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The universe started in 1970. Anyone claiming to be over 38 is lying about their age.

Transcript

[Cueball sits at a computer, staring at the screen and rubbing his chin in thought. A friend stands behind him.]
Cueball: Weird — My code’s crashing when given pre-1970 dates.
Friend [pointing at Cueball and his computer]: Epoch fail!

    • Arghblarg@lemmy.ca
      9·
      6 months ago

      Is it just (Canuckian) me, or shouldn’t it be pronounced EpOch (long ‘e’, long ‘o’) to avoid ambiguity? It still breaks my brain when US people say what I hear as ‘epic’.

      • BleatingZombie@lemmy.world
        8·
        6 months ago

        If it matters, I’m american and I only ever hear it the way you say it. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard anyone pronounce it like “epic” 🤔

      • Deebster@programming.dev
        5·
        6 months ago

        Yeah, as a Brit I pronounce it ɪ́j p ɔ k (ee as in fleece, o like in goal), so this joke took me a bit to figure out.

        I didn’t even realise those US mavericks would say it like epic. Unless I’d heard it and didn’t recognise it - lately I’ve been hearing a few people mention the “Adam” editor and it took me several different people before I realised they were saying “Atom”.

        • Arghblarg@lemmy.ca
          3·
          6 months ago

          Thank you, sets my mind at ease to know it is not just me :)

          “Atom” vs. “Adam” – yes now that you mention it, you’re not hearing things, Americans do say it differently.

          This reminds me of something that constantly bothers me about youtube tutorials: I can tell instantly the presenter is American or was raised in America when they say “… now go ahead and …” rather than “now, …” or “next, …” when presenting step-by-step procedures. I don’t know why, but it really bothers me, yet there is nothing ‘wrong’ about it.

          • Deebster@programming.devEnglish
            1·
            6 months ago

            Haha, constantly hearing “go ahead” is absolutely my #1 bugbear - I get so irritated and distracted when people keep repeating it that I have to rewind to actually listen to the other words. I’ve noticed some Brits have started using it to, much to my dismay.

            I was using gpg earlier and it told me “Go ahead and type your message”.

    • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
      6·
      6 months ago

      It’ll be less than that. 2038 is when it will completely hit the fan. However, anything that stores future datetimes could hit it earlier. 10 year product maintenance? You’ll start storing out of range dates in just 4 years time.

      • overcast5348@lemmy.world
        5·
        6 months ago

        I used to work on some insurance software that went haywire in 2018 when a 20 year policy was created. That wasn’t a fun month for us.

        Also, wtf, 2018 was 6 years ago!?

      • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        6 months ago

        Which is why 64 bit time has been widely adopted and even made to work on 32 bit systems. 2038 is already a problem in some areas and nobody wants Y2K issues again, so people are getting it solved much earlier than last time.

  • ramble81@lemm.ee
    161·
    6 months ago

    I’m more worried about 2038-01-19 than I was about the Y2K bug.

    • BleatingZombie@lemmy.world
      111·
      6 months ago

      Why are people so worried about this? 32 bit systems aren’t nearly as prevalent as they used to be

      • ramble81@lemm.ee
        17·
        6 months ago

        General computers, you’re right… however, embedded systems and custom programs are a whole different story.

        • Arghblarg@lemmy.ca
          7·
          6 months ago

          Can confirm. I can’t give details, but … yeah. Had to file a card just last month about a uint32_t UTC time value being used in a device-to-cloud message where it will definitely need to be upgraded to a uint64_t before good ol’ 2038 comes …

          • ramble81@lemm.ee
            121·
            6 months ago

            Here’s an easy example…. Planes average about 30 years. They are usually developed over the span of 5-7 years. 64-bit processors didn’t even hit mainstream till 2003. Like cars, planes are a bit behind because they usually want them as solid as possible. So right then a life span of a plan could have been built with 32-bit systems that will still be in use in 2038. Some B-52s have had 60+ year spans. Also programs that were designed with 32-bit time to save space at a database level for example would need to be rewritten. It’s more things than you think.

          • this_1_is_mine@lemmy.world
            8·
            6 months ago

            Some of these systems have already been in place for over 15 years. Do You really think they will be replaced in that amount of time if they are still working?