Getting the jump on `leap-day' bug

Countries around the world are busy monitoring potential automated-system failures that could result from tomorrow's unusual leap day - one that only occurs every 400 years.

Under the little-known three-step rule, February picks up a 29th day in years divisible by four, except when the year is divisible by 100 - unless the year is divisible by 400. Software programmers unaware of the rule may have failed to add the extra day to the 2000 calendar.

U.S. officials, however, don't expect any major system failures, largely because most organizations checked for leap-year compliance while trouble-shooting the Y2K bug.

The complete report can be found at www.techweb.com.