[BC] Why is it this way?

[RichardBJohnson at comcast.net]

Bob Orban beat me to it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBCDIC

Note that the year 2000 bug wasn't. It just
created work for unemployed COBOL and
FORTRAN coders.

Computers don't keep time like humans. They
tick off so many seconds, milliseconds, microseconds,
or in the case of VAXen, micro-fortnights. It's only
the conversion to text that might get messed up.
In fact, the year 2000, would be represented as
a000 in the common BCD format conversion
routines used by COBOL and FORTRAN
commercial programs. The IBM/PC would
have to be reset to the correct year because
the BIOS couldn't handle the second century.
Modern ones do so with no problem. There is
a century BYTE that means we can go up
to the year 255,000 ... but they insist upon
putting BCD into that register so it can only
go up to the year 99,000.
 
--
Cheers,
RBJ


 -------------- Original message ----------------------
From: "Linc" <c310driver at lincster.com>
> I've heard that it's IBM's fault that I can't have the hyphen in my name on 
> an airline ticket, and you can't have apostrophe in your name if it' 
> O'Something.  And that bugs me, it's my legal name, it appears that way on 
> some documents, like my Passport and Driver's license (although I had to 
> threaten one state with legal action in order to have it).
[Snipped..]
> 
> That really drives me nuts, is that an IBMism, too?  Sort of a millennium 
> bug type legacy?
> 
> I know hyphens caused VT100's to work in certain ways, the hyphen was to go 
> to the next block (I think).  But VT100's have been obsolete for years (I 
> hope).
> 
> Maybe Richard B.can shed some light on the whys and wherefores?
>