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Post by slh1234 on Dec 26, 2014 1:45:12 GMT
On the run up to 2000...alot of people expected their computers would go phut.... Acidohm, a lot would have phutted had not concentrated remediation efforts been undertaken. The corporation where I worked spent countless man hours testing, re-coding in house apps that did not comply, retiring apps that could not be fixed, testing third-party (eg, Micro$oft) apps to confirm manufacturers' claims, testing software-controlled machinery, etc. In the end, we had a few minor problems but nothing mission critical. Luckily for me, Clipper supported all dates in the range 01/01/0100 to 12/31/2999 and I needed to make no changes to any code. The fear mongering was telling us nothing could be done, bank vaults were going to swing open, our savings would disappear, nuclear missiles would be inadvertently launched, etc. and that nobody could do anything to stop it, so we needed to trade our savings for gold, etc. It didn't account for things like people already knowing it, and people who possess things always taking actions to protect it. The prophets of doom were telling about unmotivated, greed-driven people who just didn't care and were doing nothing - in other words, even in the worst case scenario, the claims depended on a static environment rather than a dynamic one created by intelligent being being involved. None of the doomsday claims were accurate. The argument about MS apps is just one total misconception since no data types used in MS software at that time was dependent on a 2 or 4 digit year either one. The data types used in MS databases at that time had different ranges, the smallest of them by default starting on January 1 1900 and going to June 6, 2079. Larger date types had larger ranges with the most commonly used ones in databases covering all possible 4 digit years, but not a single one of them was set to fail on January 1, 2000. Date and datetime data types have continued to evolve after that so that now, the data types include timezone, whether or not it is taken in daylight savings time, and having accuracy to more than 4 decimals of a second. Some software was, as I understand, coded to depend on a 2 digit year, but it was VERY old software, very rarely used, and the threat was very much overstated long before Y2K. My girls were in high school as we were leading up to Y2K. As I heard the claims get more and more ridiculous, I took the opportunity to encourage them to watch how people sensationalize, overdramatize, and love to be scared of impending doom. I told them to watch, learn, and keep this lesson for life as I told them coming up on it that none of the disasters we had been told would happen would occur. Of course, it came and went, and none of the sensational doomsday claims transpired. My girls are grown and have their own families now, and they're not easily scared by such dramatic claims ... like claims of catastrohpic climate change ...
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Post by sigurdur on Dec 26, 2014 2:37:48 GMT
A degree or two warmer isn't going to be a big deal. Yes, sea levels will rise, but no matter what mankind does, that is going to happen anyways. That is what happens during interglacials this old.
Some folks talk about the rapid change in temps. A few hundreds of a degree is not rapid. 10C in a decade, now that would cause mayhem. But that isn't going to happen unless we have a DO type of event.
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Post by nonentropic on Dec 26, 2014 4:06:40 GMT
Sig it must be cold where you are because we hear a lot from you. As good as any weather report.
Good stuff.
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Post by Ratty on Dec 26, 2014 8:31:39 GMT
Acidohm, a lot would have phutted had not concentrated remediation efforts been undertaken. The corporation where I worked spent countless man hours testing, re-coding in house apps that did not comply, retiring apps that could not be fixed, testing third-party (eg, Micro$oft) apps to confirm manufacturers' claims, testing software-controlled machinery, etc. In the end, we had a few minor problems but nothing mission critical. Luckily for me, Clipper supported all dates in the range 01/01/0100 to 12/31/2999 and I needed to make no changes to any code. The fear mongering was telling us nothing could be done, bank vaults were going to swing open, our savings would disappear, nuclear missiles would be inadvertently launched, etc. and that nobody could do anything to stop it, so we needed to trade our savings for gold, etc. It didn't account for things like people already knowing it, and people who possess things always taking actions to protect it. The prophets of doom were telling about unmotivated, greed-driven people who just didn't care and were doing nothing - in other words, even in the worst case scenario, the claims depended on a static environment rather than a dynamic one created by intelligent being being involved. None of the doomsday claims were accurate. The argument about MS apps is just one total misconception since no data types used in MS software at that time was dependent on a 2 or 4 digit year either one. The data types used in MS databases at that time had different ranges, the smallest of them by default starting on January 1 1900 and going to June 6, 2079. Larger date types had larger ranges with the most commonly used ones in databases covering all possible 4 digit years, but not a single one of them was set to fail on January 1, 2000. Date and datetime data types have continued to evolve after that so that now, the data types include timezone, whether or not it is taken in daylight savings time, and having accuracy to more than 4 decimals of a second. Some software was, as I understand, coded to depend on a 2 digit year, but it was VERY old software, very rarely used, and the threat was very much overstated long before Y2K. My girls were in high school as we were leading up to Y2K. As I heard the claims get more and more ridiculous, I took the opportunity to encourage them to watch how people sensationalize, overdramatize, and love to be scared of impending doom. I told them to watch, learn, and keep this lesson for life as I told them coming up on it that none of the disasters we had been told would happen would occur. Of course, it came and went, and none of the sensational doomsday claims transpired. My girls are grown and have their own families now, and they're not easily scared by such dramatic claims ... like claims of catastrohpic climate change ... slh1234, what I said was " testing third-party (eg, Micro$oft) apps to confirm manufacturers' claims." Of course there was sensationalism and wild claims. After all, it was media reporting, doing what they do now wrt AGW.
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Post by sigurdur on Dec 26, 2014 14:38:29 GMT
Sig it must be cold where you are because we hear a lot from you. As good as any weather report. Good stuff. Yep. It is a tad chilly, but will soon be cold.
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Post by Ratty on Dec 27, 2014 12:08:58 GMT
Sig it must be cold where you are because we hear a lot from you. As good as any weather report. Good stuff. Yep. It is a tad chilly, but will soon be cold. You don't have to Fargo - oops, go far - to get cool in ND. Yah, you betcha .... North DakotaSorry.
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Post by scpg02 on Dec 27, 2014 15:18:49 GMT
I had to scrape ice here in the sunny central valley of California. Christmas day, my mom had icicles on her car but she is at 3,000ft.
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