These are 2 emails from a friend of my who is a Computer Programmer.
Interesting reading.
Hugo,
>
>Love, to. However, most of my information comes from the real world, from
>real CIO's, MIS Directors, programmers, IBM'ers, etc., etc. I don't
>consider most of the information on the internet reliable. Neither do most
>of my colleagues. Strange, but the ones who work in the business don't
>trust the most popular medium to gain news. We go to seminars,
conventions,
>and the like.
>
>I also subscribe to trade magazines, mostly on the IBM AS/400. Which
Pastor
>Rick also thinks is a has-been. Unfortunately, he's wrong about that, too.
>What's the most popular mid-range computer in the world? The IBM AS/400.
>What is the machine that NT shops are buying to replace the incompetent NT
>systems? AS/400. What is the ONLY computer/operating system in the world
>that can run LINUX, Windows95/98, NT, OS/2, Novell and MAC, ALL AT THE SAME
>TIME? IBM AS/400. Now, a machine that can run all the PC operating
>systems, and their programs in a multi-server capacity, as well as it's own
>native main-frame code, COBOL, C, RPG, etc., ALL AT THE SAME TIME, does
that
>sound like a "has-been" machine? Not likely.
>
>Some of the users of AS/400's are UPS (ever distribution center in the
>world, over 300, all will be clients of mine this year), Coca Cola in
>Atlanta, Chase Private Banking, HQ in Miami (also a client for 9 weeks
this
>year on Y2K conversions, I lead the team that installed and taught them how
>to use a Y2K tool and to program with it. Other clients are Cincinnati
Bell
>Systems in Ft. Lauderdale, Royal Caribbean (did you know EVERY cruise ship
>sailing from Miami and Ft Lauderdale use AS/400's to control all
>non-navigational functions, hotel ops, bar-ops, scheduling, finances, etc.
>Even Carnival, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, Princess
>Cruises all use AS/400's in there HQ's to do the core business functions?),
>also I start Sony South America as a client next Monday. Burger King is
>another company here in Miami that runs its HQ on AS/400's. Most S.
>American banks communicating with Chase use AS/400's (or System 36's and
>System 38's, the XT and AT version of the AS/400)
>
>My clients for Y2K in the last 18-months (summarized), all of which I visit
>in person are:
>
>GE Engine Services, Cincinnati, Miami, Dallas
>Chase Manhattan Private Banking, Miami
>Yellow Freight Services, Saia Freight Services, Kansas City, KS
>Nemours Cardialogical Children's Hospital, Wilmington DE
>Metropolitan Mortgage, Miami
>Zurich Insurance Services, Jacksonville, FL
>Waitsfield Champlain Valley Telecom, Burlington, VT
>Essex Plastics, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
>Safeway and United Automobile Insurance Companies, Chicago and Miami
>
>So you see, I don't consider the internet reliable, nor the opinions of
>those who rely on the 'net for their information. I don't need to consider
>them. My income from a "work at home jerk computer programmer with a
beeper
>and a cell phone," (quote from a recent sermon), is well into the six
>figures. I believe my 15-years experience, CIO contacts at the above
>mentioned contacts (by the way, all are already Y2K compliant in a live
>environment) and current list of big-name companies as clients more than
>qualify me to speak on Y2K. Perhaps more qualifications than some others
we
>know?
>
>I will be happy to give you some articles from my trade mags on Y2K. They
>support my opinions and are based on fact, not internet gossip.
>
>
>Earl
I visited the web-sites you sent me. Very interesting. I also read the
>comments about the articles, typical comments heard from members of our own
>church.
>
>Q. If Y2K is no-big deal, why are companies spending hundred's of
>billions of dollars to fix it?
>A. So it won't be a big deal, num-nuts!
>
>Q. Is September 9, 1999 going to be the first big calapse of computer
>systems, 9/9/99 being 9999,
> which some computer systems read as a non-date, end-of-file
>condition, unlimited TO date in a
> FROM and TO selections, etc.?
>A. NO. Just as "everyone" has been saying dates are (were) stored in
>computers with out years. Quick
> programming lesson: Dates were stored as a 6-byte field, decimal,
>or three separate 2-byte fields, one
> for day, one for month, one for year, or MMDDYY. Now, programmers
>did, and still do, use 9's as a
> condition for some things as mentioned. Rocket science question:
>If all 9's are used in a 6-byte field,
> how many 9's are present? I'll do the math: six (6) 999999. Same
>for the 3 separate fields, six 9's.
> Now the big finish: How many 9's in 9/9/99? FOUR! To the naked
>eye. The computer actually see's,
> get this, "090999" or maybe "990909" if in YYMMDD format. I don't
>think the September 9 theory holds
> water. It is a favorit MIS joke in the industry watching the
laymen
>try to argue this one. Obviously they
> don't know didly-squat about computers.
>
>Q. Is every computer going to fail?
>A. NO! As a matter of FACT, only about 30% of computer applications are
>date sensitive. Let's do some
> more math: If only 30% (a FACTUAL number, I'll get the resource if
>need be) of computers are date
> sensitive, and, according to Pastor Rick's own sermon's, about 30%
>of companies and computer
> systems will fail, how many will actually fail? On-third of
>One-third, at the most dire prediction levels.
>
>Q. Will the computer think it's 1900 and shut off my electricity, cause
>the Publix deliver truck to stop running,
> power off my phone, stop the water from running, force down
>aircraft, and just generally make a hodge-
> podge of our social system?
>A. Not likely. Some little problems, but SPEAKING AS A COMPUTER
>PROFESSIONAL, NOT A
> BOOKKEEPER OR SOMETHING ELSE WITH A PC AT HOME AND AN ISP ACCOUNT,
>nothing too
> major. The electric companies all have MANUAL OVERRIDES, send out
a
>truck, flip the 10" bar on top
> of the pole with the transformer box, poof! FP&L computer
>by-passed. They did this in Hurricane
> Andrew. Publix trucks will keep running. The entire food chain
>will function just fine. Why? MANUAL
> OVERRIDES. Bell South, a perfect example of a technology that runs
>almost entirely on computers,
> MANUAL OVERRIDES. At the time Mr. Bell made the first phone, there
>were no computers. The first
> computer was the Holerith Card Reader used to count the 1890
census,
>took two years. The 1880
> census took 10 years to count. Aircraft down? Come-on. A jet,
>even a new Boeing 777 has the most
> manual override systems in place of just about anything you could
>mention, except elevators. My dad
> worked at Boeing for 27 years.
>
>Basically, any question you, or anyone else can raise, I can give the same
>answer, "MANUAL OVERRIDE".
>
>Manual Override, for everything. When I was the MIS director at Kendall
>Toyota, the main environmental computer went on the fritz. What did we do?
>MANUAL OVERRIDE in about 2 minutes. A week later, computer fixed, we went
>back on-line. We could have stayed on MANUAL OVERRIDE for eternity. It's
>called a "wall mounted thermostat." Handy little MANUAL gadget.
>
>Banks, elevators, airconditioners, farmers, publishers, dispatchers,
chef's,
>teachers, preachers, factories, everything, MANUAL OVERRIDE.
>
>Yes, it will take a little bit to switch over. But a primary requirement
of
>most computer systems, designed now and in the more unreliable computer
past
>history, is that all functions have a MANUAL OVERRIDE. They still have
>these procedures in place.
>
>I believe the biggest problem for Y2K is all the folks out there scaring
the
>illiterate into thinking there's a problem, then they will panic and THEN
>cause a problem.
>
>
>I got more where that comes from, too!
>
>Earl
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