In the news today....

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------- Jim Lord talks about the GPS system. A good Primer -------

http://y2ktimebomb.com/Tip/Lord/lord9905.htm

(A few big snips. Worth reading the entire thing, however...)

The Global Positioning System (GPS) has a date "roll-over problem" in less than seven months. How bad might this problem be to the military and to civilian users worldwide?

GPS is a military system that allows users on the earth to determine location and time with great precision. Airborne users can also calculate altitude. GPS tells soldiers, airplanes and ships exactly where they are and is also used for the precision guidance of missiles and bombs. Such information has great value to military forces. GPS was widely hailed, for example, as one of the key technologies that contributed to our military victory over Iraq in the Persian Gulf War...

GPS consists of three parts (or segments as they are called in the space industry). The Ground Segment "operates" the satellites by continuously monitoring their condition and by making adjustments by remote control to the various onboard subsystems. The main control center for GPS is at Schriever Air Force Base at Colorado Springs, CO and additional unmanned monitoring facilities are located at Hawaii, Kwajelain Island, Diego Garcia, Ascension Island and Colorado Springs.

The Space Segment of GPS consists of twenty-four satellites in orbit 11,000 miles above the earth. The satellites are equally spaced in a network around the earth so that at least six are usually in view from any place on the earth's surface.

The GPS User Segment, whether a nuclear-tipped missile or a Boy Scout troopmaster, consists of small radio receivers that gathers GPS signals from several satellites at the same time. Special software in this receiver uses a mathematical process called "triangulation" to calculate the user's position and altitude...

The "weeks counter" counts up to a maximum of 1,024 and then rolls over and starts back at all zeroes again. This "End of Week" (EOW) rollover will occur at midnight on August 21/22, 1999. It is critical to understand that this is normal behavior.

The system was designed to count time in this fashion. In fact, most computing systems use this "base date" methodology. The key point is that the satellites are not about to malfunction in any way on August 21/22, 1999. Their software is designed to compensate for the EOW rollover. I have gone into some technical detail in this explanation to make this important point - the GPS satellites are not about to fail because of the End of Week Rollover.

The satellites are also ready for the rollover to the Year 2000.

The Ground Segment, on the other hand, is neither Y2K compliant nor EOW compliant. The repair efforts are apparently well in-hand, however. Reportedly, all software repairs have been completed and the ground stations are currently in the final stages of testing. Full compliance is scheduled for January 1999.

The User Segment is in the worst shape because anyone can manufacture GPS receivers (just like anyone can manufacture television sets or AM/FM radios). There are currently over sixty companies worldwide that do so. All you need is a (free) copy of the GPS specification and a modest electronics fabrication facility...

Some poorly designed GPS receivers are not properly programmed to compensate for the EOW rollover. These receivers will begin giving incorrect position information on August 22, 1999. They will also provide flawed GPS Time - the week counter will be wrong but the seconds in the week will be correct.

How widespread is the problem? No one really knows because only a few manufacturers have publicly announced their EOW status. Older systems (those manufactured prior to 1994) are more likely to experience the problem but all systems should be considered suspect until cleared by their manufacturers or tested with the use of satellite simulators...

Who is most likely to be using flawed GPS receivers? Let's look first at the military - the "owners" of the system. The official position of the GPS Joint Program Office (JPO) which manages the program for the Department of Defense is that all JPO-procured GPS receivers are EOW-compliant.

I believe this to be true. From personal experience, I know some of the large defense contractors were aware of this problem more than two years ago. (I briefed some of them myself.) This is good news because it means the truly critical military users (missiles and other weapons systems for example) will probably not be affected by the GPS EOW problem.

The above statement, even though it sounds comforting, does raise a warning flag, however. It only covers "official" equipment, i.e. procured through authorized procurement channels. I used to be an electronics officer in the Navy and I understand how this "official" system works. I also know how easy it is to get around the system. I once requisitioned several (unauthorized) desktop computers for my outfit by creatively invoicing them as "administrative supplies," for example...

The next group is what I will characterize as technically sophisticated commercial users. These would be large companies that use hundred, even thousands, of GPS receivers. Such companies, because of the high capital expenditure, would closely monitor affairs in the GPS world. They would send technical types to GPS training and subscribe to GPS newsletters. They would clearly understand the threat of the rollover problem. Because the solution to the GPS problem is relatively straightforward, such enterprises can be expected to have sufficient time and resources to manage the GPS rollover problem.

This is also the group most susceptible to the GPS Time aspect of the rollover problem but I do not regard this part of the EOW problem as very threatening. As indicated, this group should be able to handle the problem fairly easily but the GPS Time problem is not a big deal in any case...

The final group is not so fortunate, however. These are the technically non-sophisticated users -- small businesses and recreational users. This group doesn't maintain a savvy technical staff to keep track of the latest GPS developments. They probably purchased their GPS receivers at the sporting goods store or out of a mail-order catalog. With just nine months to go, there is probably not enough time to effectively deal with this part of the problem.

