OK to all you computer whizzes this may seem an incredibly stupid ??. Had the person who invests our RRSP out last weekend , when I started to question y2k readiness of the co. we are invested in she stated it was no big deal as the companies could just turn their clocks back and then they would have time to fix any problems. Well it sounded to strange to me so we have pulled out but is there any truth to this, I hear of companies rolling forward all the time to "test" their systems can they go back too?

-- lbank (lkb@hotmail.com), February 11, 1999

Answers

Turning the clocks back is an interesting technique, but the people you do business with might not understand the dates on yor correspondence havein dates in 1982, since you have to go back 28 years to get everything to line up.

Chuck

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), February 11, 1999.

Oh, Lord.

-- Vic (Roadrunner@compliant.com), February 11, 1999.

This has been covered 4288 times in this forum.......however, a simplified explanation. Very few systems are independent of external data. Most systems use time data from or in comparison with existing database records. For example, if your bank decided it wanted to roll back its computer that calculates your checking account balance to say 1992, chaos would ensue. First of all, all deposits you had made and cheques you had written since then, would not be calculated.

The only type of cases where you can actually roll back a clock with impunity are in cases such as traffic lights that don't give a fiddlers fruitcake about previous records and thus don't care what year it is. This technique is being employed in cases like that.

Sounds to me like you better consider getting your RRSP funds back from the person that gave you that information. Obviously they are completely clued out on the subject. Sadly, they can get away with giving wrong information as 99% of people will accept it without checking out the facts.

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), February 11, 1999.

Thanks for the 4288 time

-- lbank (lkb@hotmail.com), February 11, 1999.

"The only type of cases where you can actually roll back a clock with impunity are in cases such as traffic lights that don't give a fiddlers fruitcake about previous records and thus don't care what year it is. This technique is being employed in cases like that."

This is not something I would try because most software relies on date parameters (The date the software was written and the date that it will no longer function. For example Windows 95 will only run from some time in 1983 until 2027 I am not sure of the exact dates but they are close. In other words there are time boundaries that software will and won't work in. Also I talked with a civil engineer where I live and he said that we won't have a single traffic light working in this city. Where I live we have 1.5 million people in a small valley Tman

-- Tman (Tman@IBAgeek.com), February 12, 1999.