The end is nigh!

Thread Starter

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
Time is going to end. You all must prepare yourselves! You have until January 19, 2038, at 3:14 and 7 seconds GMT.

Sure, it's 20 years away, but it would still be a good idea to start preparing for it now, if you expect to still be around in 25 years.

The End Of Time
 

thatoneguy

Joined Feb 19, 2009
6,359
Yeah, those dumb programmers only using 32 bits for time. :eek:

I posted the asteroid vid in response to point out we may not last long enough for that time rollover issue.

All of the systems I've worked with have been 64 bit (or higher) *nix operating in 32 bit emulation or VM mode.

Numberphile has some great videos, I liked the one on Graham's number (unsure of spelling there).
 

Thread Starter

DerStrom8

Joined Feb 20, 2011
2,390
Yeah, those dumb programmers only using 32 bits for time. :eek:

I posted the asteroid vid in response to point out we may not last long enough for that time rollover issue.

All of the systems I've worked with have been 64 bit (or higher) *nix operating in 32 bit emulation or VM mode.

Numberphile has some great videos, I liked the one on Graham's number (unsure of spelling there).
I think this one is one of my favorite numberphile videos. I've seen most of them, if not all, but this one about "the end of time" is probably the most interesting to me :D
 

thatoneguy

Joined Feb 19, 2009
6,359
After all the practice for Y2k, the time rollover on *nix systems won't be an issue.

Mostly because processors won't be 32 bit within a decade, second, since it is simply counting seconds since 1970, that inherently corrects the issue.

It's nowhere near what the nightmare preps for y2k were, since the code didn't have provisions for beyond 1999. That involved re-writing a lot of code to do the math, converting data to 4 digits, and changing code to subtract 4 digits rather than two digits.

We can sleep safely, if we live through the next 10 days. :confused:
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
Dammit I will probably need to buy a new PC won't I?

I'll bet companies wait to the year before till they start doing something.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,932
After all the practice for Y2k, the time rollover on *nix systems won't be an issue.

Mostly because processors won't be 32 bit within a decade, second, since it is simply counting seconds since 1970, that inherently corrects the issue.
I don't think it's going to be anywhere near that easy. Just because a bank (or whoever) has a 64-bit machine and the OS doesn't have any problems with tracking the number of seconds since the beginning of the epoch does not mean that the software on that machine will automatically do so. There is going to be a lot of legacy code that is using 32-bit integers for the relevant variables and that code can have problems. In many respects, the situation is similar to the Y2K issue because, in many instances, it's not the OS or the hardware that is the problem, it is the application software running on top of it.

Now, in 25 years a lot of the legacy code will have been replaced through attrition, probably more so than was the case for Y2K, so that is working in our favor. On the otherhand, the stuff that remains may be hidden so far under the radar that we will have long since forgotten about it and won't even check until the crash happens -- but that also is akin to the Y2K situation.

I think the biggest threat is actually going to be complacency because of the overwhelming success of the Y2K mitigation efforts. Few people realize that Y2K turned out to be a non-event precisely because of significant investments in time and money to avert the problems (which were, I believe, way overstated in many cases, but not all). Instead, too many people -- particularly management-type decision makers -- will remember that a big deal was made about Y2K and nothing happened, so why spend time and effort on yet another similar thing when history tells us that it's no big thing?
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
I think the biggest threat is actually going to be complacency because of the overwhelming success of the Y2K mitigation efforts. Few people realize that Y2K turned out to be a non-event precisely because of significant investments in time and money to avert the problems (which were, I believe, way overstated in many cases, but not all). Instead, too many people -- particularly management-type decision makers -- will remember that a big deal was made about Y2K and nothing happened, so why spend time and effort on yet another similar thing when history tells us that it's no big thing?
I was much younger back then and uninvolved and, indeed, it seemed to me that the media made too much of a fuss about a problem that didn't occur.

Do you have stories about such software engineering efforts that helped solve the problem before it happened?
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
I heard that the Federal reserve secretly stocked all there banks with lots of

cash,just in case there was a run on the banks. Now adays since the stimulas

I don't thing the world governments care what happens ,you have been taught

to let them take your houses from you ,what else is left. Let the world end

who cares...besides the little guy with no home and a family to feed.
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
The big guys pay more tax on money, they still have loopholes for assets.

So the super rich have two ways to go income and assets,you have to

listen close, you would think they would pay taxes on there net value.

Check that one out and correct me if needed.
 

WBahn

Joined Mar 31, 2012
29,932
The big guys pay more tax on money, they still have loopholes for assets.

So the super rich have two ways to go income and assets,you have to

listen close, you would think they would pay taxes on there net value.

Check that one out and correct me if needed.
And if Bob has to pay a tax every year on everything he owns, then shouldn't Charlie? So, what fraction of everything that you own should the government take each year?
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
@ WBahn,they have been talking about going after the rich. They allow the rich to

list there money,so that parts of its is not taxable,long term investment. Maybe tax

deferred investments.
 

JoeJester

Joined Apr 26, 2005
4,390
The rich have to follow the same tax code as everyone else except their tax rates are much higher.

I've known many people who are no where near "rich" taking advantage of long term investments and tax deferred portions of the tax code.

Almost fifty percent of the taxpayers don't pay a dime in taxes, but they get the majority of the credits.
 

magnet18

Joined Dec 22, 2010
1,227
I wish we would just switch to a continuous function on taxes, rather than brackets.
Make one dollar more, and suddenly you make less than you did before.
much less.
 
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