 |
Y2K - bugged or not? - Times of India (Jan 23, 99) |
Everyone seems to be concerned about the big problem fast approaching
us as the year 2000 draws near. While party animals are worried
about outdoing each other with plans to usher in the next millennium
with a bang, there are others for whom Year 2000 is a problem
- with the Y2K bug looming large over their heads. In keeping
with nerdy computer abbreviations Y2K is a short form of Year
2000, where K is a common representation of thousand.
The Y2K bug (or "the millennium bug") is a problem that
stems from the use of a two digit representation of the year (e.g.
98 instead of 1998) in the early days of computing, when machines
could handle a very limited amount of data. Engineers and programmers
chose to represent calendar dates in the six-digit format ddmmyy
we're all familiar with. Had they chosen to use the eight-character
format ddmmyyyy, the Y2K problem never would have arisen,
since the year would have been represented in its entirety. The
resulting scenario is familiarly like our kindergarten arithmetic.
While learning to subtract two digit numbers, weren't we taught
that a smaller number less a bigger number is a negative? In which
case, calculating my age, I'll suddenly turn -73 next year, -72
the year after and finally be born in 2073!
Most people believe that the Y2K problem will not affect them
directly, and only the big mainframes of yesteryear will bear
the brunt. But in reality, the Y2K bug can affect software, hardware,
and worse still - computer chips wherever they exist - be it in
your music system or your VCR. The most prominent personal target
will be that PC you bought a few years ago - if affected by the
Y2K problem, may churn out absurd results, or may even stop working
after the midnight of December 31, 1999.
The panic being caused world-wide by the Y2K bug arises from the
fact that Y2K is a very big problem to tackle, and we woke up
only recently. This means that we don't have enough time to fix
all the computers - or all critical computers for that matter.
As a result, there will be failures in computing systems world-wide
which could lead to blackouts, business failures, and even non-availability
of food! This is specially true for the developed countries where
practically everything is computerised, and thankfully less encompassing
for countries like ours.
Are people scared? In a poll conducted by the Gallup organisation
for the National Science Foundation and USA Today, nearly half
of Americans surveyed said they would avoid travelling by plane
on or around January 1, 2000, when experts fear air traffic control
could be snarled by major computer failures. Nearly two-thirds
of the 1,032 adults polled said they planned to seek extra confirmation
of their bank accounts, retirement funds, or other financial records
after the start of the new millennium.
Now that you've understood what the Y2K problem is all about, what can you do to tackle this at the personal level?
- Read up more about the Y2K bug - there are numerous books for the buying, and if you've got an Internet connection, you've got the earth's biggest library at your fingertips - all for free. You could start off with Dr. Edward Yardeni's "Year 2000 Recession - Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best " online book at http://www.yardeni.com/y2kbook.html
- Test your computer to see if it is set to take on Y2K. You could use a simple, free year 2000 diagnostic program called Test2000.exe available at http://www.rightime.com/. A quick search for "Y2K" at a software site like http://www.download.com will throw up many more such programs, besides offering fixes for the bug if need be.