The Rise of the Y2K Bug
"The Y2K problem is the electronic equivalent of the El Niņo and there will be nasty surprises around the globe."--John Hamre, Dep. Secretary of Defense When I was in the first grade, my elementary school invested in several computers and started Introduction to Computers classes. I remember playing math games and drawing with art programs, in awe of, and slightly intimidated by the beastly piece of technology in front of me. I had little idea of how it worked, and even less of an idea of what was in store. Over the years, the technological world has advanced rapidly, and humans have come to rely on computers for just about every aspect of daily life--from education, to communication, to banking, to electricity, we depend on technology. The Y2K "bug" seems to be a vicious reminder that our technology is just a tangled connection of imperfect, haphazard systems we have come to let run our lives. The Year 2000, or Y2K problem is caused by a "shortcut" imbedded into many computers and microchips. In the 1960s, to conserve what was then precious and expensive memory space, computer programmers shortened the four-digit year to
The North American Electric Reliability Council sites four critical areas that pose the greatest direct threat to power production and delivery: energy management systems; telecommunications; protection systems; and power production itself. "Despite a lingering skepticism in some realms, I assure you: The Year 2000 problem is real; its consequences are serious; and the deadline remains unstoppable. In our electronic information-dependent society, that could be a big problem. " Despite extensive plans and endless explanations, the potentially catastrophic nature of this problem cannot be accurately figured. In many cases, the older applications that use the two-digit method have been built on, and are buried deep into systems that are the basis of large corporations and other industries that run civilization as we know it. The consulting firm GartnerGroup has estimated that Venezuela and Saudi Arabia (two of the largest exporters of oil to the United States) are 12 to 18 months behind the United States in their Y2K-compliance efforts. Their Y2K Coordination Plan for the Electricity Production and Delivery Systems of North America states that "The threat is most severe in power plants with digital control systems (DSCs). Computers are everywhere in government, business, utilities, and our jobs. People will be affected all over the world, from chairmen, to educators, and even to first-graders. Numerous control and protection systems within these DSCs use time-dependant algorithms that may result in unit trips. Computer programmers assumed that the two-digit year would eventually be changed and become obsolete. When one system fails, there is a cascading effect to other systems. I believe it is unwise to write it off as media-hype, or some unfathomable storm brewing in distant Computerland. " At the time the two-digit year was first used in computer programming, no one addressed or was prepared for a problem when the year 2000 rolled around, because, like today, technology was advancing and changing quickly.
Common topics in this essay:
Introduction Computers,
Conversion Y2K,
DSCs Numerous,
United Y2K-compliance,
Reliability Council,
Technology Scratching,
North America,
Saudi Arabia,
Secretary Defense,
Computerland People,
computer programmers,
y2k bug,
computers microchips,
systems dscs,
protection systems,
power production,
production delivery,
|
Acceptance Essays
