I've recently seen references to the "Joanne" effect (so named after Joanne ___?,) which refers to some chips that will malfunction on Jan 1 '99. The Swiss have discovered problems with their nuclear power plants and are considering shutting them down 12/31/98. One other reputable website has now posted a count down. I've heard of other "flashpoint" dates but could this be the beginning or a major one?

-- Arthur Rambo (buriedtreasure@webtv.net), August 30, 1998

Answers

The Jo Anne effect is not about embedded chips but rather accounting and inventory software. In Jan '99, some of these programs will have to deal with whether an event happened in the current fiscal year. For example, suppose a company's fiscal year runs from Jan 21 through Jan 20. An event happened today, 990507 (May 7, 99). Is it in the current year? It is if it happened after the start of the fiscal year (990507>990121? yes, it is) and before the end of the fiscal year (990507<000120? no, it's not). So the computer says this event did not happen during the current fiscal year. Makes it a little difficult to correctly restock items sold or even figure out quarterly profits. And of course this bad data will get transmitted to lots of other places due to the miracle of computer networks. Jo Anne is the person who first posted this to comp.software.year-2000. Also, I wonder how many programs will refuse to accept fiscal year bounds where the end date is less than the start date? 6 month fiscal "years" will probably get REAL popular. ;-)

-- anon (anon@anon.net), August 30, 1998.

Cory Hamasaki's (latest) DC Y2K Weather Report

-- Max Dixon (Max.Dixon@gte.net), August 31, 1998.