Y2K Bug :: essays research papers fc

Computers have become the backbone of the world today. Is there a time bomb slowly ticking down inside of the computers that run everything from your laundry machine to Wall Street? "The year 2000 bug is a flaw in the programming of embedded chips in most electronic devices"(Outsmarting 2). These chips only calculate the date in the ending 2 digits of the year. For instance, the date 1-1-1999 in the computer comes out 1-1-99. "When the year 2000 comes around, the computers will think that it is the year 1900"(2). Any program or system that relies on dates to perform certain functions, such as calculating ages, time periods, or payrolls is at risk of crashing on the stroke of midnight. Programmers in the 1970's were saving a lot of space in programming by only using the last 2 digits of the year. They had no insight into the problem they were creating by cutting this programming corner. The justification for cutting this corner was two fold. First, think of all of the coding and coding time they saved if the date is calculated over 1 million times in a single computation. Second, in those early years, disk storage space was at a premium and severely limited by today's standards. It was important to make the best available use of storage space. For this reason that they entered only the last 2 digits of the year in the old programming. Because only date sensitive programming is at risk, however if or when the Y2K bug hits, the damage will be minimal at most. For those people who plan to move to the country and sell all of their possessions in order to get away from the effect, do not leave just yet. The year 2000 bug will not be the end of the world. Many think that they will start a rural community and it will be their little Garden of Eden. If the year 2000 bug strikes, it will strike everything everywhere, even in rural Montana. The problems will be universal. People believe that they can rely on insurance to cover their assets are facing another problem created by the year 2000 bug. Insurance companies are calling all of their current clients informing them that their coverage does not include losses due to the year 2000 bug. However, lawyers and law firms are gearing up for what they believe will be a windfall, based on millennium bug claims

The Crave for Companionship in of Mice and Men

â€Å"A guy goes nut if he ain’t got nobody. † None of the characters in Of Mice and Men experience true companionship. Discuss. The crave for companionship is a key theme present throughout John Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men. The great depression is no help when trying to find or keep friendships alive in the rural, country areas of America. George and Lennie depict what true companionship is all about when sticking together through thick and thin.Being the only black man living on the ranch, Crooks finds it hard to relate with others, finding himself separated from the other men. The relationship between Curley and his wife is merely just an unstable marriage that lacks true meaning and love. Desire in many forms is found throughout the novella but companionship is the main one as everyone can be lonely at times. George and Lennie’s companionship contrasts the loneliness that surrounds them on the ranch. Somehow the two men complement each other d espise the lack of compatibility between them.Lennie would call George a friend, but George would find difficulty to call him one back. â€Å"ain’t many guys travel around together† (Slim page 36) this is what Slim tells George when he finds out that he and Lennie travel together. The companions are in search of the American dream which is to own their own piece of land, â€Å"we'd have our own place where we belonged and not sleep in no bunk house† (George page 63) this would put George in control of finally keeping them out of trouble, especially Lennie.George is motivated to stay with Lennie because of his own guilt and the fact that he doesn't want to end up like everyone else on the ranch, alone. George knows that life without Lennie would be so much easier on himself and sometimes he wants the independence of not have to keep his eye on a grown man who has the mind of a child. Unfortunately their great friendship had to end with George killing Lennie. Alth ough it may have seemed to be George protecting himself it was largely to protect Lennie as Curley could have killed him in a more brutal manor.Crooks, â€Å"the negro Stable Buck† (page 66) seems to be the major outcast living on the ranch in Of Mice and Men. He lives in his own room, separated from the bunk house in â€Å"a little shed that leaned off the wall of the barn† (page 66). Crooks was â€Å"a proud, and aloof man† (page 67), bitter and hostile yet very intelligent and wise mainly because of the isolations he faces and his skin colour. When Crooks is faced with the solid figure of Lennie standing in his door way he attempts to lash out at him yelling â€Å"you got no ight to come in my room† (pages 67-68) displaying a large deficiency of communication and trying to indicate to Lennie to leave him alone. As Lennie is misguided by the messages Crooks is trying to send him he enters giving off no bad intentions so the black man lets his guard down . As the conversation carries on Crooks finds Lennie just sees him as another man working at the ranch. Curley's wife's want for friendship has altered her demeanour towards men on the ranch tremendously, making her overtly insecure and excessively flirtatious.The men on the ranch avoid her because of flirtatious personality to keep out of trouble. No one understands her situation and how loneliness affects her. Her insecurity is evident by the way she dresses and utilizes her make-up. She uses her appearance to receive attention like when â€Å"[Curley's Wife] was standing there looking in. She had full, rouged lips and wide-spaced eyes, heavily made up. â€Å"(Steinbeck 32). Curley's Wife feels she must dress this way for people to acknowledge her and give her attention.Her dressing-up is entirely unnecessary because they live on a farm and this is not the typical clothing. Curley does not give his wife enough companionship, love and affection that she desires. This makes her se ek it from other people whining to Lennie in the barn â€Å"Why can't I talk to you? I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely† (page 85). By not talking to anyone and constantly worrying about what Curley will do, she has attained a slyness that does not appeal to anyone on the ranch.Acting in flirtatious ways is the only way Curley's Wife thinks she can deal with her aspirations for a friend. Every human needs a companion, a friend or acquaintance to share his or her thoughts and feelings with, that's what makes us all human. Unfortunately some of us are unable to have this desire that we all dream for, and especially during the depression friends were very scarce. Of Mice and Men shows the ups and downs of friendship, the good times as well as the bad and the limits a friend will go to, to save their friend from anguish.

