The Millennium Bug
The Millennium Bug, Y2K (year two-thousand) and Y2K myths are terms which we have been hearing a great deal about. As 1999 unfolds we will be bombarded with frightening scenarios of Y2K! The year 2000 myths will inevitably work their way into folklore, legends, prophecy and urban legends. Urban legends are modern tales, usually of the inner city - but not always, which are designed to frighten those who read them. They can be a cause of civil unrest, and many of them are not for children. Y2K myths are on a fast train to this end. Whether this will occur sooner rather than later will be determined to a large extent by exactly how much truth the myths prove to be.
What Is The Problem?
It started over thirty years ago, in the sixties, when computers were young. Early programmers needed to save money and memory space. To do so, they stored dates as two digits instead of four digits so that the computer read, for example, 1987 as 87 and 1995 as 95. At midnight on January 1, 2000, the computer will read that date as 00.
...Fire a missile on 12/31/99 and it will hit its target; fire it on January 1, 2000 and it will use a star chart from 1900!...if you were born in 1940 the computer would see that as 00 minus 40 or minus 40 years old. Can't have a negtive age. Minus age equals unborn which equals not here. Negative age is an impossibility (see Alan Simpson). It would mean you have not been born. If you are unborn you are not here. Therefore you would not be paid salary, benefits or anything because - you do not exist!
This is a worldwide problem, but it can be fixed, according to the experts. The problem is, it will take more time than we have. 1999 will be a short year! If the myths or urban legends turn out to be fact, and not all of the countries have corrected the problem, dire happenings are in the forecast.
Exactly When Will This Begin?
It will begin this year - 1999. Some of the programmers believe it will start around October, and perhaps earlier, but THE catastrophe will begin at midnight on January the first. Also, some earlier dates of presentable problems are 4/1/99, 4/9/99, 7/1/99, 9/9/99 and 10/1/99.
What Are Some Of The Myths Expected?
Y2K prognosticators see massive power failures. Telephones and electronics will not work. Technology that uses two-digit codes in embedded chips will suddenly cease working - elevators, smoke alarms, programmable thermostats, security systems and other items which have become indispensable to daily living. Surgeries and medical treatments will cease. Airplanes and super sonic rail service will come to a standstill. Local, state and federal government services will close down. Social Security, Medicare and Veteran benefits will either be late or the records lost. The Department of Motor Vehicles will be unable to issue documents. Grocery stores will close due to non-delivery of food. Mass transportation will come to a standstill. Banks will close. Wall Street may even close their doors. And this is a short list! Some prognosticators expect chaos.
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