Alert reader David Topping points out that a recent story about the coming millennium did not compute.
The problem was the use of the word "millennium" to describe the thousand years that begin with Jan. 1, 2000.
Topping correctly states that the next millennium actually begins with Jan. 1, 2001. "Why do you think author Arthur C. Clarke titled his science fiction classic '2001' and not '2000'?" Topping said via e-mail.
Providing further evidence, he points to a story written five years ago by Gazette staffer Dean Rhodes in which he explains that the Julian calendar (named after Julius Caesar) began with a one, not a zero. The story also quotes "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek, who frequently trips up contestants with trick questions about the beginning of decades and centuries.
If you're not convinced, Topping provides the address of a World Wide Web site dedicated to the countdown to the third millennium. So, what's the bottom line? Cancel those dinner reservations for Dec. 31, 1999, and make new ones for Dec. 31, 2000, before everyone else realizes their error.