Is the Twitpocalypse nigh?
2147483647. You might recognize it as the maximum value of an integer in several programming languages, or the highest score you can get in a lot of video games, or a number that pops up when you get a database error message. Well, Twitter’s numbered tweets are fast approaching 2147483647, and, although I’m sure Twitter’s databases are properly configured, a site called Twitpocalypse is speculating that some Twitter apps won’t be prepared, causing them to stop working when they can’t access tweets beyond the magic number.
According to the site, the Twitpocalypse is scheduled for June 14th at 4:46 PM GMT
http://www.downloadsquad.com/2009/06/10/is-the-twitpocalypse-nigh/
2147483647 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The number 2,147,483,647 is also the maximum value for a 32-bit signed integer in computing. It is therefore the maximum value for variables declared as int in many programming languages running on popular CPUs, and the maximum possible score for many video games. The appearance of the number often reflects an error, overflow condition, or missing value.
The data type time_t, used on operating systems such as Unix, is a 32-bit signed integer counting the number of seconds since the start of the Unix epoch (midnight UTC of January 1, 1970). The latest time that can be represented this way is 03:14:07 UTC on Tuesday, 19 January 2038 (corresponding to 2,147,483,647 seconds since the start of the epoch), so that systems using a 32-bit time_t type are susceptible to the Year 2038 problem.
Makes sense that you can’t go beyond this number 2147483647; the sum of the digits is 46. One more than that and you arrive at the Holy
of Holies!
I just noticed that this number equals a bit more than 68 years. Very
close to the three score and ten of the bible. I used to worry about surviving 47 — I thought I had it made until 74 or, even, 94. Now,
68+ gets my attention.
[Jas’ IP address includes a 47.]
– – – – –
As for the actual Year 2038 problem: We’ll
probably be using 128-bit or 256-bit systems by then (running Windows 47), or crystal quantum machines. Binary’s a big deal in a
UNIverse, but the Multiverse has more in store.