[MrFlorida]

Originally Posted by Windguy

Good thing the world spent billions of dollars fixing software and replacing outdated computers to avoid the disaster that would have happened otherwise.

Wasted money is right, nothing happened. Just another government hoax.

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by MrFlorida

Wasted money is right, nothing happened. Just another government hoax.

Apparently, you didn’t get my post. Nothing happened because we stepped off the track before the train ran us over. The disaster WOULD have happened if we hadn’t put an incredible amount of effort into avoiding it. This was a great example of people working together to avoid a disaster. This wasn’t an example of a boy crying wolf to get attention—there really was a wolf stalking the sheep.

[Steve]

Originally Posted by Taltarzac725

I unplugged a few things in anticipation of the solar events tonight but have no idea if this even necessary so far south.

Unplugged stuff with computer chips and will do the same with this tablet later tonight. Also toggled some of the power circuits to off.

I live here in the Villages but have met a lot of people who one down from Michigan, Montana, Toronto and others places north.

We did something interesting this past weekend regarding the solar flares. We went about our business and ignored it!! We survived!!!

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Windguy

Apparently, you didn’t get my post. Nothing happened because we stepped off the track before the train ran us over. The disaster WOULD have happened if we hadn’t put an incredible amount of effort into avoiding it. This was a great example of people working together to avoid a disaster. This wasn’t an example of a boy crying wolf to get attention—there really was a wolf stalking the sheep.

And the PROOF that the so called Y2K disaster would have occurred is........?????
Oh, wait, it's impossible to prove a negative that didn't happen

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

And the PROOF that the so called Y2K disaster would have occurred is........?????
Oh, wait, it's impossible to prove a negative that didn't happen

Do you have any idea what needed fixing? The old software and hardware encoded the year as just two digits in order to save on the outrageously expensive storage we had at the time. Remember, the software was written in the 60s and 70s when the computers had less processing power and storage than the most trivial of devices we use today. Think about your USB charging brick! Most modern computers come with a million(!) times as much memory as those old computers. Every byte was precious.

So, the software was written in a way that when you wanted to see how much time had passed since something (say, a bank deposit) had happened and just subtracted the two 2-digit numbers. Now, suppose it’s 2020. The date would be encoded as “00” and if your deposit was made in 1990, the time elapsed would have been computed to be -10 years! The software had no way to deal with that and would have crashed.

I’m sure the programmers realized that eventually the software would need to be rewritten, but they knew it would be decades away and the future could deal with it. So, in the late 90s, people saw the train coming towards us and decided to see how big the problem was. They searched virtually all hardware and software to see where years were encoded as two digits and found that it was a HUGE problem.

An additional problem was that the old finance software was usually written in one of the earliest of programming languages, which was called COBOL. Most programmers today write in much newer languages and most of the old COBOL programmers were retired or dead by the end of the 20th Century. It was a struggle getting knowledgeable folks to fix all the problems.

And what did the people, businesses, and government agencies who took on this monumental task get for their long, hard hours and billions of dollars get for their effort? Nothing but derision from the ignorant masses because they actually succeeded in moving that train that was barreling down on us to another track and the disaster was avoided.

If they hadn’t made the effort, people would have screamed bloody murder because they couldn’t get their money out of the bank because the software thought that they wouldn’t actually deposit their money for almost a century even though they made their deposits in the 1990s. People would have insisted heads should roll for not doing something about it.

These people were heroes and should be lauded instead of called cheats and liars. Shame, shame on those ignorant conspiracy nuts who make fun of them.

[mbene]

Originally Posted by MrFlorida

I remember Y2K, a big nothing burger !

I had a great Y2K. About a dozen people went to my brother's cabin in northern Michigan for New Years. At midnight, with everyone watching the ball drop and yelling out the countdown, when we got to 3 the TV shut off. Total silence. Everyone just looked around at each other, then someone noticed I had the remote in my hand. Best time ever!

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Windguy

Do you have any idea what needed fixing? The old software and hardware encoded the year as just two digits in order to save on the outrageously expensive storage we had at the time. Remember, the software was written in the 60s and 70s when the computers had less processing power and storage than the most trivial of devices we use today. Think about your USB charging brick! Most modern computers come with a million(!) times as much memory as those old computers. Every byte was precious.

So, the software was written in a way that when you wanted to see how much time had passed since something (say, a bank deposit) had happened and just subtracted the two 2-digit numbers. Now, suppose it’s 2020. The date would be encoded as “00” and if your deposit was made in 1990, the time elapsed would have been computed to be -10 years! The software had no way to deal with that and would have crashed.

I’m sure the programmers realized that eventually the software would need to be rewritten, but they knew it would be decades away and the future could deal with it. So, in the late 90s, people saw the train coming towards us and decided to see how big the problem was. They searched virtually all hardware and software to see where years were encoded as two digits and found that it was a HUGE problem.

