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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Mansfield who wrote (2311)	7/29/1998 4:12:00 AM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

'The FAA, IBM 3083's and microcode asked in the TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) Q&A Forum Last week Gary North had a posting for a Washington post article in which Jane Garvey of the FAA is quoted as saying, "the [system] will transition the millenium in a routine manner." see garynorth.com The article states that the microcode in IBM 3083 machines does not keep track of two digit years, "instead, it stores the year as a two-digit number between one and 32." The fallacy, I believe, in the logic of the programmers hired by the FAA is this: The operating system may well retrieve the year from the microcode as a two-digit number between one and 32, the operating system will not however pass this value directly through to the application programs requesting the current date. The operating system will translate the year into the standard MM/DD/YY format we all know and loathe. The year 01 in the microcode will be represented to the application program as 75. The programmers that wrote the FAA enroute system were not, I'm sure, prescient enough to suspect that the code would be running in 2000. Even if they were, IBM's operating system passed the date to the application in standard format. Standard format for the '70s, anyway. I would be curious to see if I am the only one that thought of this (highly unlikely) or more probably, where the holes in my thinking are. Asked by Dave Tulka (tulka@co.palm-beach.fl.us) on July 27, 1998. Answers If the microcode will survive, you still have the problem of MM/DD/YY format. This is the big problem in the software. This must be fixed. Do date math and when negative numbers result from date calculations, you have big problems. I think the bigger problem with anything the FAA says or does is their track record. They already spent a billion dollars to fix their host computer system a while ago. Guess what, they could not do it. A billion dollars of your money right down the drain. Now they expect us to believe they can do it in a much shorter time frame while fixing all their other systems as well. Dave, I find no holes. Remember, in the private sector you are only as good as your last victory. The FAA has a lousy track record. I wish the FAA well with their latest endevoure. j Answered by j (yada@yada.com) on July 27, 1998. Thanks for the reply. My pointed concern is with intra-operating system events (e.g. OLTP logs, System Management Facility records, JES queue, access method timestamps, etc.). I've been around MVS and MVS/ESA enough to know that these are pretty important pieces of the pie. Answered by Dave Tulka (tulka@co.palm-beach.fl.us) on July 28, 1998. I to share your concerns, however, I have never worked in an IBM shop. I work with HP's 3k and DEC VAX/ALPHA. I know that some HP's will not be supported(read that as not gonna work) and DEC is working on a major upgrade to their operation system. Given the Compac takeover I would be very nervious if I ran a DEC shop. It is my understanding that the microcode not the operating system is the problem with the FAA's old IBM's. If IBM says the microcode is not gonna make it, it isn't gonna make it. thx, j Answered by j (yada@yada.com) on July 28, 1998. Good point. It seems to me that there is a lot of confusion about just where the Y2k problem actually resides. I keep hearing stupid statements like "Apple computers don't have a problem" and "UNIX is immune". The statement from the FAA falls into the same category. Y2k problems can reside in the hardware, the microcode, the operation system, commercial software packages and custom-written applications. The largest category, and the one most prone to having problems, is the custom-written stuff. The FAA looked at the microcode on just one model of computer (albeit a very important model) and anounced that they will not have a problem (with the microcode) until 2007. They still have to investigate and repair everything else - and I'm still not planning on flying anywhere early in 2000. Answered by Ed Perrault (EdPerrault@Compuserve.com) on July 28, 1998. Contribute an answer to "The FAA, IBM 3083's and microcode" greenspun.com

To: John Mansfield who wrote (2311)	7/29/1998 4:13:00 AM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

'Westport, Ct. Y2k Committee (Mission Statement) asked in the TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) Q&A Forum The First Selectman of Westport, Ct. (our New England equivalent of a mayor) has just formed a Y2k committee and assigned it the task of investigating the community's state of preparedness in regard to the Y2k problem. I think this statement was well written, particularly considering that it came from a small town government. With the permission of the Selectman's office, I am posting it on the Internet as a model for use by other communities. I am a member of the committee and I will follow this up with additional information as the work of the committee progresses. Please feel free to pass this information along to your local government and emergency planning organizations. For further information, please contact EDPERRAULT@COMPUSERVE.COM ------------------------------- SELECTMAN'S YEAR 2000 COMMITTEE MISSION The Selectman's Year 2000 Committee shall assess Westport's readiness to cope wth the so-called "Y2K" problems, and recommend prudent measures to enhance our preparedness. The committee shall review town computer-related issues and, with the Emergency Management Committee and other town officials, any possible public safety and health issues that might arise as a result of potential Y2K problems. OBJECTIVES (1) Understand the scope of the potential Y2K problems that exist in Westport's computer operations and what measures have been taken or should be taken to correct them. Because Westport's school computer system is so closely linked with the town's system, the review shall include school-related issues as well. (2) Understand, to the best of the committee's ability, potential problems that might arise with outside suppliers and vendors (utilities, banks, etc.), as well as those commercial firms that supply goods and services vital to the public health and welfare (food stores, service stations, etc.). (3) Enhance the public's understanding of potential Y2K problems as they might affect Westport. (4) Seek to prevent unnecessary public anxiety or panic over the issue by gathering the most objective assessments as possible. (5) Develop a plan that allows the committee to accomplish its mission and objectives. ------------------------------- The only items missing from the above are explicit references to embedded systems and to problems due to lapses in government services. The first two objectives could be considered to implicitly include those items and I hope to ensure that they are interpreted that way. I'm particularly encouraged by objectives (3) and (4). It makes me believe that Diane Goss Farrell (our First Selectman) "gets it". Perhaps the copy of Ed Yourdon's TIME BOMB 2000 I gave her last month helped. In July, 1998 it was announced by FEMA that Westport has been designated one of only 50 "Disaster Resistant" communities in the country (the only one in the State of Connecticut). Achieving this distinction required a lot of contingency planning, equipment upgrades, and training on the part of Westport's emergency response organizations. This segues quite neatly into Y2K contingency planning and probably is one of the reasons why Westport is taking this seriously. Asked by Ed Perrault (EdPerrault@Compuserve.com) on July 28, 1998. Answers Ed - Where can I see that FEMA report? I want to know who the other 49 are. Thanks. Answered by Amy Leone (aleone@amp.com) on July 28, 1998. Hi Amy. I got the information out of a blurb in the local paper. But you got me wondering too, so I just visited the FEMA web site and navigated myself to their PROJECT IMPACT page (http://www.fema.gov/impact). Project Impact is the "Disaster Resistant Community" project. If you go to the above URL and select COMMUNITIES you will get to a map with links to regional info about which communities are involved in the project. The regional info has further links to info about the specific communities. The site also has a search engine. I was unable to find a comprehensive, single page list of all 50 communities. I'm guessing that there is one in each state. Answered by Ed Perrault (EdPerrault@Compuserve.com) on July 28, 1998. Contribute an answer to "Westport, Ct. Y2k Committee (Mission Statement)" greenspun.com