Re: Y2K Fears to Stop Cityrail Trains

[chromexa@ovis.net (Steve Kudlak)]

On Wed, 4 Aug 1999 10:56:35 +1200, "Michael McDonald"
<michael.and.colleen.mcdonald@xtra.co.nz> wrote:

>Don't forget that Sydney and Melbourne will have at least 2 hours warning,
>Brisbane 3, and Perth 5, of any impending problems.  I can guarantee that
>any engineer worth his salt will be watching NZ to see what happens at 1100
>GMT on 31-Dec-1999.  The wise may choose to use direct satellite
>communications!
>
>You may have your own problems though!
>
>The effect of 0000 GMT on 01-Jan-2000 will be global rather spread locally
>across time zones.
>


Interesting how many of us will not be at parties...or be at Y2K
parties which will be dedicated  to watching what is happening across
the world. I would speculate it will be interesting here in the US, as
reports come as 0000GMT and 0100GMT. Especially if there are any
"events" occuring in say the 3rd world. Presumably because they the
older versions of things.

Today in the local paper here (Wheeling, West Virginia, USA) there was

a report via UPI, that the United States Navy had a report that things
were supposed to wilder and wooly that previously expected....

>I'm not expecting too many problems (famous last words!!).
>
>I've already experienced the Y2K problem.  Occurred in 1993 for a computer
>system that I had partial responsibility for.  System had a very dicey
>hardware clock (it was bigger than a PC mother-board, not very reliable, and
>had a very crude method of setting time and date - very similar to the way
>of setting most bedside radio clocks, but had to be done with software).
>
>After eliminating the clock as the source of the problem, it was a matter of
>putting 2 and 2 together - the base time for the system was 1-Mar-1976, the
>resolution of the timer (NOT the hardware clock) was 0.25 sec.  The time
>that had elapsed was 2^31 "ticks"!!!  Since the system had been mainly
>decomissioned we took the simplest solution of putting the clock back to a
>year with the same calendar.
>
>Digital computer systems had a potential problem of similar nature a couple
>of years ago - May 18, if I remember correctly,  but can't remember which
>year it was.  Date was significant because it was 10000 days since the base
>time of 1-Jan-1960 for Unix systems.
>
>If you are worried you can always try moving to a country which doesn't use
>the Christian calendar.
>
>Not trains, but interesting (I hope).
>
>Cheers
>Michael
>
>>> >David Bennetts wrote:
>>
>>> >> The NSW Transport Minister Carl Scully has announced that trains will
>stop
>>> >> at 11.45 pm on New Years eve and resume at 12.15 am in the city
>underground
>>> >> area, probably quite a sensible idea if one is not sure about the
>>> >> reliability of power supply and signalling, particularly with
>underground
>>> >> stations.
>
>
><remainder snipped>
>
>
>
>


Well Interesting to see what happens. Especially with News Media.... I
assume here we will get reports from the UK, and from other places in
the world. So both December 31st 1999 and 01 January 2000 . When in
GMT do people think people will start paying attention to what is
going on?  Hmmmm this is going to have me getting  a world wall map
with time zones.  Maybe we can get all the Alternative Radio Stations
to play "Timezones "  by NEGATIVLAND ...but at MIdnight Local  Time or
Midnight GMT. Midnight GMT would be more grandiose,  Midnight Local
(OK astronomy-domination type <smiley> Midnight for one's loca.l time
zone) might actually reassuring...If one heard it  from the next time
zone over a lot...I used to have this compulsive little habit when I
had a daysleep job on the Western US Coast.  I would set my shortwave
to somewhere in the middle or low band,  and especially in NOrthern
Hemisphere Winter I would hear of all things RADIO AUSTRALIA, which
would sort of pop on around 1600PDT when it was a good idea to get
up.  It was always reassuring to me. A friend of mine thought it
"obsessive/compulsive" and I should worry about. I thought it was that
I grew up watching too many end of the world movies.  


Have Fun,
Sends Steve
chromexa@ovis.net