Comments on: More 2012 debunkery

By: Greg in Austin

Greg in Austin — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 01:43:20 +0000

You’re reading a book?

By: TheBlackCat

TheBlackCat — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:18:11 +0000

@ MadScientist: I am pretty sure even in the Abrahamic tradition there were a number of apocalyptic cults well-predating Christianity. In fact I am under the impression that a lot of (if not all) the apocalyptic stuff in the Bible was simply copied from earlier Jewish apocalyptic cults and prophecies. Actually I don’t think much, if anything, in the Bible or Christian tradition is actually original. Most of it is borrowed from popular Judaism at the time (but which has since been rejected by both Jewish and Christian authorities) and competing religions in the Mediterranean (such as Mithraism).

By: MJBUtah

MJBUtah — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:32:52 +0000

There actually was someone in the ladies room after the movie (yes, I went and saw it. It was my husband’s birthday and he got to pick the movie) who kept talking to her friend like it was real, and she was worried what she was going to do, etc. I was flabbergasted.

The calendar in my kitchen ends in June 2010. My world is apparently ending sooner than everyone else’s.

By: MadScientist

MadScientist — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 13:17:22 +0000

Loons predict the end of the world pretty much every year. I wonder if it started with a certain cult with its head office in Rome or if there are older prophecies of the end of the world. If the ancient Maya actually wrote out calendars to around this date I’d be surprised (it would show that someone was very bored). The descendants of the ancient Maya are still around and they use the Gregorian calendar. I haven’t heard any of them claiming that the world will end. Thanks for the tip – I’ll look for the book (though I doubt I’ll find it – still no sign of DFTS here).

By: Nigel Depledge

Nigel Depledge — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:38:09 +0000

Jeez, it’s at times like this we really need someone to write a book about the scientific angle on the end of the world, or at least the ways in which it might end.

By: maladorus_fuzzy.

maladorus_fuzzy. — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:07:24 +0000

I can predict when the world will end – in about 5 billion years. The sun will enter its red giant phase and *munch*

Did see the movie. Entertaining fluff if you turn your brain off. Vivid CGI scenes. Being single in marital status in the movie is a bad career move.

By: toasterhead

toasterhead — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:04:00 +0000

85. Buzz Parsec Says:
November 18th, 2009 at 6:36 pm

Oh, sure. Great plan. Just use a 64-bit integer and punt the problem down the field until the year 292,277,026,596 AD. Leave it for future generations to solve, why don’t ya?

By: ganool

ganool — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 02:56:19 +0000

no one can predicted when the end of the world,.even maya’s that life thousands ago or scientist 1000 years later.
the movie,2012 still cant imagine what the situation of the end of world.
theres is about 57 sign and 27 of them shown today. the most big sign is when the sun rise on the place its down,from the west to east.
end of the world not only destroy of the earth and destroyed of any life in it. but end of the world is more horrified than it.all we know on space,planets,star,galaxies,and the far-far galaxies that photographed with hubble ultra deep field will all destroyed.
the end of the world is end of the universe. FROM NOTHING TO BE NOTHING…!!!

By: Buzz Parsec

Buzz Parsec — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 01:36:42 +0000

Yup, Y2K required lots of fixit work. Not nearly as much for me as for many posters, my company (25 people) probably put about 2 person-years into it. Still had one bug crop up, a report header that said Jan. 1, 19100. Ugh! I though we had caught all those.

As for 2038, that is *not* an inescapable consequence of 32-bit hardware. It is entirely and completely a software problem, and is fixable, one bug at a time, by converting to a longer time type, and by doing proper type checking in your programs. (Those of us who don’t use C and/or Unix don’t even have to think about it.) Oh, and 16-bit Unix has the same problem, it’s not a hardware issue.

On the 3rd hand, if Sarah Palin is elected, no one will have to worry about it…

By: Lugosi

Lugosi — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:43:02 +0000

If Sarah Palin runs and is elected President in 2012, then I have no doubt that the end of the world is at hand.

By: coolstar

coolstar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:37:49 +0000

According to my students, they actually PRONOUNCE the word “neutrino” correctly in the movie, and that’s as close as they come to getting any science correct.
My bet is $1000 dollars at 10 to 1 odds. Funny haven’t gotten anyone to take it yet……
I wouldn’t be surprised if the BA actually LIKES the movie though! Anthony Aveni IS a nice guy though, and a fine writer.

