Remember the big build up was Y2K! Computers would think it was 1900 and crash, planes would fall from the sky, chaos and destruction. Arnie had his movie "End of Days" 666 upside down is 1999!......oooo the huge movie bill board counted down till 2000 the opening premiere.....we held our breath and.....nothing happened. Even my old crappy coumputer still worked...not a bad movie but I can't believe it's 2009 Arnie is Governor and things change...we all get older and the world turns.
2009! Remember Y2K and 2000 -planes falling from sky computers crashing?
by Witness 007 11 Replies latest jw experiences
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Jim_TX
Well... what you say is true... but perhaps you did not see what was going on behind the scene - like I did at one company.
At that time, I was working for a security company, that manufactured and marketed security access controls. Things like card-swipe and keypad access devices used to control secured access to buildings, etc.
Around 1998, we were given the directive to check the products and verify that they were 'Y2K compliant'.
My memory is a bit fuzzy, but I remember that initially - the firmware was NOT compliant. I do not recall the consequences... it seems to me... that the software would simply roll over from December 31, 1999 to January 1, 1900. Of course, since the RTCs (Real Time Clocks) that were manufactured back then - only kept track of two digits - they were counting from '99' to '00'.
I remember the software guru that worked there at that time. He hadn't written the initial software, but was tasked with going through ALL of the software and verifying that wherever dates were involved - it functioned correctly - not only during the transition from 1999 to 2000, but afterwards - and into the new century.
He spent a good portion of his time there working on that. He was a good programmer, and got all of the software updated.
Just what would it mean if the company hadn't updated their software/firmware? Well, as I mentioned, they product was security access. Many cards issued were issued encoded with 'expire' data. So - when 2000 rolled around - IF the software wasn't fixed, it would have read 1900 - 'card expired' - no access granted.
Oh. And he also checked his software patches into the year 2000, too... past February and into March - making sure that it also was aware that the year 2000 was a leap year. Most RTCs and other software didn't account for that.
So... yeah. To the average Joe... things continued on - as normal. Because folks behind the scenes worked their butts off to correct an oversight of some programmer in the 70's who figured 2 places for the year was adequate.
Again... my memory is not too good, but I also seem to recall that 2065 is another 'rollover' year for a lot of software/firmware... or somewhere near there. We both knew about that one, but the software programmer (and I) both feel that that'll be someone else's problem.
Regards,
Jim TX
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Priest73
it's 2038 in the UNIX world. All based on those crazy 32 bit int variables.
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sir82
Jim_TX makes a good point. Y2K was not a big deal because people did a ton of work to get things compliant.
Although I doubt "planes would have fallen from the sky", life would have been inconvenient for a good while if nothing had been done.
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JeffT
The companies I was working for around that time did a lot of work. (I changed jobs in 1998.) Before we got all the work done my computer back billed a tenant a hundred years worth of rent for an increase that was due in five years (after Y2K).
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Leolaia
Yeah but it sure added that little bit of zing to our New Year's Eve festivities!
Ever watched the movie Strange Days? I guess some wanted just a little bit of apocalyptic fantasy on 12/31/1999.
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Finally-Free
I remember all the work - and overtime - I put in in 1999 making sure systems were compliant. I was nearly burned out, and grateful for the 2 months off I had afterwards.
W
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kurtbethel
I had a little cottage industry going testing PCs for people (and feeling smug about having an Amiga). Some older BIOS would roll over into the wrong year, usually 1980. So what I did was set the clock forward and watch the behavior. Windows 95 and higher would behave okay, but the hardware needed to be checked. The usual fix, if there was a problem, was to manually set the correct year on 01-01-2000 and it would be fine after that.
What got me was the hype. The gold, grub and run for the hills shortwave types were milking it hard. The premise of catastrophe was nonsense. See, what the doomsayers never took into account is the time zones. In the Pacific times zone we would have 20 hours of watching the rest of the world roll into 2000, one zone at a time. If there were and problems we would know and be able to prepare at the last minute, not be in a plane, elevator or whatever. Idiots! And the idiots who swallowed there fables!
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Satanus
Finall free, you helped save the world;) Maybe you can save us from 2012;)
S
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Finally-Free
What got me was the hype. The gold, grub and run for the hills shortwave types were milking it hard.
Come on, admit it. You were stocking up on beer, chips, and snickers bars just like the rest of us!
Maybe you can save us from 2012;)
No problem. I'll send Rocco out to kick Nibaru's ass.
W