An additional problem was that the old finance software was usually written in one of the earliest of programming languages, which was called COBOL. Most programmers today write in much newer languages and most of the old COBOL programmers were retired or dead by the end of the 20th Century. It was a struggle getting knowledgeable folks to fix all the problems.

And what did the people, businesses, and government agencies who took on this monumental task get for their long, hard hours and billions of dollars get for their effort? Nothing but derision from the ignorant masses because they actually succeeded in moving that train that was barreling down on us to another track and the disaster was avoided.

If they hadn’t made the effort, people would have screamed bloody murder because they couldn’t get their money out of the bank because the software thought that they wouldn’t actually deposit their money for almost a century even though they made their deposits in the 1990s. People would have insisted heads should roll for not doing something about it.

These people were heroes and should be lauded instead of called cheats and liars. Shame, shame on those ignorant conspiracy nuts who make fun of them.

Everything you posted is quite reasonable. And it was possible that a potential disaster was averted by early actions taken. My only point is that we have no idea what, and to what extent, anything would have happened if we did nothing. Disaster???? Nothing????? It's all speculation.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by Windguy

Do you have any idea what needed fixing? The old software and hardware encoded the year as just two digits in order to save on the outrageously expensive storage we had at the time. Remember, the software was written in the 60s and 70s when the computers had less processing power and storage than the most trivial of devices we use today. Think about your USB charging brick! Most modern computers come with a million(!) times as much memory as those old computers. Every byte was precious.

So, the software was written in a way that when you wanted to see how much time had passed since something (say, a bank deposit) had happened and just subtracted the two 2-digit numbers. Now, suppose it’s 2020. The date would be encoded as “00” and if your deposit was made in 1990, the time elapsed would have been computed to be -10 years! The software had no way to deal with that and would have crashed.

I’m sure the programmers realized that eventually the software would need to be rewritten, but they knew it would be decades away and the future could deal with it. So, in the late 90s, people saw the train coming towards us and decided to see how big the problem was. They searched virtually all hardware and software to see where years were encoded as two digits and found that it was a HUGE problem.

An additional problem was that the old finance software was usually written in one of the earliest of programming languages, which was called COBOL. Most programmers today write in much newer languages and most of the old COBOL programmers were retired or dead by the end of the 20th Century. It was a struggle getting knowledgeable folks to fix all the problems.

And what did the people, businesses, and government agencies who took on this monumental task get for their long, hard hours and billions of dollars get for their effort? Nothing but derision from the ignorant masses because they actually succeeded in moving that train that was barreling down on us to another track and the disaster was avoided.

If they hadn’t made the effort, people would have screamed bloody murder because they couldn’t get their money out of the bank because the software thought that they wouldn’t actually deposit their money for almost a century even though they made their deposits in the 1990s. People would have insisted heads should roll for not doing something about it.

These people were heroes and should be lauded instead of called cheats and liars. Shame, shame on those ignorant conspiracy nuts who make fun of them.

Don’t disagree with most of your post. I will take exception to calling the ‘programmers’....’heroes’.
In my world that would be reserved for military personnel serving in forward areas, frontline public safety, nurses etc. What you’ve described is someone....doing their job. Was it exemplary, impressive and dedicated? Absolutely
But the term ‘heroes’ doesn’t apply. Unless they did it while running into a burning building when everyone else was running out. Otherwise, I agree with most of your post

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Everything you posted is quite reasonable. And it was possible that a potential disaster was averted by early actions taken. My only point is that we have no idea what, and to what extent, anything would have happened if we did nothing. Disaster???? Nothing????? It's all speculation.

YOU have no idea what would have happened because you are ignorant about how software works. Those of us who worked the problem were VERY aware of what was wrong. We knew! And, no, no one got any extra money to fix the software, although some of the programmers at my lab got modest bonuses for putting in long, unpaid hours. The small bonuses were probably equivalent to pennies per hour for all that stressful work. This was not a money grab.

[Windguy]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

Don’t disagree with most of your post. I will take exception to calling the ‘programmers’....’heroes’.
In my world that would be reserved for military personnel serving in forward areas, frontline public safety, nurses etc. What you’ve described is someone....doing their job. Was it exemplary, impressive and dedicated? Absolutely
But the term ‘heroes’ doesn’t apply. Unless they did it while running into a burning building when everyone else was running out. Otherwise, I agree with most of your post

To me, a hero is someone who saves the day whether they risk their lives or not.

And, all those warriors, nurses, fire fighters, etc. are just doing their job, too. They knew what they were getting in to before they signed up. Most of the programmers did not, except for those hired to do the job.

People who worked late and on weekends made the sacrifice of being away from their families. One could say that they did risk their lives (or at least well being) by suffering from unbearable stress.

