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Article #381Re: Computer bugs in the year 2000
From: Robert Stroud
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 1985 19:57
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 1985 19:57
24 lines
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1633 bytes
I don't know about 2000 (I can guess :-) but I do have an anecdote
that relates to a summer job I had back in 1979. We got a 'phone call
from the suppliers of some application software along the following lines...
Them: Are you planning to use the machine on August 17th 1979?
Us: Probably not - it's a Saturday.
Them: Well if you do, whatever you do, when you boot the machine, don't
tell it it's August 17th! Lie and pretend it's August 18th.
It turned out that the internal coding of "August 17th 1979" matched
a character sequence used by the application to denote EOF!
That's true - honest! Names of machines, operating systems and software
suppliers are suppressed to protect the guilty. I wouldn't swear to the
exact date, but it was around that time.
Robert Stroud,
Computing Laboratory,
University of Newcastle upon Tyne.
ARPA robert%cheviot%newcastle.mailnet@mit-multics.arpa
UUCP ...!ukc!cheviot!robert
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Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site cheviot.UUCP Path: arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!seismo!mcvax!ukc!cheviot!robert From: robert@cheviot.UUCP (Robert Stroud) Newsgroups: net.bugs,net.flame,net.puzzle Subject: Re: Computer bugs in the year 2000 Message-ID: <246@cheviot.UUCP> Date: Tue, 29-Jan-85 14:57:39 EST Article-I.D.: cheviot.246 Posted: Tue Jan 29 14:57:39 1985 Date-Received: Sun, 3-Feb-85 02:05:04 EST References: <820@reed.UUCP> <20381@arizona.UUCP> <3363@ucla-cs.ARPA> <294@callan.UUCP> Reply-To: robert@cheviot.UUCP (Robert Stroud) Organization: U. of Newcastle upon Tyne, U.K. Lines: 25