Add: computer parody

Subject: Add: computer parody
From: Alice
Date: 13 May 98 - 09:57 AM

This song about the year '00 came to me anonymously, so if anyone knows the author, please post it.

Two Digits For A Date

(to the tune of "Gilligan's Island," more or less...)
Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale
Of the doom that is our fate.
That started when programmers used
Two digits for a date.
Two digits for a date.
Main memory was smaller then;
Hard disks were smaller, too.
"Four digits are extravagant,
So let's get by with two.
So let's get by with two."
"This works through 1999,"
The programmers did say.
"And unless we rewrite by then
It all will go away.
It all will go away."
But Management had not a clue:
"It works fine now, you bet!
A rewrite is a straight expense;
We won't do it just yet.
We won't do it just yet."
Now when 2000 rolls around
It all goes straight to hell,
For zero's less than ninety-nine,
As anyone can tell.
As anyone can tell.
The mail won't bring your pension check
It won't be sent to you
When you're no longer sixty-eight,
But minus thirty-two.
But minus thirty-two.
The problems we're about to face
Are frightening, for sure.
And reading every line of code's
The only certain cure.
The only certain cure.
[key change, big finish]
There's not much time,
There's too much code.
(And Cobol-coders, few)
When the century is finished with,
We may be finished, too.
We may be finished, too.
Eight thousand years from now I hope
That things aren't left too late,
And people aren't lamenting then
Four digits for a date.
Four digits for a date.

-------------

Another reason why I love my Mac.
Alice in Montana

Subject: RE: Add: computer parody
From: steve t
Date: 14 May 98 - 02:14 AM

My favourtie y2k joke:

A COBOL programmer was sick of working on year 2000 problems. So he had himself frozen to be woken up in the year 2001. When he awoke everything had completely changed. "What happened?" he asked.
"There was a glitch in the software. You weren't unfrozen in 2001. In fact, we're coming up to the year 10,000 and we understand that you know COBOL..."