By: DaveS

DaveS — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:18:06 +0000

As far as Y2K, one thing I can say from personal professional experience is that mobile phones would have stopped working, if nothing had been done. It wasn’t just ancient COBOL programs that had problems, it was ANY system designed without the Y2K problem in mind, even right up to the date. Much, much, much effort ($) was expended to fix the very real problem, in all areas of our very computerized world.

I was living in Southern California at the time, and my knowledge of the Y2K problem in mobile phone base-sites prompted me to get an American Red Cross book on Emergency Preparedness, which prompted me to get a 55gal drum of emergency potable water, a 3-day transportable supply of food, medicine and clothing, and a few other things.

The bug-out bag turned out really useful when a few years later they evacuated us to the stadium, due to fires.

By: Robert Gurskey

Robert Gurskey — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:45:09 +0000

>Re Y2K
I helped fix some State Department software in 1985 to handle this problem. We did have a few people who were looking ahead.

Also, on Jan 1, 2000 I ordered a pizza from Domino’s for home delivery. They asked for my address, which they usually didn’t because of their telephone #/address db. When I asked why he wanted my address, the clerk said sheepishly that they had experienced a Y2K problem. So I guess it did affect some businesses.

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 20:19:11 +0000

74. John Paradox

Ah yes. FERENGI. How could I forget(did you know the word Farengi is Thai for Stranger?)
I thought the reference to “lobes” had to do with their big frontal domes, not their earlobes. Silly me,,,

Gary 7

By: kuhnigget

kuhnigget — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:43:51 +0000

Echoing what everyone is saying about the hard work that went into fixing the Y2k problem before it became a crisis…

It seems to me this is a perfect example of the difference between rational and irrational people. Rational people identify an issue and set out to deal with it based upon a reasoned plan of action. Irrational people become fixated on hype, rather than fact, sensationalism rather than common sense, and end up doing nothing but promoting silliness.

This is perfectly exemplified by so-called news media that are presenting free advertising for a piece of entertainment as if it were news, and in the process proving yet again that they, themselves are nothing but entertainment and certainly not valid journalism. The J-school graduate in me cringes at this nonsensical waste of bandwidth. Why does the FCC continue to renew the licenses of these bozotrons?

Oh, yeah. The u$ual an$wer.

By: John Paradox

John Paradox — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:38:44 +0000

72. Gary Ansorge Says:

Hey, I LIKE Flash Forward. It’s so much fun, seeing people squirm because they really don’t know what sequence of steps will lead to their particular(perceived) future. Fer example, if we all suddenly “saw” our futures 20 years down the line, how could we not know that observation was itself the principal progenitor of the resultant future?

I read the original book after I discovered Sawyer’s books, and am watching the TV series (okay, DVRing it… along with Heroes, V, Mythbusters, NUMB3RS and the two Very Bad Movies that are on midnight Sat/Sun). I tend to head to three sections at the Library or bookstores: SciFi (some Fantasy), Science, and Video/DVD’s (again, lots of SciFi, such as the classic The Blob that I currently have checked out)

Ah, SciFi, so much fun.

When I started reading (about age 4), I discovered this strange area in the Public Library (or, as I call it on Political Blogs “Socialist Bookstore”) where these really interesting books about space, the future, and other ideas were kept. Of course, that led to the Dewey 500′s and 600′s in nonfiction…..

Ah, the convolutions of anticipation. Aren’t we lucky to have these big, frontal lobes?

Gary 7
PS. I recall(vaguely) some ST:NG characters that had their success measured by the size of their “lobes”. We should be so lucky,,,

Ferengi… it was ear lobes….

Oh, great FSM, I haven’t been asleep since my original post….. but I DID get the Isaac Asimov created series PROBE dubbed from VHS.

J/P=?

By: Bouch

Bouch — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 18:22:10 +0000

Hi there,

On MSN’s front page about 5 minutes ago, there was a link about “should you fear 2012″. I clicked and was brought here:

http://astrocenter.astrology.msn.com/msn/ArticleAstrologyHomeV2.aspx?sd=20091110&gt1=21001

The author is Sam Geppi, who is “a Vedic astrologer, teacher, and writer in San Francisco. He is the only Vedic astrologer of note researching and discussing the current Global shifts and 2012.”

