THE Y2K CRAZE
InterNet Access Network ( )
Fri, 23 Apr 1999 11:36:12 -0400
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>Free Internet Tip of the Day:
>
>THE Y2K CRAZE
>
> By now, the Year 2000 computer problem is a fairly
>common topic. Most people have heard of it, but not
>everybody knows exactly what it is.
> The Y2K bug is a very simple problem. Rather than setting
>aside four digits in a computer to store a date, a lot of
>programmers and engineers only set aside 2 digits. That
>means that rather than storing the year as 1985, the computer
>stores it as 85. This is fine until the year 2000.
> Those computers and software programs that only use two
>digits for the year 2000 will store it as 00. This works for
>us humans because we know that the 00 represents the year
>2000 (what else could it represent?) However, computers in
>this situation might think that the 00 represents 1900. This
>is where the problem starts.
> Let's say you own a fitness center. When people sign up
>for memberships, you take their money and then create a record
>of them in your computer. In that computer record you type in
>the date that the customer's membership expires.
> Suppose one of your customers pays until Jan 1, 2000. If
>your computer in not Y2K compliant, you would enter their
>expiration date as 01/01/00. The computer would think that
>they expired on Jan 1, 1900. The computer would immediately
>mark them as overdue by nearly 100 years.
> The Y2K problem is simply a problem of computer and
>software programs not knowing the difference between the
>year 1900 and 2000. This will definitely cause problems
>for all of us. How big the problem will be is anybody's guess.
>
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>
>Web Site of the Day:
>
>If you would like to find out if your computer and software is
>Y2K compliant, visit CNET's site.
>
>http://www.cnet.com/Content/Reports/Special/Y2K/Main/index.html
>
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Dayton, OH