Today, February 13, 2009, at exactly 5:31:30 p.m. CST, Unix users around the world will celebrate a momentous occasion: 1234567890 seconds will have passed since Unix time began at midnight UTC on January 1, 1970.
The relevance of this may be lost to some readers, but I assure you there is a very valid reason to celebrate such a seemingly inconsequential event. Many programs — including Operating Systems — measure time on this scale. And as you have all deduced, there will be only one time in the history of the 4byte epoch clock where we can see the sequence 1234567890. It’s party time!
I am holding out for 2147483647, when we will probably have to give up the system many of us hold dear … as it will let us down. In the year 2038, we will reach the maximum number possible in 32bits. As the time rolls toward that significant value, we’ll need to be prepared for it to run around and desert us. It’s like Y2K all over again … be VERY afraid, and brace for a possible Code Kermit.
If you want to count down the seconds until 1234567890 or just keep track of the current Unix time, you should check out this online Unix Epoch Clock.
-Phil
P.S. If you’re looking for a way to celebrate 1234567890, they just released the 1,234,567,890th Friday the 13th movie today.
