PROFS D'ANGLAIS LANGUE SECONDE
AGRÉGATION INTERNE D'ANGLAIS 98, 99
Ceci n'est pas au programme de l'Agrégation,
but read on...
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See a cartoon
Read a Y2K fable
by Ramesh Subramanian.
PROFS D'ANGLAIS LANGUE SECONDE
AGRÉGATION INTERNE D'ANGLAIS 98, 99
Ceci n'est pas au programme de l'Agrégation,
but read on...
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Is Gary North an alarmist ? "We've got a problem. It may be the biggest problem
that the modern world has ever faced. I think it is. At 12 midnight on January 1,
2000 (a Saturday morning), most of the world's mainframe computers will either shut
down or begin spewing out bad data. Most of the world's desktop computers will also
start spewing out bad data. Tens of millions -- possibly hundreds of millions --
of pre-programmed computer chips will begin to shut down the systems they automatically
control. This will create a nightmare for every area of life, in every region of
the industrialized world."
"Briefly, many computer programs were coded to
accept only two digits as a year indicator (i.e. mm/dd/yy).The century, "19",
has always been implied. Following a celebration like the world has never seen on
New YearÂs Eve 1999, calendars, computers and microprocessors around the world will
roll over to 01/01/00. And when that change occurs, every home, business, and government
agency will be affected to one degree or another..." -Rick Cowles.
Contrarian viewpoints
The good news is that, since its introduction, the
Macintosh has had the ability to correctly handle the transition to the year
2000, and beyond.
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Year 2000 Problem - Perspectives and Possibilities
by Upen Chokshi
© TIP copyrighted material.
Last Monday, I attended a seminar on the "Year 2000 Problem", which is
abbreviated as "Y2K".
Like many of you, I had heard about the problems with computer codes on January 1,
2000. I knew that it could be serious, but I also knew that governments and business
were spending lots of time and money to fix it. I wasn't very concerned. And, as
you'll read through this article, I remain perplexed about how serious the problem
really is, but I now believe that lots of good people think it is very serious indeed.
In a nutshell, the problem is that throughout the world, millions of machines and
systems have to know the date in order to function, and many of them were not designed
to operate with a year that is abbreviated as "00".
As the speakers at Monday's conference emphasized (and at least 20 other experts
and authors seem to agree), the problem is absolutely huge. It breaks down into 5
categories:
1. Hardware problems. All over the world, there are old computers still chugging along. Some of these old machines were physically built to require dates ending in years from 01 to 99. The year "00" will confuse them.
2. Software problems. This is the heart of the thing. Back when memory chips were expensive and programming short-cuts were essential, it made sense to abbreviate dates, with allowable years
ranging from 01 to 99. Now, the year "00" will confuse the software as a "bad" or incorrect date. Unfortunately, this problem is most likely to occur in the software that runs huge mainframe systems like airlines, banks, insurance companies, phone systems, government agencies, and so forth.
3. Embedded systems. These are the "built-in" chips that control elevators, your car's emission system, automatic thermostats, fax machines and fire alarms. Most of these are very mundane things that we take for granted, and over the past 30 years we have grown accustomed to them running on micro-processors. Some of these are so "dumb" that they have no idea what the date is and will work fine no matter what year it is. But others, unfortunately, do care, and will have problems in the year "00".
4. Inter-connected systems. This is the problem with a world of connected computers. Even if your company has up-dated all of your systems, if you depend on down-loaded data from your bank to do payroll, or do inventory control with your suppliers, or if you submit insurance claim forms by modem, the potential for contaminated data to confuse your system is very real. There is also the problem that while your system may work fine, the system you connect with may be out of order.
5. Inter-dependent infrastructure. This is probably the most confusing and most frightening aspect of the Y2K problem. And, frankly, the part I have no idea how to quantify. The issue is that if every single doctor and hospital fix their computers, but the Medicare computer is broke, what happens when people don't get paid? Or, what happens if most computers are fixed, but the computers that control air traffic aren't reliable? If every computer in your city is fixed, except for one critical computer at the phone company or the power company or the water company, what happens then?
I spent last Monday at a seminar with 2 guest speakers (Jim
Lord from Washington, DC and Paloma O'Reilly from Boulder, CO), along with representatives
of our city and county government, and I've spent over 20 hours this week on the
Internet and telephone trying to get a handle on this thing. I've spoken with bright,
well-informed people whose opinions range all over the map. So-called experts have
told me the Y2K problem is everything from an expensive but minor inconvenience to
a potential disaster.
What's a person to do?
I love computers and the miracles of technology. And, frankly,
that's not going to change. But, it does remind me that my most important investments
are in my relationships and in my community.
Finally, I will add several Internet sources where you can get more information.
But, I want to emphasize that I don't feel comfortable with all of the sites below.
Many of them seem too alarmist, too extreme and too quick to assume the worst. My
hunch is that panic sells, and drama creates interest.
So take this with a grain of salt and know that many of the people I've talked with
in person do not share the more extreme positions in some of these articles.
(Special thanks to by Upen Chokshi).
"In order to save space and speed processing, most computer systems have been set up to identify calendar dates with only the last two digits of the year. Without software conversion, the vast majority of computer systems will not be able to recognize "00" as the Year 2000. When these systems are unable to recognize this two-digit year field correctly - programs will fail, or, at the very least, will fail to operate properly" - Computer professionals.
'In our industrialized and techno-oriented society, the mere possibility of being without power for an extended period of time is clearly a scary thought. No lights. No heat. No running water. These are basic and life-essential services that most residents of industrialized nations in the 20th and 21st centuries are ill-prepared to be without.'
The Simple
Living Trend
Bureau
International de la Recuperation (site en
français, allemand et anglais)
TBE Technology, Business, & Environment Program companies respond to the challenges created by growing societal
concern about the environment and increasing global competition.
Enviro-Accès : recyclage et emballage.
Recycler's World
Au Canada et aux États-Unis - répertoires
d'entreprises, d'associations et de publications allant du recyclage des voitures
et des batteries, au recyclage du bois, des textiles ou du cuir - a world wide trading
site for information related to secondary or recyclable commodities, by-products,
used & surplus items or materials.
Products
Made of Recycled Paper
Already more than six centuries old, paper recycling has grown
substantially during the last few years and continues to expand. Many packaging materials,
newsprint and tissues are made wholly or in part from recycled fibre. Its use in
the manufacture of printing and writing papers is rising steadily.
The pattern of materials use is in theory circular - a sort of perpetual motion,
with primary substances being mined or harvested and made into products which eventually
become redundant and are then recycled into the manufacturing process.
Without recycling, the circle merely becomes a series of events without a logical
resolution. Potentially useful materials become a hazard rather than being retained
as a resource.
Recycling is 'waging the war against waste of finite resources... and winning'.
'Reclamation is the first step in recycling. The second step is transforming old
into new. The materials can then be fed back into the manufacturing process. Recycling
conserves raw materials. It also saves energy.'
Paper-wood-metal-plastic
sorters, crushers, shredders, grinders...
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Anglais Langue Seconde & Agrégation interne
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