http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2008/03/25/lessons-from-y2k/ Summum nec metuas diem, nec optes - Marcus Valerius Martialis Thu, 19 Apr 2012 09:00:56 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2008/03/25/lessons-from-y2k/comment-page-1/#comment-77155 martian Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:09:44 +0000 http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2008/03/25/lessons-from-y2k/#comment-77155 My wife pointed out the other day that in the mid 70's when she was in high school all of the supposed "experts" were confidently predicting that we were on the verge of another ice age. They were talking about preparing for massive climate changes in the opposite direction of global warming and discussing ways for our civilization to survive when the glaciers came.   Now, just 30 years later, we are poised on the brink of a manmade heat catastrophe. What does that say to me? That we, mankind, have no real clue about the atmospheric dynamics that govern weather and climate. Taht we have barely scratched the surface in our attempts to understand what governs it and that we are foolish to even try to claim that we know what's going to happen in the next 100 years. My wife pointed out the other day that in the mid 70′s when she was in high school all of the supposed "experts" were confidently predicting that we were on the verge of another ice age. They were talking about preparing for massive climate changes in the opposite direction of global warming and discussing ways for our civilization to survive when the glaciers came.
 
Now, just 30 years later, we are poised on the brink of a manmade heat catastrophe. What does that say to me? That we, mankind, have no real clue about the atmospheric dynamics that govern weather and climate. Taht we have barely scratched the surface in our attempts to understand what governs it and that we are foolish to even try to claim that we know what’s going to happen in the next 100 years.

]]> http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2008/03/25/lessons-from-y2k/comment-page-1/#comment-77146 No Runny Eggs » Blog Archive » The Morning Scramble - 3/26/2008 Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:25:58 +0000 http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2008/03/25/lessons-from-y2k/#comment-77146 [...] chief Ed Flynn can turn it around because he hasn’t been here for a summer of shootings. - Gaius points to an eerie comparison between Gorebal Warming and Y2K. - Paul Socha has what, but for the lack of [...] [...] chief Ed Flynn can turn it around because he hasn’t been here for a summer of shootings. – Gaius points to an eerie comparison between Gorebal Warming and Y2K. – Paul Socha has what, but for the lack of [...]

]]> http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2008/03/25/lessons-from-y2k/comment-page-1/#comment-77138 dicentra Wed, 26 Mar 2008 03:10:52 +0000 http://bluecrabboulevard.com/2008/03/25/lessons-from-y2k/#comment-77138 The primary differences with Y2K is that (a) the problem was well-defined, (b) there was actually something concrete we could do about it. It involved digging into a lot of old code and doing a lot of testing where you moved the clock forward on a test system and watched to see what happened.I was working for a military software journal around that time, and we ran lots of Y2K articles, but they all had to to with how to ferret out the problems in all that legacy code and fix them, not on apocalyptic predictions.OK, there was a little of that, but it wasn't as if anyone said we had to destroy the economy to atone for our sins against Gaia. It was just a cautionary tale to programmers (hello IPv4!) that they have to future-proof their systems. The primary differences with Y2K is that (a) the problem was well-defined, (b) there was actually something concrete we could do about it. It involved digging into a lot of old code and doing a lot of testing where you moved the clock forward on a test system and watched to see what happened.I was working for a military software journal around that time, and we ran lots of Y2K articles, but they all had to to with how to ferret out the problems in all that legacy code and fix them, not on apocalyptic predictions.OK, there was a little of that, but it wasn’t as if anyone said we had to destroy the economy to atone for our sins against Gaia. It was just a cautionary tale to programmers (hello IPv4!) that they have to future-proof their systems.

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