No, this praying mantis (Mr. Alexander) did not have anything to do with the term, Y2K bug, he just wanted to be in this article.(photo credit-Diane Louise Paul)
Writer's block strikes any author at any time, whether the author writes articles for newspapers or stories for books.
The Melrose Mirror at The Melrose Patch scribes usually discuss the stories they will write for upcoming online publications ( the articles are published on the first Friday of each month in The Melrose Patch in Neighbor Posts).
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New Year's day was fast approaching, the days slid by for many of us. Due to the hustle and bustle of the season the pages remained blank.
Whether one celebrated Christmas or Hanukkah, thoughts of stories for at least one Melrose Mirror writer took a back seat.
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Was it writer's block or could that term be attributed to lack of concentration, being busy with baking, gift giving or time spent with friends and relatives over the holidays?
Suddenly, with a publication date of January 3rd fast approaching and the monthly reminder we receive cropped up.
One week to go and no story.
No idea.
No interviews scheduled as it appeared to be a time to let potential interviewees enjoy their own parties with friends and relatives during the holidays.
Still, consider calling it a writer's block, no matter the reason.
Then a discussion with a relative brought forth an idea. The Y2K bug!
Remember when we were all so worried?
Needing a bit of help on this phenomenon, research was begun. An idea for an article and a curiosity of how and when it all began as well as the outcome of it when the clock struck 12.
Do readers remember our fears?
What exactly was the Y2K bug and what did it stand for, who invented the termY2K and why did it become so universally popular?"
According to an article written by Ted Rose (The Baltimore Sun)
"The efficiency of the term is undeniable -- "Y" for "year," the number "2," and "K" for "thousand" (from the Greek "kilo") -- and it eventually caught on. But its creator remained unidentified until about a year ago, when someone performed the equivalent of a computer paternity test by searching the discussion group's archives for the term's first use.The father of the phrase is a 52-year-old Massachusetts programmer named David Eddy,"
What was that New Year to bring with the Y2K bug?
We wondered whether or not our computers continue to work after the stroke of midnight.?
What would happen to all of us?
What exactly was the Y2K bug?
Here are a few quotes found from online research. Credit would go to some of the authors, however, some of them apparently chose to remain anonymous.
"What was the explanation of Y2K bug?"
"The Y2K bug was a computer flaw, or (in layperson's term - "a bug," that may have caused problems when dealing with dates beyond December 31, 1999. ... When complicated computer programs were being written during the 1960s through the 1980s, computer engineers used a two-digit code for the year. The "19" was left out."- anonymous
Some programmers prefer to call the "Y2K bug" - a design flaw
"What started the y2k scare?"
It appears that an internet posting by a man named Spencer Bolles, was involved in a discussion with a friend and mentioned that his friend had even lost sleep over the issue of this (potential) Y2K bug, also called the Millennium bug, among other computer data terms, that was still many years away.
"At 15 minutes to midnight on Jan. 18, 1985, Spencer Bolles submitted a post to an online bulletin board system from his computer at Reed College in Oregon. “I have a friend that raised an interesting question that I immediately tried to prove wrong,” he wrote. “He is a programmer and has this notion that when we reach the year 2000, computers will not accept the new date. Will the computers assume that it is 1900, or will it even cause a problem?” - the BCD Wire Note the date of the posting by Bolles.
How the flaw was described by a variety of programmers and engineers is that "The Y2K bug was a computer flaw, or bug, that may have caused problems when dealing with dates beyond December 31, 1999. ... Instead of a date reading 1970, it read 70. Engineers shortened the date because data storage in computers was costly and took up a lot of space."
Who actually created the term "Y2K bug" and eventually solved the problem, according to reports from these discussions by computer engineers, programmers and those who are not computer savvy depends on which of the reports you might choose to believe.
Who the person or persons are who solved the Y2K problem is answered in many ways in many articles, research and/or computer discussions via email. Group discussions are dated but below isa list of information taken from those discussion groups of persons either claiming to have solved the Y2K bug problem or just answering other emails on computer relating to questions as to the history or the Y2K bug.
"Wallace B. McClure solved the problem at Lucent Technologies in Omaha"
"No individual solved it""
"Thousands of programmers around the world all came up with the same solution at more or less the same time."
"No-one takes the credit for it."
"Father Time"
Will Y2k happen again?
Programmers, at this time, expect that there will be a Year 2038 problem,
Just under two decades!
Take another look at the Y2K bug history.
Can you believe it's been two decades already since we were frightened by what the first Y2K bug might bring?
Where does the time go?
