• dx1@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Planes crashing out of the sky wouldn’t have been inconceivable. Say you have two air traffic control systems that are synchronizing - one handles dates with a modulo 100 (00-99, i.e. 1900-1999), another handles them in epoch time. All of a sudden the two reported time + positions of two different planes don’t match up by a century, and collision projection software doesn’t work right. I’ve seen nastier bugs than that, in terms of conceptual failure.

    At no point is that a theory about a “conspiracy” either, IDK why you’re bandying that term around.

    • JackbyDev@programming.dev
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      3 days ago

      At no point is that a theory about a “conspiracy” either, IDK why you’re bandying that term around.

      Conspiracy is probably the wrong term. What I mean is that some (keyword: some) predictions were quite extreme and apocalyptic. See the fringe group response section for examples of what I was trying to convey.

      The New York Times reported in late 1999, “The Rev. Jerry Falwell suggested that Y2K would be the confirmation of Christian prophecy – God’s instrument to shake this nation, to humble this nation. The Y2K crisis might incite a worldwide revival that would lead to the rapture of the church. Along with many survivalists, Mr. Falwell advised stocking up on food and guns”.

      That’s what I meant by the sort of “conspiratorial” response. Maybe I should reword my post to make it more clear?