This is Part 2 of a two-parter. You can read the previous post to review, but in a nutshell:
A recent article stated computers could go nuts on January 19, 2038. This date is supposedly 2,147,483,647 seconds after January 1, 1970. That is with a 32 bit system. However, a 64 bit system would last a lot longer - 292 billion years.
It's fact checking time:
1. Where did 2,147,483,647 come from? I thought that might be the value of 2^32. It wasn't, but it seemed to be about twice as much as the number. It was in fact exactly 2^31. Frankly, I'm not sure what that worked. I'm no computer whiz, but I guess computers could handle up to, but not including 2^32. Next highest would be 2^31. (?)
2. Where does that many seconds get you? There are approximately 365.25 x 24 x 60 x 60 = 31,557,600 seconds in a year. Dividing those two numbers, I get 68.05. That would be pretty darn close to the time between Jan 1, 1970 and Jan 19, 2038.
3. 292 billion years? Really? Yes, in fact. Using my new-found logic I related previously, I found 2^63. It's big. Divide by the aforementioned 31,557,600 to get 2.92271 x 10^11. This is 292 billion years.
