What’s with 2037? No, it’s not me confusing the title of a movie (like Wong Kar-wai’s 2046.) It’s the latest date my Blackberry, manufactured by RIM (or Research In Motion), will allow me to set reminders for annual events. You know, like birthdays.
See, there a little of a resolution bug that has me dutifully entering the dates of those important events of those nearest and dearest — so I won’t confuse my anniversary month (been done before), or miss a birthday (the year is but a few weeks old and I’ve already managed to do that), nor feel simultaneously bouyed and shamed by the wonderful wishes I receive from those of you organized people out there when my special days roll around.
Hence the flurry of data entry this afternoon, aided by a certain nap of a certain small someone (or heavens knows everyone would end up with randomly assigned dates and get surprise wishes from yours truly.)
But back to RIM. I was trying to set reminders for the next fifty years, figuring that with luck, most of us would be around. But a curt message alerted be that no repeats could be set after 2037. Huh? Is that my personal digital assistant’s way of trying to tell me I’m not going to make it to retirement? Or is this a new, ‘millennium buggy’ feature? A 28-year limit seems a little random to me.
2 Responses
2038 is the new Y2K: computers that use 32-bit dates (like your Blackberry) will run out of seconds, based on Unix Epoch time, which starts Jan 1 1970, sometime in 2038.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_2038_problem
there’s plenty of time to stock up on cake and candles before the big event, though.
tanya,
i hope i’m still around so you can program my birthday for 2037!
pat