Mr. Warmkessel's Guest Lecture

Mr. Warmkessel's Guest Lecture 1998

The Year 2000 Problem

Mr. Warmkessel, a programmer at GPU, visited Wyomissing's computer science classes on Dec. 16, 1998 to discuss his role at GPU in solving the Y2K Crisis.

His lecture notes are available here.

In preparation for his visit, all students were asked to:

Please read the article, You've got to be Kidding!, by Peter de Jager, and answer the questions on the Year 2000 Crisis Reading Comprehension worksheet in preparation for Mr. Warmkessel's visit.
Visit the following Web sites:
- Y2K News Magazine - general information and chat rooms
- The Year 2000 Information Center - Peter de Jager's awesome and complete site
- Vendor 2000 - an updated list of compliant and noncompliant software
- Microsoft Year 2000 Resource Center - details on which MS programs are compliant and which aren't
- Yahoo News Year 2000 Problem - news & links to other sites about the Y2K
- The Cassandra Project - Stop here to learn about public safety risks and how to avoid them.
- Consumer & Home Y2K Info
- Humorous Site
- A 10,000 Year Calendar
- Apple's Y2K Web Site
Check the Microsoft Web site above to see if the software that we use in class (MS Word, Excel, Access, Visual Basic, or Visual C++) is Y2K compliant.

Win a Year 2000 Clock!!!

Mr. Warmkessel awarded a Year 2000 Clock =>>>

to the student who correctly answered the most of the following questions:*

Congratulations to Brandon W & David Y who both tied with only 3 wrong on the quiz! (Brandon won the clock with the coin flip tie-breaker.

[FrontPage Save Results Component]

Your Full Name:

Your Secret 4-Digit Number:

Your Class Period:

Directions: Answer the following based on Mr. Warmkessel's guest lecture on Dec. 16, 1998. Do not send your results more than once! That is, be careful to only click the "Send Answers" button at the bottom of the page once. You will be disqualified if you submit more than one set of answers, or if you type your wrong secret 4-digit number.

1. Year 2000 is a leap year.

True False

2. Year 1900 was a leap year.

True False

3. Year 1600 was a leap year.

True False

4. September 9, 1999 is the date some satellites' weekly calendar counts will reset to zero.

True False

5. August 22, 1999 is the end of the summer equinox.

True False

6. Sorting of dates will probably cause problems in 2000.

True False

7. If you fix hardware AND software, you don't need to fix data.

True False

8. Year 2000 Compliant means that you can manually reset dates.

True False

9.Year 2000 Ready means that you can use "windowing" or 4-digit years as long as it works.

True False

10. If you have to manually reset the year 2000, your computer cannot be Year 2000 Ready.

True False

11. Windowing is the Year 2000 terminology for pop-up windows.

True False

12. Remediate means to slow down the computer's speed so you can use old software on newer computers.

True False

13. Y2K programming windows are usually 100 years.

True False

14. If you choose 98 as your window pivotal year, Year 97 will be 1997.

True False

15. The most important Y2K factor companies must consider is cost.

True False

16. All the computers sold after 1998 will be Year 2000 Compliant.

True False

17. Y2K problems will first occur on Sept. 9, 1999.

True False

18. All 9's (Sept. 9, 1999) and the satellite weekly calendar reset problem are the first Y2K date problems.

True False

19.Jan. 3, 2000 is a key date because it is the first workday for many people in Year 2000.

True False

20. Which of the following statements is true?

a/ All personal computers will have to be rebooted on 01/01/2000.
b/ Only PC's made before 1998 are not Year 2000 Compliant.
c/ All PC's made after 1998 must be Year 2000 Compliant.
d/ If the BIOS chip in your computer is not Y2K Compliant, you can fix the chip manually without changing any software.
e/ none of the above

21. IF you have an old personal computer that is not Y2K Compliant, which statements below are false?

a/ You will not be able to boot your computer on Jan. 1, 2000.
b/ The BIOS microchip in your computer must be replaced.
c/ The BIOS microchip will probably cause the internal computer date to be in error.
d/ The computer software programs you have loaded on your PC will all have to be replaced.
e/ Some computer software may need to be upgraded or replaced to work correctly.
f/ a, b, and d are all false.
g/ all of the above are false.
h/ a and c are false.

22. What is the most important factor a company must take into account to address Year 2000 issues?

a/ Make sure all microchips are Y2K Compliant (embedded systems).
b/ Make sure all computers are Y2K Compliant.
c/ Make sure all computer software is Y2K Compliant.
d/ Minimize human error by replacing people with computers.
f/ The risk of any mission-critical system not working.

23. Which answer(s) below are true?

a/ Leap years are always evenly divisible by 4.
b/ Year 2000 is a leap year.
c/ Year 1000 was not a leap year.
d/ a, b, and c above are true.
e/ none of the above are true.
f/ only a and b above are true.

24. What is incorrect about Peter de Jager's article?

a/ He makes you believe that all programs must be examined.
b/ He indicates that all lines of code must be reviewed.
c/ He does not acknowledge that some programs should be retired.
d/ He does not mention that many programs will be replaced.
e/ all of the above.

25. Which of the following statements are true.

a/ The first common form to read data into computers was 80 column Hollerith cards.
b/ If you have a PC older than 1995, it will not work in 2000.
c/ If you have only 20th century data and 20th century program logic, you do not have to remediate your program.
d/ a and c above

* in the event of a tie, the prize will be awarded randomly