Calendars are based on arbitrary start dates anyway, and in this case, Unix has been counting the seconds since January 1, 1970 and translating the results into our calendar when needed. That fateful 1234567890 chimed at 3:31:30PST, ushering in an excuse for all to . By the time you read this, time will have moved on, but for a fleeting second, Unix-based PCs--including Linux and Mac OS X--certin ATMs, air-traffic control, and other Unix devices all shared a knowing wink.

They'll be happy until the 32-bit system rolls over and in 2038. Then we'll all be doomed.

Zack Stern is a freelance technology writer and editor based in San Francisco.