Re: YEAR 2000 SOLUTIONS CONFERENCE -- CALL FOR PAPERS (long)

Did you hear the news? On Sat, 25 Nov 1995 16:41:14 -0700 (MST), our ether buddy Roy Hann <rhann@nisku.blackgold.ab.ca> spaketh thusly: :)On Mon, 20 Nov 1995, Peter Zuckerman wrote: :)> * * * * * CALL FOR PAPERS and PRESENTATIONS * * * * * :)> :)> :)> YEAR 2000 SOLUTIONS :)> :)> Theme: Resources & Strategies for Managing :)> the Year 2000 Date Problem :)> :)> March 18-21, 1996 * Washington D.C. * U.S.A. =clip= :)What a totally fatuous idea! I thought this was a laborious practical :)joke at first, but now I see it's not. An entire conference devoted to :)the date change?! Any project manager or system architect who didn't :)account for this in the last 20 years should be sued for malpractice, not :)sent on a junket a company expense! And those unfortunates who inherited :)systems from such clowns would be better off working on fixing the mess :)than attending a conference which apparently has not yet identified :)enough actual issues or solutions to put together a brochure. Hello Roy! You probably don't think it's a big deal, but the USDA does - it recently issued a CBD announcement seeking solutions to its problems - and so does the USAF. I snagged the following post from sci.military.moderated - AFNS is the U.S. Air Force's Official News Service: ==================================== From:Sysop Afpan ("sysop@afpan.pa.af.mil") Date: 1995/11/18 Newsgroup: sci.military.moderated Air Force News Service 14nov95a Date: 1995/11/18 MessageID: DI9DrD.uC@ranger.daytonoh.attgis.com#1/11 MessageID: DI9DrD.uC@ranger.daytonoh.attgis.com#2/11 Segments 1 & 2 of 11 sender: military@ranger.daytonoh.attgis.com (Sci.military Login) organization: AT&T Global Information Solutions newsgroups: sci.military.moderated =========================================== Year 2000 to present challenges by Staff Sgt. Gerald P. Sonnenberg SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFNS) -- The next century is a mere four years away. And as it gets closer, predictions of flood, famine and other disasters by people such as the French clairvoyant, Nostradamus, are on the minds of many. Though frightening, those predictions are merely possibilities. There is at least one prediction for the new millennium so likely that when it will occur has been narrowed down to the last second. "The more I think about the year 2000 the more I realize the impact it will have on all of us at work and at home," said Gary Kuhn, an information systems specialist at the Air Force C4 Agency here. Kuhn is referring to faulty date logic in computer systems. This is a computer's inability to handle the date change from 1999 to 2000 because systems were designed eliminating the first two digits of the year in software essential to the functions of thousands of computers. "Most computer applications use the computer system's internal clock to time-stamp records, files and transactions. The year is most often shortened to the last two digits, and numerical comparisons are performed using those last two digits," said Kuhn. The problem's seriousness can be heard in the voices of the members of the Air Force C4 Agency's Year 2000 working group as they talk around a conference table. A corporate Air Force approach must be developed because there is no "silver bullet" to kill the beast threatening current technology, said Capt. Don Brown, the agency's team leader for Year 2000. The Year 2000 problem could affect every system in the Air Force as well as other systems worldwide. The hardware, software, and firmware may not know how to handle the change in date. And evidence of computer problems attributed to Year 2000 is already occurring. According to the December 1992 issue of Case Strategies, "In 1990, a 107-year-old woman in Denmark received a letter from the local school system welcoming her to first grade. And a man of 103 checked into a U.S. hospital and was assigned to the pediatric ward." There are many locally produced programs written at the command, division and branch level that will be affected. Firmware and software for all kinds of electronic equipment, communications equipment, cryptographic, electronic switches, and satellite and weapons systems must be addressed. Brown's working group is preparing for the arrival of representatives from major commands, direct reporting units, and field operating agencies at the agency Nov. 28-30 for a Year 2000 conference. "We'll be addressing three main items," said Brown. "Sizing the problem Air Force-wide, getting the necessary tools to system managers, and developing an Air Force corporate approach." The attendees will also hear a success story by a guest speaker from Federal Express. If you want to know if your computer will be affected, try setting the date on it to Dec. 31, 1999, at 11:58 p.m. Turn off your computer and wait three to four minutes. Turn it back on and check the date. "It should be a minute or two past midnight, on the morning of Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000. Mine responded with Jan. 4, 1980," said Kuhn. It is estimated that 80 percent of existing PCs may fall back in time. A World Wide Web home page is available to share information throughout the Air Force, and a mailing list is also set up for Air Force members to discuss lessons learned. ======================= Best, Mac ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |SCANDINAVIAN PC SYSTEMS, INC "Not high tech, | | Baton Rouge, La = 504-338-9580 not low tech, just | | 9 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Central M-F the *right* tech!" (R)| |-----------------------------------------------------------------------| |SPCS, Inc. is a Vietnam-era veteran operated small business. 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Thank you for your interest and assistance! DISCLAIMER: If it's business related, heck yes you can believe it - I'm the president of the company! If it's not, consider it just my humble opinion.