More than 60 percent of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Taiwan have yet to update their computer software to prevent the occurrence of a potential glitch known as the “centenary bug,” according to the results of a survey released yesterday.
The “centenary bug” could crop up mainly because, on earlier computer software, the year on the Republic of China (ROC) calendar is presented in two digits.
However, only 35.7 percent of local SMEs have completed software updates to prevent the problem, said Wang Yi-chih (王義智), an analyst at the Market Intelligence Center of the Institute for Information Industry that conducted the survey.
Furthermore, 20.3 percent of the companies polled were not even aware of the potential problem, Wang said.
With less than six months to go before the ROC enters its 100th year, the “centenary bug” has already hit state-owned Taiwan Power Co’s (Taipower, 台電) computer system.
As a result, astronomical electricity bills were sent to hundreds of Taipower customers earlier this month. In one case, a bill for NT$2,850 that was supposed to be dated the 7th month of the 99th year on the ROC calendar showed the date as the 90th month of the 9th year and the amount of the bill was about NT$70 million (US$2.2 million).
Noting that the “centenary bug” was unique to Taiwan, Wang said the government should publicize the issue more to heighten awareness among SMEs and to encourage them to test and update their computer software programs as soon as possible.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy