprises when heading to gas stations.
Self-service fuel pumps across New Zealand were closed as several companies reported a "software issue" linked to the leap year.
In the capital Wellington, some stations have closed completely, leaving customers facing signs reading "Nationwide payment outage - site unavailable".
“This is a nationwide issue affecting all fuel brands and it appears to be a software issue with the payment service provider because it is February 29, a leap year,” declared spokesperson Julien Leys of the Gull fuel distribution group.
Street lamp, video games and tickets…
In Paris, it was not a question of fuel, but rather of streetlights.
Parisian public lighting was completely cut off during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, due to a computer “bug” linked to the leap year.
“On the night of February 28 to 29, the public lighting in the city of Paris went out at midnight,” said the company Cielis, manager of this market, whose teams “were immediately mobilized and turned the light back on. 'lighting during the night'.
On the IT side, gamers had to be patient this Thursday.
Electronic Arts' Sports WRC racing game wouldn't start on some players' screens.
The publisher therefore had to recommend consumers to trick the machine by changing the date in their console settings.
According to bugs identified by the media Futura Sciences, the payment terminals of various Swedish grocery and pharmacy chains were out of service throughout February 29.
Travelers who flew on planes of the Colombian airline Avianca were treated to a little scare, when some tickets were allegedly printed on the wrong date.
Much less amusing, the telephone system of an Australian hospital also apparently malfunctioned.