Quotes to Help Celebrate Teachers Day

A good teacher plays the role of an educator, guide, inspirational guru, and a friend. They gently  nudge the slow learners to climb a steep learning curve, and they engage with the bright minds to delve deeper into concepts  and thereby meet their need to be ahead of others. Teachers tap the fertile mind of young children and plant the seed of curiosity in them. This inculcates the values of self-learning, exploration, and philosophical inquiry. Many young children take the spark of imagination to unimaginable heights. Little origami enthusiasts grow up to become  engineers of cutting-edge technology. Kids  suffering from dyslexia grow up and  became famous surgeons. What Is World Teachers Day? Also known as International Teachers Day, World Teachers Day is held officially each year on October 5 in Canada and more than 100 countries worldwide, but in the United States, it’s held on the first Tuesday of the first full week in May. According to UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), it’s a special day to remind the world that education is a fundamental right that requires qualified teachers — who by the way — are always in demand, especially in remote, rural areas of the world. The day marks the beginning of set standards for teachers and their commitment to the profession to help improve the lives of children. The following quotes are from some famous people in honor of teachers and the lofty profession of teaching: American historians (Henry Brooks Adams, Jacques Barzun); American author (Ken Blanchard); American operatic tenor (Robert Brault); Australian physician (Helen Caldicott); theoretical physicist (Albert Einstein); writers (Johann Wolfgang von Goeth, Nikos Kazantzakis, Dan Rather), Boy Scout administrator (Forest Witcraft); and Irish poet (William Butler Yeats). Henry Brooks Adams A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops. Jacques Barzun In teaching, you cannot see the fruit of a days work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years. Ken Blanchard Your role as a leader is even more important than you might imagine. You have the power to help people become winners. Robert Brault The average teacher explains complexity; the gifted teacher reveals simplicity. Helen Caldicott Teachers, I believe, are the most responsible and important members of society because their professional efforts affect the fate of the earth. Albert Einstein It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe A teacher who can arouse a feeling for one single good action, for one single good poem, accomplishes more than he who fills our memory with rows and rows of natural objects, classified with name and form. Nikos Kazantzakis Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own. Dan Rather The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth. Forest Witcraft A hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much money I had in the bank, but the world may be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child. William Butler Yeats Education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire.