HAS NORTH GONE SOUTH

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

http://www.garynorth.com/y2k/detail_.cfm/4813

And Gary North said,

"Three other malicious viruses will actually lock a processor in a divide by zero loop, which, if left running for a sufficient amount of time, will overheat the Central Processing Unit, causing it to melt down and effectively reducing the computer to scrap metal. Similarly, a different virus will wreck monitors by tampering with the video card, causing them to overheat and be destroyed."

Ok, sounds serious, NOT. What a hoot. That darn divide by zero loop.

I actually hear that the new virus's will:

Say bad things to your grandmother. Knock up your daughter. Impregnate your dog. Change the oil in your car, with the wronge brand. Kick your cat. Pee in your morning coffee. Make fun of your wifes thighs. Chastise nuns with no remorse. Hide the TV remote. Fart in your general direction. Poke fun at your husbands belly.

-- YADA (yada@yada.com), May 26, 1999

Answers

YADA .... If you think you were ment for a comedians role, you'll starve !!! Your taking up space here unnecessarily; AND , probably where you live too !!!! Tune in; turn on; KEEP QUIET !!! A. Wise Man

-- A. Wiseman (wiseman@prodigy.com), May 26, 1999.

Last time I checked...people are still free to say what ever is on their mind - whether you like what it is they have to say or not.

You doomers like to talk about the NWO and your rights being taken away - why are YOU so eager to silence those who's opinion differs from your own?

-- 1st ammendment (free@speech.com), May 26, 1999.


To the all in the group.

I must apologize for my earlier comments. I know not of what I speak. I am deeply sorry and will never again perform such an elementary act of forum abuse.

-- yada (yada@yada.com), May 26, 1999.


I'd like to know why you would insist upon voicing your opinion in a forum you KNOW won't agree with you? Get a life. Go home, wherever that may be. People who get thier kicks out of stirring up the pot, with nothing to gain from it, are not mentally stable. Even my 9 year old knows better than to be an annoying, disruptive brat! Perhaps you're wishing for a Mommie.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), May 26, 1999.

yada...

I was sticking up for you, bro. A wiseman has been smoking a little too much mhyr...

-- 1st ammendment (free@speech.com), May 26, 1999.



North didn't "say" this, the story was posted on his site today. Someone at CSIS, I guess, made the remark. See this thread for other comments. <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), May 26, 1999.

Will,

When someone's opinion differs from yours they are automatically "mentally unstable"?

I'm assuming you are not married. Or if you are, your spouse must be crazy (mentally unstable) for having married you. Unless, of course, your spouse and you have never had a disagreement.

We need to encourage ALL thought here...

-- 1st ammendment (free@speech.com), May 26, 1999.


1st, Please read my post again (perhaps with an interpreter). People who insist on barging thier way into a place they KNOW they're unwelcome in, with the ONLY purpose being to create disruption....are either "touched" or juvenile. Please don't spew the 1st Ammendment at me. It was never intended to protect someone from being a jerk. Luckily for abusers of the 1st Ammendment, there ARE other laws in place to protect them from the rest of us, however. I read and sometimes participate in this forum because I prefer to share with "like- minded" individuals. I don't get any cheap thrills from going where I know I won't be wanted. Different opinions are always welcomed by me, providing they are thoughtful and have purpose (as opposed to nuckle- headed drivil, forced upon me with the ONLY intention being to ruffle my feathers). If the shoe fits.....take your little buddy and go play outside, please.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), May 26, 1999.

You are busting on North, but the text you quoted is actually from the article he quoted (http://www.csis.org/html/y2kw9.html), not his own commentary.

-- Concerned citizen (sysadmin@aol.com), May 26, 1999.

IF you all are so full of the first amendment, Why do you use aliases?

-- Johnny (JLJTM@BELLSOUTH.NET), May 26, 1999.


Mr. North is not a programmer. It doesn't really matter WHERE this piece about the divide by zero loop originated. I'm sure that many of the programmers on this forum would agree that oftentimes when a failure occurs in a program (for WHATEVER reason), a link is called to a divide by zero routine to terminate the program with a dump. There's NO loop involved. Division by zero is NOT something that a computer of ANY type would repeatedly try over and over again. It's simply an error and will cause an interrupt.

Mr. North receives countless E-mails/day on what folks perceive. I believe that his forum was the first (or at least ONE of the first) to propogate the myth that the nuclear power plants would take several months to cool down. Unfortunately, folks tend to believe the FIRST thing they hear on a subject and tend to ignore the retractions that come later. It's for this reason that many maintain fallacies regarding Y2k that have since been debunked.