The United States Coast Guard is the agency responsible for informing the public about navigational aids. Their program to deal with the issue seems inadequate to me. They are basically simply indicating that the GPS equipment manufacturers are responsible for their own systems. A list of GPS manufacturers can be found at:

www.navcen.uscg.mil/gps/geninfo/y2k/gpsmanufacturers/manufacturers.html

The bottom line on the GPS problem is that the military and most large commercial users should be fine but the small-time users need to be warned about the problem. Most at risk here are small commercial fishermen, trucking firms, independent shipping companies and all recreational users. Foreign flagged ships visiting U.S. ports would likely be another concern...

------------ Gates and McNealy -----------

http://www.cnnfn.com/digitaljam/9902/01/davos_gates/

Gates: Y2K fears overdone

Gates says people shouldn't panic but McNealy says Asia could be a problem

Special: CNNfn at World Economic Forum

Februrary 1, 1999: 8:04 a.m. ET

DAVOS, Switzerland (CNNfn) - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates believes technology companies are enjoying "a little bit of a windfall" from the year 2000 computer problem, but added most worries about the extent of the computer crisis are overblown. "Although (the Y2K problem) is a terrible distraction and there will be some disruption, there has been a little bit of a windfall for some participants in the IT industry," Gates told participants at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos Monday. However, he added the extent of the problem is "below the middle of the panic (levels) some people have suggested." Earlier, Sun Microsystems Inc. (SUNW) Chief Executive Scott McNealy said he believes Asia is way behind on the Y2K issue and some computer companies could experience component shortages next year if Asian supply firms run into trouble. "We think Asia is disastrously behind in terms of getting caught up," he said. "People are talking about stockpiling cash, water and can goods. Given what I, and everybody else in the computer industry know about Asia, it might not be a bad idea to stockpile some computers for the next millennium."

------------- We already heard rumors about this one. Now, it's beyond speculation -------

http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/02/biztech/articles/01bug.html

February 1, 1999

Group Won't Publicize Year 2000 Ratings

An international group of banks, securities firms and insurers has dropped its controversial plan to publicly rate the year 2000 computer readiness of the world's major trading nations.

Critics of the organization, which is known as the Global 2000 Coordinating Group, had feared that the rating plan would ignite a flight of capital from low-rated nations that could make it harder to head off year 2000 computer problems. The group dropped its plan on Friday, after a three-day meeting in London.

The influential 250-member group, which meets every six weeks, first announced its intention to rate more than 30 nations at a U.N. meeting in December. The criticism came from federal regulators, some developing nations and some of the group's own members.

The group had gathered information about the year 2000 readiness of various nations. On Friday, it said it now planned to share that information with the United Nations and the Joint Year 2000 Council, an international coordinating committee.

"We concluded that the focus should be kept on efforts to stimulate self-assessment and disclosure by every country," said Tim Sheapard-Walwyn, Global 2000's chairman, who works for UBS A.G. in Zurich.

--------- I was wondering when IBM would get hit with this. Depending on the precedent set here, this one could turn out to be a BIG, BIG deal -------

http://www.zdnet.com/pcweek/stories/news/0,4153,387412,00.html

IBM is defendant in Y2K suit

February 1, 1999 9:00 AM ET

A class-action lawsuit against IBM and business partner Medic Computer Systems Inc. was recently filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

The suit, brought on behalf of Dr. Mario Yu, claims that the two companies were aware that the bundled solution comprising IBM's RS/6000 server and Version 7.0 of the Medic application software is not Y2K-compliant. The complaint alleges that the consequences of the Y2K defect could affect thousands of health care providers and disrupt critical patient care.

The plaintiff, represented by the law firms of Gold & Rosenfeld, in Chicago, and Boston-based Gogel, Phillips & Garcia LLP, seeks to recover compensatory, punitive and injunctive relief on behalf of all class members.

---------- And this one, just for fun -----------------

http://www.canoe.ca/NationalTicker/CANOE-wire.NS-No-Babies.html/

February 1, 1999

Babies and Y2K don't mix, hospital jests

HALIFAX (CP) -- Officials at a Halifax hospital say it's only a millennium joke. A calendar distributed by the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre advises people not to have babies next Jan. 1. The calendar says that because of the millennium bug, "You may want to plan your new bouncing bundle for a month or so after all the glitches are worked out." A hospital official said today the remark is tongue-in-cheek -- but a Nova Scotia New Democrat said he's worried.

New Democrat Peter Delefes said the hospital has tried, but failed, to reassure people it equipment will be ready for the year 2000. Delefes said the calendar also asks employees to make plans to work without power, phones, heat or water.

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), February 01, 1999

Answers

Thanks for this posting always glad to see the new info your time in resaerching is greatly appreciated

-- lbank (lbanks@hotmail.com), February 01, 1999.

I second that! INFO is a good thing thank-you for your time. Tman...

-- Tman (Tman@Thankyou.com), February 01, 1999.

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