I had to hear about this from the Clyde Lewis show. Heard nothing on the main stream news. Guessing it is a non story.

https://www.al.com/news/2019/04/gps...cause-issues-with-gps-devices-on-april-6.html

What I can't get is why 10 bits? I can see 3,6,8,9 or 16 bits. But 10 bits? What processors had 10 bit memory?

 

Yes, mainly a non-story.
https://forum.allaboutcircuits.com/threads/check-your-older-gps-firmware.156866/

https://support.garmin.com/ms-MY/?faq=zWQY6Z2kFiAuY9kDnDBgZ6

For many years, Garmin has anticipated and prepared for this event. Regardless, Garmin has been performing exhaustive testing of current and legacy devices to determine if they will be affected by the GPS week number rollover. Our testing shows the vast majority of Garmin GPS devices will handle the WNRO without issues.

 

I had to hear about this from the Clyde Lewis show. Heard nothing on the main stream news. Guessing it is a non story.

https://www.al.com/news/2019/04/gps...cause-issues-with-gps-devices-on-april-6.html

What I can't get is why 10 bits? I can see 3,6,8,9 or 16 bits. But 10 bits? What processors had 10 bit memory?

I have an older TomTom GPS (which isn't in service) and they provided an update, even though the device is past EOL. I updated it, on principle.

 

1024 weeks probably sounded like an impossibly long time at the time of conception. Who would need more?

 

1024 weeks probably sounded like an impossibly long time at the time of conception. Who would need more?

Who on earth would ever need more that 640K of RAM on their PC? 640K!!!

 

Who on earth would ever need more that 640K of RAM on their PC? 640K!!!

The first computer I owned had 4K!

 

The first computer I owned had 4K!

Mine was 8K.

 

Mine was 8K.

How many bytes are in a analog computer?
http://s3data.computerhistory.org/brochures/eai.tr20tr48.1964.102646218.pdf

 

I had to hear about this from the Clyde Lewis show. Heard nothing on the main stream news. Guessing it is a non story.

https://www.al.com/news/2019/04/gps...cause-issues-with-gps-devices-on-april-6.html

What I can't get is why 10 bits? I can see 3,6,8,9 or 16 bits. But 10 bits? What processors had 10 bit memory?

It has nothing whatsoever to do with how big the memory it is. It has everything to do with the fact that GPS data is transmitted at 50 bits per second and there's quite a bit of data that has to be transmitted. So you don't transmit bits you don't need to.

This also isn't the first time its rolled over. It rolls over every 1024 weeks, which is a bit under 20 years, starting in 1980. So it rolled over in August of 1999 and while everyone was focused on the impending end of the earth and life as we know it due to Y2K, the GPS week number epoch quietly rolled over and the world didn't even have to take a breather for its collective anxiety attach to make any note of it.

 

Who on earth would ever need more that 640K of RAM on their PC? 640K!!!

In his original paper, John von Neumann contended that there was no reason to believe that anyone would ever need more than 4K of RAM.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/nyregion/nyc-gps-wireless.html

On April 6, something known as the GPS rollover, a cousin to the dreaded Y2K bug, mostly came and went, as businesses and government agencies around the world heeded warnings and made software or hardware updates in advance.

But in New York, something went wrong — and city officials seem to not want anyone to know.

At 7:59 p.m. E.D.T. on Saturday, the New York City Wireless Network, or NYCWiN, went dark, waylaying numerous city tasks and functions, including the collection and transmission of information from some Police Department license plate readers.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/10/nyregion/nyc-gps-wireless.html

Can't view the article unless I subscribe -- not gonna subscribe, thank you.

 

Can't view the article unless I subscribe -- not gonna subscribe, thank you.

I don't sub either but can view the article.
Alt source: http://gothamist.com/2019/04/11/y2k_today_wireless_apocalypse_nyc.php

 

I don't sub either but can view the article.
Alt source: http://gothamist.com/2019/04/11/y2k_today_wireless_apocalypse_nyc.php

Thanks -- I can see that one.

The very first sentence was the important one -- despite whatever level of disruption there is/was, the system is sufficiently robust that life just went on in such a way that nobody noticed that anything was happening. Not much of an "apocalypse" and much of the tone of the article seemed to be aimed at trying to say that, even though every indication is that it is as much a non-event as all the officials are saying it is, the sky is about to fall anyway.

 

Remember back to September 9, 1999? Everyone was thinking their computers would forever shut down because 9999 was the code used back then for ending programs.

I also remember a New Years Eve bowling party. My team showed up - all except one guy who believed Jesus was going to come back that very night. He never showed his face again at the bowling alley.

Several years back there was an internet story about Mars being closest to the earth ever. They were saying Mars would appear in the night sky as big as the full moon. All these things would make a good April Fools Day prank. But too many people read and believe them. They say "You can believe everything you read on the internet." When asked where they heard that from they reply "From the internet silly." Kind of sounds like a dumb blond joke. (not saying blonds are dumb)