Every y2k spokesman from Kosky on down, all across the country,says something to the effect " We are totally confident that we are ready for the new year..except of course for any glitch that may arise..." Being a non-technical person, would someone please explain what a glitch is? Is there a difference between a mistake in the code and a glitch? When the code was being remediated,was less time spent trying to correct glitches than the rest of the more important code? So, I am just curious as to how you determine that you may have a glitch instead of a more serious mistake.

-- citizen (lost@sea.com), December 20, 1999

Answers

No difference between a glitch and a mistake in the code. All glitches aren't created equal either. One small screw up (glitch) can bring down an entire system while another my just be a cosmetic error. Other times a glitch or glitches can sit in the code for years before they make themselves known. I've had a program suddenly abort when the code hasn't been touched for 2 or 3 years.

-- Larry (cobol.programmer@usa.net), December 20, 1999.

Public relations effectiveness depends on consistently using the "right" words again and again.

Most people don't know what glitch means but probably think it means 'minor problem'.

My dictionary defines "glitch" as "an unwanted brief surge of electrical power" or "a false or spurious electronic signal"

Maybe we should be worried about our electric power?

-- Richard Greene (Rgreene2@ford.com), December 20, 1999.

You ever seen "Independence Day"?

"Oops!"

Cel

-- Celestine (maxcel@swlink.net), December 20, 1999.

Drinking again citizen?

-- Screamin' Demon (prepper@abouta4.com), December 20, 1999.

A glitch is something that you can blame on foreign hackers/terrorists/profiteers rather than a failure of American technology or know-how.

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 20, 1999.

I'm not sure if there's any one "official" definition, but I always understood a "glitch" as being an anomaly in code execution, as compared to a "bug," which is a mistake in code. One can certainly cause the other, and one can "throw" the other into different subroutines or applications.

Of course I could be wrong, which happes from time to time... ;-)

O d d O n e

-- OddOne (mocklamer_1999@yahoo.com), December 20, 1999.

A glitch is when you read or hear about somebody else's problem with their system.

A four-alarm fire demanding the full attention of Microsoft support or whoever support is what it is when it is your own system that has a problem.

-- Dana (A_Non_O_Moose@xxx.com), December 20, 1999.

It is all psychological. Which sounds better to say to the American Sheeple: glitch or problem? Glitch, of course! Sounds pretty harmless, pretty small. Problem, now that is another matter.

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), December 20, 1999.