Tag: Grey2K USA

Linux Developers Are Making Updates to Deal with the Y2038 Problem

Just like the Y2K problem affect some operating systems and applications, Linux has a similar issue where the 32-bit integer it uses to store time cannot do so after Tuesday, January 19, 2038 at 03:14:07.

Fortunately, developers are already working on a fix.

As a result, linux-5.6, or my backport of the patches to 5.4 [1], should
be the first release that can serve as a base for a 32-bit system designed
to run beyond year 2038, with a few remaining caveats:

- All user space must be compiled with a 64-bit time_t, which will be
  supported in the coming musl-1.2 and glibc-2.32 releases, along with
  installed kernel headers from linux-5.6 or higher.

- Applications that use the system call interfaces directly need to be
  ported to use the time64 syscalls added in linux-5.1 in place of the
  existing system calls. This impacts most users of futex() and seccomp()
  as well as programming languages that have their own runtime environment
  not based on libc.

- Applications that use a private copy of kernel uapi header files or
  their contents may need to update to the linux-5.6 version, in
  particular for sound/asound.h, xfs/xfs_fs.h, linux/input.h,
  linux/elfcore.h, linux/sockios.h, linux/timex.h and linux/can/bcm.h.

- A few remaining interfaces cannot be changed to pass a 64-bit time_t
  in a compatible way, so they must be configured to use CLOCK_MONOTONIC
  times or (with a y2106 problem) unsigned 32-bit timestamps. Most
  importantly this impacts all users of 'struct input_event'.

- All y2038 problems that are present on 64-bit machines also apply to
  32-bit machines. In particular this affects file systems with on-disk
  timestamps using signed 32-bit seconds: ext4 with ext3-style small
  inodes, ext2, xfs (to be fixed soon) and ufs.

Effort Underway to Put Greyhound Racing Ban on Massachusetts Ballot in 2006 or 2008

Anti-greyhound racing group Grey2K USA recently filed proposed language for a ballot question to ban greyhound racing Massachusetts.

The proposed ballot initiative was filed with the state’s attorney general. If the language of the proposal passes muster with the attorney general’s office, proponents of the ban will have to gather 66,000 signatures to place the initiative in either the 2006 or 2008.

In 2000, Massachusetts voters rejected a similar ballot initiative in a very close vote.

Source:

Petition to ban greyhound racing is off and running. Emelie Rutherford, Daily News Staff, August 4, 2005.

Animal Rights Group Buys Stock in Greyhound Track Owner to Protest

The Boston Herald reported in March that anti-greyhound racing group Grey2K USA recently bought 50 shares of Westwood Group Inc., which owns Wonderland Greyhound Park in Revere, Mass.

The group apparently bought the stock in order to have a platform at the next Westwood shareholders meeting to raise issues both about what it sees as cruelty to dogs at Wonderland as well as to oppose efforts by Westwood Group chairman Charles Sarkis to take the company private.

Westwood Group has been trying to hold a vote on taking the firm private, but was recently blocked by state regulators who maintained that the proposed $4/share buyout price was too low. Regulators want Westwood to figure in potential profits from a possible state legalization of slot machines at Wonderland.

The Boston Herald reported that when asked about the possibility of animal rights activists showing up at the next shareholders meeting, Sarkis said, “I have the gavel. I won’t tolerate any of their nonsense.”

Source:

Race foes get stock to protest buyout try. Scott Van Voorhis, The Boston Herald, March 21, 2003.

Sarkis firm ordered to halt buyout vote; fraud alleged. Beth Healy, The Boston Globe, March 19, 2003.