29 Feb birthday doesn't appear in non-leap year

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Hector` Author

Level 1

29 points

29 Feb birthday doesn't appear in non-leap year

Hi all, apologies - I don't know if this is an iCal problem or an address book problem.

One of the people in my address book has a birthday on the 29th February. Because of this, her birthday doesn't appear in iCal unless it's a leap year. Needless to say, people with birthdays on this date still expect a present every year rather than every 4, so it would be helpful if it appears on the 1st of March.

I realise that setting the birthdate to 1st March would get round the problem, but it seems like a rather inelegant solution. Is there a neater way round this? The person concerned happens to be my wife, so it's not a birthday I would like to forget!

Posted on Jun 7, 2005 2:34 PM

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Answer 1

Dm84

Level 2

310 points

Jun 7, 2005 7:05 PM in response to Hector`

Make it February 28 to make sure you never buy the present late. Computers are stupid, all it knows is that February 29th occurs once every 4 years. They have no clue what the significance of birthdays are, or that they have to occur every year.

What appears to us to be the stupidest solution, is in this case, the smartest solution the computer is capable of understanding.

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Answer 2

Hector` Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 9, 2005 1:14 PM in response to Dm84

Thanks Dm84. You're right of course, computers are stupid - but then maybe I am too for forgetting birthdays! It's reassuring to know that I hadn't missed anything blindingly obvious though.

Many thanks for your reply!

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Answer 3

Dm84

Level 2

310 points

Jun 9, 2005 5:20 PM in response to azamino

It's a good suggestion, but I don't think it's worth Apple's time to fix. Realistically, the only recurring event that can occur on February 29 is a birthday. You wouldn't consciously schedule anything else to recur on February 29 since it only happens every 4 years. The impact of this issue to most consumers is very minimal.

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Answer 4

Hector` Author

Level 1

29 points

Jun 10, 2005 3:28 PM in response to Dm84

Thanks for your comments azamino and Dm84.

After Dm84's comment that one wouldn't deliberately schedule anything to recur on February 29th, I thought I'd have a look:

It seems that in addition to being 4th day of Ayyám-i-Há, it's also St Tib's day which is all to do with Discordianism.

As you say, it's probably a minimal issue for most consumers and unlikely to be a worthwhile fix!

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Answer 5

Jun 20, 2005 10:04 PM in response to Dm84

I disagree. I think that it's an easy enough fix that would be overcome by a simple drop down menu in the advanced features. It would be the kind of detail that sets Apple apart from other software designers by including full featured functionality while maintaining very efficient and effective workflows.
Who cares if it's a feature everyone needs, if it was your wife, I'm sure you'd be ecstatic to find that option available.

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Answer 6

Bisquick

Level 1

9 points

Jul 12, 2005 10:02 PM in response to Loki Capret

I too am encountering this issue when trying to add "February 29" to the anniversary field in Address Book. It defaults to March 1, 2005. It seems like with as many other tiny seemingly insignificant quirks Apple addresses, this could make the cut as well. I'm also trying to create an "Anniversary" calendar like the Birthday calendar and the help section hasn't helped. Any pointers? Much appreciated...

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Answer 7

azamino

Level 4

1,647 points

Jun 9, 2005 2:12 PM in response to Hector`

but then again, i think this is missed feature that apple should "fix".
somthing like: a pull down menu for: Place Feb 29 events on Feb 28/Mar 1
Good suggestion.

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Answer 8

Hector` Author

Level 1

29 points

Aug 16, 2005 1:58 PM in response to Bisquick

Hi Bisquick

I get the same thing, although if you enter the date in the anniversary field with a valid leap year (e.g.2004) then I think it does seem to work OK.

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