Read it for a good laugh. At least he says the world will NOT end

By: Beasjt

Beasjt — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:59:54 +0000

Sans comment

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/rmo0290l.jpg

By: TechyDad

TechyDad — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:40:12 +0000

Sadly, all the hard work of the people who fixed the Y2K bugs before they caused problems gets ignored. Instead, people lump Y2K in with the “dire predictions that didn’t come true.” Yes, there were those who took it too far. (My aunt was one of the ones who went nutty filling up her tub with drinkable water and stockpiling food for when the world plunged into chaos.) Most of us, though, realized that Y2K was a problem, but not a world-ending one. If it hadn’t been fixed, there would have been a financial crisis, but we would have worked through it (with some difficulty). Thanks to everyone who worked long hours fixing the code before it became a problem.

By: Gary Ansorge

Gary Ansorge — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:26:42 +0000

54. John Paradox

“Don’t be silly, it won’t create any micro black holes, we’ll all just ‘blank out’ for a couple minutes and see what’s happening to us twenty years in the future.

Ah, SciFi, so much fun.

As afar as Y2K was concerned, I like to think of that as the Cassandra effect. If you listen to the dire prediction and take appropriate preventative steps, (like vaccinating) then it won’t happen, so it might appear to be bogus however, if you DON’T listen,(ignore Cassandra) then it WILL happen and later you can lay blame on those “responsible” for the catastrophe,,,

Ah, the convolutions of anticipation. Aren’t we lucky to have these big, frontal lobes?

Gary 7
PS. I recall(vaguely) some ST:NG characters that had their success measured by the size of their “lobes”. We should be so lucky,,,

By: Carlos

Carlos — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:19:30 +0000

@20 What’s the next big thing? I’m betting on 2033 (or 2029). Easter has always been the most important holiday in the Christian tradition – NOT Christmas. In fact the whole basis for Christianity is Jesus’ resurrection – NOT his birth. Christmas seems more important purely because of the commercial aspects linked to it.

Thus, it would make sense that opportunistic fools would focus on a second coming 2000 years after the DEATH (and Resurrection) of Jesus, especially since 2000 after His birth turned out to be a dud. That puts the next end of the world in 2033, if you follow common tradition that Jesus was 33 on his crusifiction (or 2029 if you believe he was actually born in 4BC).

Of course most, if not all, mainstream Christian religions don’t subscribe to this view – but that won’t stop the crazies from bringing it up.

By: TechyDad

TechyDad — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:37:52 +0000

This Monday’s Brewster Rockit deals with the Mayan calendar/2012 thing perfectly:

http://www.gocomics.com/brewsterrockit/2009/11/16/

In fact, the whole week seems devoted to the whole “World’s Gonna End” nonsense.

By: TheBlackCat

TheBlackCat — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:29:46 +0000

@ DennyMo: 2038. That is when the 32-bit dates used in 32-bit computer systems using Unix time roll over (which isn’t just Unix-based systems, lots of other operating systems use the same time format). This isn’t just a programming convention, it is a fundamental limit of 32-bit processors as they are currently used (it is possible, but very difficult, to work around the problem). Things will start getting ugly in 2018, though, when calculations involving 20-year mortgages start rolling over.

By: Alex

Alex — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:09:50 +0000

Great post. I addressed this thing on my blog and in my research discovered that the Mayan calendar didn’t end in 2012 any more than the Gregorian calendar ends on December 31 every year. It’s just a division of the world into various periods (granted, these are longer than years, but it’s the same principle).

http://defiantskeptic.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/rdwtw-4-2012-and-the-so-called-wisdom-of-the-ancients/

By: DennyMo

DennyMo — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 14:38:30 +0000

20. TomHandy Says:
“So, what is the next big thing people are going to freak out about?”

While we were fixing the Y2K problem at work, one of my coworkers commented, “If folks think this is bad, wait’ll the GPS satellites reset their clock counters in 20__.” I don’t remember what year it was supposed to be…