[Taltarzac725]

Originally Posted by Windguy

Do you have any idea what needed fixing? The old software and hardware encoded the year as just two digits in order to save on the outrageously expensive storage we had at the time. Remember, the software was written in the 60s and 70s when the computers had less processing power and storage than the most trivial of devices we use today. Think about your USB charging brick! Most modern computers come with a million(!) times as much memory as those old computers. Every byte was precious.

So, the software was written in a way that when you wanted to see how much time had passed since something (say, a bank deposit) had happened and just subtracted the two 2-digit numbers. Now, suppose it’s 2020. The date would be encoded as “00” and if your deposit was made in 1990, the time elapsed would have been computed to be -10 years! The software had no way to deal with that and would have crashed.

I’m sure the programmers realized that eventually the software would need to be rewritten, but they knew it would be decades away and the future could deal with it. So, in the late 90s, people saw the train coming towards us and decided to see how big the problem was. They searched virtually all hardware and software to see where years were encoded as two digits and found that it was a HUGE problem.

An additional problem was that the old finance software was usually written in one of the earliest of programming languages, which was called COBOL. Most programmers today write in much newer languages and most of the old COBOL programmers were retired or dead by the end of the 20th Century. It was a struggle getting knowledgeable folks to fix all the problems.

And what did the people, businesses, and government agencies who took on this monumental task get for their long, hard hours and billions of dollars get for their effort? Nothing but derision from the ignorant masses because they actually succeeded in moving that train that was barreling down on us to another track and the disaster was avoided.

If they hadn’t made the effort, people would have screamed bloody murder because they couldn’t get their money out of the bank because the software thought that they wouldn’t actually deposit their money for almost a century even though they made their deposits in the 1990s. People would have insisted heads should roll for not doing something about it.

These people were heroes and should be lauded instead of called cheats and liars. Shame, shame on those ignorant conspiracy nuts who make fun of them.

Thanks for posting that.


There are very real conspiracies but the 2024 solar flares and Y2K were not. The Y2K threat was very real.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by Windguy

To me, a hero is someone who saves the day whether they risk their lives or not.

And, all those warriors, nurses, fire fighters, etc. are just doing their job, too. They knew what they were getting in to before they signed up. Most of the programmers did not, except for those hired to do the job.

People who worked late and on weekends made the sacrifice of being away from their families. One could say that they did risk their lives (or at least well being) by suffering from unbearable stress.

I respect your interpretation....we just disagree.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Windguy

YOU have no idea what would have happened because you are ignorant about how software works. Those of us who worked the problem were VERY aware of what was wrong. We knew! And, no, no one got any extra money to fix the software, although some of the programmers at my lab got modest bonuses for putting in long, unpaid hours. The small bonuses were probably equivalent to pennies per hour for all that stressful work. This was not a money grab.

Yep, I’m “ignorant” about how software works 😂😂😂. That’s what it states on my MSCE certificate.

[TheWatcher]

Seems this thread diverged from effects caused by a beautiful natural phenomena and any untoward reprocusions on Earth into a back and forth about a man caused countdown to y2k.

Again, the sun has cycles and is currently increasing in activity. There were multiple powerful flares causing multiple CME's (Coronal Mass Ejections) directed at the earth. The initial strike of radiation (mins) increased the ionospheric ionization on the Sunlit side causing radio blackouts (HF radio, gps inacuracies, risk to astronauts, polar airline flights, etc). Thankfully, Earth has a powerful magnetospere and when the particles reach the Earth in days, they are directed along the magnetic fields toward the poles creating the Aurora phenomena as they strike the atmosphere.The glow is the different molecules they strike. Red and green are oxygen, purple, blue or pink are caused by nitrogen. If the CME's are more powerful large currents are induced in the Earth's surface and consequently, power lines, and other long electrical pathways if the magnetic Space and Earth fields are aligned. Fascinating stuff.

Spaceweather.com Time Machine

And:

Spaceweather.com Time Machine

Last big one was October 29 and 30, 2003. My son and I were fortunate to be in the darkest sky on the East coast, Cherry Spings Park, PA, during the yearly Astronomy Club's Star Party. What a treat. Tried to call my wife near Phila but the cell phones were not as reliable then and the event worsened communication.

Just a moment...

I already posted the first recognized flare, CME, Aurora, and ground effects event that was recognized as connecting this from the Sun to the Earth by Carrington:

The Carrington Event: History's greatest solar storm | Space

It induced large currents in the telegraph equipment of the time since lines acted like large antennas/inductors.

The one we saw in 2003 was noted at the spacewearher site:

Spaceweather.com Time Machine

These events happen all the time on a smaller scale. The one we just witnessed is estimated as a 1 in 500 year event.

[Stu from NYC]

We were in Ga this past weekend and lots of people thought we would see it but alas not to be