Re: Y2K Questions for Canadians

["Michael C. Richardson" <mcr@sandelman.ottawa.on.ca>]

>>>>> "Bob" == Bob Olsen <bobolsen@tao.ca> writes:
    Bob>  Terry, I need a list of questions to ask Toronto officials.
    Bob>  Such a list would be a vital resource for people across the country.
 
    Bob>  - What type of municipal systems have "embedded chips"?
    Bob>  - What questions should we be asking about embedded chips?

  a) do they need to know the time? Things like traffic signal controllers
	need to *keep* time, but don't need to know the date, except that
	they now are "smart" and want to know what day of the week it is.
	[For things that just need the day of the week, just set them back 
	to 1988, since the calendar repeats every 12 years]

  b) what happens to the system in question if we fix it with a sledgehammer?

    Bob>  - Why are embedded chips vulnerable?  Is it not the software
    Bob>    that is vulnerable?  Fix the software.  The chip is hardware.
    Bob>    How can the hardware be date sensitive?  I don't understand!

  c) embedded chips usually have the software installed on them at the
	manufacturing plant. This is what makes them cheap, and reliable.
	replacing the software requires that you (at the minimum), remove the
	chip, take it back to a lab, and reprogram it. At the maximum, you
	have to get the factory to spin a new design.

    Bob>  - A City of Toronto official told me that all their computers have
    Bob>    been checked and that they are all OK.  I assume that he was
    Bob>    referring to the OS. 

	"computers" for most people do not include traffic signals.

    Bob>    But, does that solve the problem?  Does the Y2K problem exist
    Bob>    outside the OS on people's desk top computers?  If so, where?

	Desktops are the least of people's worries.

  Fortunately, most larger embedded systems do not have Y2K bugs, they have
a Tue Jan 19  3:14:07 UTC 2038 problem. 

    Bob> "On September 10, 1998, when Rep. Stephen Horn (R-Calif.), chairman of
    Bob> the technology subcommittee for the House Committee on Government
    Bob> Reform and Oversight, issued the federal government one of his
    Bob> periodic report cards on its management of Y2K, anachronistic embedded
    Bob> systems were much on his mind. He noted that water pumps on the fire
    Bob> trucks of Baton Rouge, La., aren't affected by the year 2000 problem.
    Bob> It's just that the truck ladders won't work without Y2K repairs."
    Bob> http://www.utne.com/y2k/neighborhood.html

    Bob>  How can the truck ladders be susceptible to Y2K problems?
    Bob>  We need to understand that and be able to explain it to elected
    Bob>  officials as well as the general public.  I certainly do NOT
    Bob>  understand that.

  It is pretty strange. One would presume that the ladders, being
hydralically powered, have a hydralic pump, and as a safety enhancement, they
refuse to operate if the pump has not been serviced at appropriate
periods. That requires a clock.

    Bob>  If the officials fix their software programs, including the Operating
    Bob>  Systems, such as Win 95, does that not solve the problem?

  Any system running Windows 95, will not affect the world when it fails.
How could it? Win95 fails hourly and the world hasn't slowed down. Win95 is
never used for critical system functions. Some people use it to manage 
small business, and they will be affected, but the domino affect won't be
that great, since few people run very big operations on that kind of system.
(WinNT is another issue)

   :!mcr!:            |  Network and security consulting/contract programming
   Michael Richardson |         Firewalls, TCP/IP and Unix administration
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	ON HUMILITY: To err is human, to moo bovine.