-=> Mark Lewis said to Greg Mayman
 -=> about "NETMAIL?" on 05-17-03  12:37.....

 ML> it probably did and wasn't set up for it properly... even frontdoor,
 ML> properly setup, can have this happen...

Yes.

 ML> one method is mathematical... ie: 1993 - 1900 = two digit date of 93

The common method that was used in too much software...

 ML> the second method is string manipulation... convert the binary number
 ML> 1993 to a string and then start at the 3rd position and copy the
 ML> remaining characters out...

The way I would have gone.

 ML> copy('19103',3,2)= '10'  (known bad date string done like 1st)

This would have occurred only when trying to re-convert a date
that had been wrongly converted in the first place then
converted back by concatenating the string "19" to the front.

 ML> adjustments as necessary... back in the day, folk didn't worry so much
 ML> about the future and handle it then... why? some call it job security
 ML> :wink: 

Around 1996, someone commented that he had checked a lot of the
software running on his company's computers and found that about
80% of it had this Y2K error. He pointed out that it would need
quite a lot of work -- and MONEY! -- to check and fix the
software, but the head of the business wasn't worried and
wouldn't allocate any funds... "I'll be retired by then!"

Fortunately enough people were scared by the tales of collapsing
civilization so they "got the finger out" and fixed or replaced
enough of the business software before it happened.

 ML> hummm, in the case of an ISP, that's slightly different than a BBS...
 ML> an ISP's system answers and makes the connection... the login stuff
 ML> generally comes from authentication on another machine on their
 ML> network... this machine is generally known as a radius server... radius

Yes, understood. The systems are becoming so complex these days
that a simple thing like preventing a modem from answerring when
there's a fault further down the line are getting to be almost
impossible.

From Greg Mayman, in beautiful Adelaide, South Australia
   "Queen City of The South"    34:55 S  138:36 E

... If it jams, force it. If it breaks, it needed replacing anyway
___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30

--- FLAME v2.0/b