y2K IMMUNITY

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Just read Arnold Jagt's ideas at the bottom of Gary North's website about using y2K "Immunity" as the silver bullet to save the day (or, at least to buy some time so that the problem can be solved. As I understand it, Immunity involves teling the computer that it is 11 years earlier than the year 2000 (1989). This date allows for lining up the days of the week for about 3 yrs.

Is this a viable idea -- and the best-kept secret in the world? -- as a contingency plan until systems can be made compliant or another solution is found? Could this keep the power grid up, etc.?

-- Sara Nealy (keithn@ptd.net), August 31, 1998

Answers

This is one of the better ideas, but it still has limitations. For example, all data would have to be pre-processed to subtract 11 years and post processed to add them back on. Any programs that reference the system date (RTC) and compare that to dates in the data would not work correctly. This can be solved by setting the system date back eleven years, but then you may have issues with software licenses that are only effective during certain dates. Actually I had heard 28 years, not 11.

As far as computer operated machinery, it doesn't operate on data, so these tricks don't apply.

-- Amy Leone (aleone@amp.com), August 31, 1998.


Sorry but you would need to go back to 1972 for the days to line up.

Oh ya, this will not work for a lot of pc's because they do not understand dates prior to 1980 or 1984.

yada

-- yada (yada@yada.com), August 31, 1998.


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