New Zealand fuel stations, nationwide outages, leap year glitch in software

KiwiJohnno · 2024-02-29T04:50:59

For further context on this story which is not really given as this is a local news outlet a lot (maybe 50%+ ?) of all fuel stations in NZ are completely unmanned. You authenticate your card or phone at a terminal, select the pump and then that pump is unlocked and you fill up. There are no attendants to assist you or accept payment.

1letterunixname · 2024-02-29T05:10:19

If it were London, they would be card skimmed and gas siphoned blind. I guess the isolated and smaller population of NZ leads to inherently fewer problems and perhaps more trust.

dzhiurgis · 2024-02-29T06:49:10

Interestingly most places do not accept PayWave / Contactless which would be more skim-proof and more theft-proof secure when paying by phone.

Also magnetic strip use basically non-existent. Pretty sure local banks would block it immediately.

1letterunixname · 2024-02-29T05:08:23

The evening of January 18, 2038 will be a breath-holding event for most.

bilekas · 2024-02-29T07:44:09

This could really use some technical info on how exactly a leap year caused such a mess?

I haven't heard of it before but I haven't been looking I guess...

landgenoot · 2024-02-29T09:00:49

Someone did not use the datetime library and implemented something by themselves.

hyperborean · 2024-02-29T15:08:25

If this is already causing glitches, imagine what would happen in year 2100.