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From: scottd@nbnet.nb.ca (Don Scott)
Subject: Domill Awns, dead at 66
Date: Thu, 30 Apr 1998 19:32:11 GMT

To members of c.s.y2k:

A moment of silence, please, for the passing of a great man, our
raison d'etre.



It was revealed today that Domill Awns, the original creator of the
Year 2000 problem, passed away in Seamye Bluffs, South Carolina.

Computer veterans will remember Mr. Awns as the original proponent of
a two-digit year convention.  Mr. Awns stumbled upon the idea in 1954
when he had a data record that already occupied 78 columns of an
80-column punched card.  Faced with the challenge of adding a year
field to the data record, Mr. Awns exclaimed:  "F**k it, use two
digits".

The two-digit year convention was quickly adopted worldwide, as
programmers were oblivious to the obvious problems 46 years hence.
"F**k it, we'll all be dead anyways" Mr. Awns was fond of saying, and
he was certainly proven correct in his own case.

"We were growing increasingly concerned that Domill wouldn't die
before the turn of the century" said his wife, "and he was always so
fussy abvout being correct in his predictions.  I'm so happy for him
that he was right about this one, too".

It had also been widely speculated that Mr. Awns held the secret to
the solution of the Year 2000 problem, and it was expected that he
would be willing to release the details of that solution before his
untimely passing.

In a news conference held today at Seamye Bluffs Memorial hospital,
attending doctors revealed that Mr. Awns' last words were "F**k it,
use an 82-column card".  The doctors refused to speculate further on
what exactly that meant, but two computer programmers were observed at
the back of the room slapping their foreheads and shouting "Of
course!".

Domill Awns (32 - 98), dead at 66.  He leaves a wife, Ada, who
currently holds the patent on the two-digit year convention, and two
sons, Rich and Richer, who are currently employed as $2,000 per hour
programmers modifying computer systems to accomodate the new 82-column
punched card.

                         -  30  -


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