Anybody else think we are doing a disservice to our progeny by converting to only four digits for the year? Shouldn't we be converting to five? Or six?

Al

-- Al K. Lloyd (all@ready.now), October 14, 1999

Answers

Naawww. someone will have it fixed by then.

-- Porky (Porky@in.cellblockD), October 14, 1999.

I definitely think we should go to at least five digits. Not looking ahead is precisely how we got into our present mess.

-- Peter Errington (petere@ricochet.net), October 14, 1999.

I think we solve this problem first and then use the reamining eight thousand years to make the date window expansion from four to six digits in the year field. We could make that deadline before the introduction of Windows 5000 in the year 9999.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), October 14, 1999.

Everything by then will be done by mental telepathy. A computer chip will be implanted at birth in everyone's brain. You only need to look into their eyes and communicate telepathically. The embedded chips will store thousands of bits of information. Schools, colleges, universities will all become obsolete. Information will be embedded at birth and updated every five years. Everything will be conquered by then such as disease, war, etc., too bad we won't be here to see it happen.

-- Jules Vernes Returns (Jules Vernesreturns@JulesVernesReturnsss.xcom), October 14, 1999.

There will be nobody left alive by the time the year 10000 comes along. Y2K will have effectively taken care of that.

-- (its@coming.soon), October 15, 1999.

Additional digits? You'd be better off figuring out whether you should use the car in your driveway as a chicken coup or grain storage.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), October 15, 1999.

coup = coop = crap.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), October 15, 1999.

There's a better version of this joke somewheres, but I couldn't find it, here's the best I got for this thread:

The year is 1998.

A programmer discovers he has leukemia, his doctor says he will not recover.

The programmer decides to have himself frozen at ALCOR, to be thawed in the future when his cancer can be cured.

Far in the Future:

The programmer opens his eyes and sees at a beautiful vaulted ceiling painted with murals apparently showing all the good that humans have done over the years.

The room is filled with beautiful women, or are they men? one glides up to and says "Welcome"

"Am I in Heaven?" the programmer asks?

"No you are on Earth! and your leukemia is cured!" is the reply.

"WoW!" says the programmer, "What year is this?"

"The year 9999" another man/women replies, "We are preparing for the Year 10,000 celebration, but first, the leader of Earth would like to see you!"

He is wheeled into another room and left alone.

Suddenly the face of a man (or is it a women?) appears in front of him. The image is 20 feet tall.

"Welcome to the 99th century" says the image.

"Thanks" says the programmer "what an amazing coincidence that you thawed me out and cured my cancer just in time for your celebration of the year 10,000!"

"Well, its not really a coincidence," says the giant image;

"We understand that you know COBOL......"

-- plonk! (realaddress@hotmail.com), October 15, 1999.