Anita

-- Anita Spooner (spoonera@msn.com), May 26, 1999.


Johnny,

I use an alias only because I don't want any of my clients to know how I really feel about Y2K. Oh, our company is very Y2K aware, and I think we will be in pretty good shape. But it's part of my job to play it down, and tell the client the usual "we're working on it, no problem." It really isn't a lie because I do think we will be OK. It's the rest of the world that I'm worried about. That's why I'm here.

It is very possible that people I know will find their way to this forum, especially with things like 60 Minutes. My professional and personal opinions are very different. <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), May 26, 1999.


Anita,

Stephen posted an example in the other thread on this topic, where the "virus" modified the interrupt address to point back to the divide instruction, hence the term "divide by 0 loop."

And Anita, much of Y2K is not yet debunked, and never will be, well, at least not until next year. <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), May 26, 1999.


Sysman

Actually I wasn't referring to you. I thought Sysmen was a real name not an alias.

-- Johnny (JLJTM@BELLSOUTH.NET), May 26, 1999.


(1) Gary North is not a programmer...so wouldn't know the exact way that divide by zero causes a fault.

(2) Some very old systems DID go into an infinite lop upon divide by zero! (I am, no doubt, showing my age.)

(3) While we can discount this one type of alledged virus, I don't know that we can discount the others...

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), May 26, 1999.



Anita, You said:

"I believe that his forum was the first (or at least ONE of the first) to propogate the myth that the nuclear power plants would take several months to cool down."

I'm showing my ignorance here, please forgive me but I've read many times about the need for time & power to cool down nuclear reactors. What's the scoop on that?

mb in NC

-- mb (mdbutler@coastalnet.com), May 26, 1999.


"Stephen posted an example in the other thread on this topic, where the "virus" modified the interrupt address to point back to the divide instruction, hence the term "divide by 0 loop."

Okay, Sysman. Guess I never got around to reading that one. I get my virus information from CERT and Symantec. I don't really see how anyone can ANTICIPATE a virus until at least one occurence. Are you suggesting that this one has already hit?

"And Anita, much of Y2K is not yet debunked, and never will be, well, at least not until next year. <:)= "

Well, Sysman, you certainly MUST admit that quite a bit HAS been debunked since this all began about 2 years ago. What hasn't been debunked by now may just be the real stuff, eh?

"I'm showing my ignorance here, please forgive me but I've read many times about the need for time & power to cool down nuclear reactors. What's the scoop on that?"

mb: There was a time when folks thought that NERC said that if nuclear plants weren't compliant by June that they would be shut down. Some presumed nuclear-types E-mailed Mr. North and perpetuated this by stating that it took 4-6 months to cool a nuclear reactor. In his usual fashion, Mr. North took this at face value and stated it as fact.

Well, how the hell does an average Joe know how long it takes? Rick Cowles and others with nuclear experience came out and stated that it took less than 2 weeks to cool a reactor....not to mention that NERC was only asking for a REPORT on compliance in June. SOME folks in the know even stated that it took only DAYS. The myth continues, however....just like the myth that the Chinese insisted that their programmers fly on January 1, 2000 and the myth that the Russians backed out of the nuclear weapon observation plan. As I said, folks tend to hear the FIRST report and ignore the retractions. Of course all of this is such OLD news that I, personally, was at a loss to provide articles to dispute someone on this board who didn't believe that the Russians were still involved with the nuclear weapon observation. Sometimes I feel as though I need to save links in the same way I need to save receipts for the IRS.

Anita

-- Anita Spooner (spoonera@msn.com), May 26, 1999.


Too funny!

Sysman, you're a polly in real life and a doomer here! Most polly trolls are considered doomers in real life.

LOL

-- polly troll 1138 (1138@polly.central), May 26, 1999.


"Rick Cowles and others with nuclear experience came out and stated that it took less than 2 weeks to cool a reactor....not to mention that NERC was only asking for a REPORT on compliance in June. SOME folks in the know even stated that it took only DAYS"

UH How bout a link - Nita

-- Johnny (JLJTM@BELLSOUTH.NET), May 26, 1999.


This response is for Johnny:

I don't know that this will answer your specific question, and it certainly isn't where I got my ORIGINAL information, but you have as much access to Rick Cowle's site as I do, Johnny, just as nothere has as much access to the API site I provided him/her.

Oh...I will NOT take the time to make this a hot-link.

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=000bdD

Within this post, Rick points out where further information may be obtained. If you're truly interested, explore the matter further.

Anita

-- Anita Spooner (spoonera@msn.com), May 26, 1999.


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