One thousand years. Because the first year of the first millennium AD was 1 AD rather than 0 AD, the first year of the second millennium was 1001 AD. Therefore, in spite of all the fuss about the Year 2000, the next millennium will not actually start until January 1, 2001.

(NERC). The agency charged by the Department of Energy with handling Y2K issues in the electric utility industry.

North American Electric Reliability Council. The agency charged by the Department of Energy with handling Y2K issues in the electric utility industry.

A system that is critical to the functioning of an organization and the accomplishment of its mission.

(LOC). A measure of the size of a program.

Lines of Code. A measure of the size of a program.

A year that has 366 days instead of 365; in a leap year, February has 29 days instead of 28. Leap years fall on any year that either can be evenly divided by 400 or evenly divided by 4 and not evenly divided by 100. For example, the year 2000 is a leap year, but 1900 is not.

The number of days since October 14, 1582, the date of adoption of the Gregorian Calendar. October 15, 1582 is Lilian day 1, October 16, 1582 is Lilian day 2, and so on. This method of time reckoning is named for Aloysius Lilius, an advisor to Pope Gregory XIII. Lilius and his brother constructed the Gregorian calendar.

A format in which a year (such as 1995) is represented as four digits (1995). This format allows for dates to span more than one century (1900, 2000, etc.). For example, it can distinguish between 1995 and 2095. Computers and programs that use the four-digit-year format will have no Year 2000 problem.

(FoF). A strategy for dealing with Y2K problems by assuming that some systems will fail, and planning to fix them on, or after, failure.