INAdesperate effort to keep interest alive in the millennium and its now famous bug, Backchat is reproducing some lesser-known facts sweeping our country, courtesy of Home and Overseas.
n The 45,000 population of the small town of Gisbourne, New Zealand, will double as visitors celebrate the first sunrise of 2000.
n The Bank of Japan is stockpiling 40 trillion yen in order to meet demand for withdrawals before midnight December 31 1999. The high-tech loving Japanese are worried their systems will fail at the stroke of midnight.
n Over 85% of the Taiwanese population have never heard of the millennium bug. Amazingly one-third of the country thought the bug was a kind of new cosmetic brand.
n The world’s airlines and airports are spending £3bn to ensure they are completely bug compliant. British Airways alone is spending £100m to ensure its 300-plus aircraft and computer systems are ready to face any bug-related problems that may arise.
n Over 1m Britons will celebrate the turn of the new millennium abroad, many in the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand. At home thousands of people will descend on Edinburgh.