Hmmpost

Please pardon this morbid post. I would argue that death is among the top make you go hmm moments for all human beings. A week ago Monday I turned 40 years old. On that birthday I wrote this historical blog post and before publishing decided to do something different: post it in the future. Wait, not a nearby future date, heck a lot of bloggers already future post posts. Not just any future date but past my death date per the actuarial table:   At 40, the table shows that I should live 37.28 years longer. For an additional challenge, I decided to round up, rather than down, to 38 years. My wife who coincidentally is 38 years old should still be alive even if I’m not to be able to read that post, as the table shows she will live 43.35 years more. It’s fairly well known that women statistically outlive men, sorry guys. Blog software 38 years from now It’s extremely unlikely this blog will be using the same blogging software 38 years from now, but text is text and dates are dates. So even if we’re using some sort of uber futuristic publishing platform, I should be able to copy and paste this post into that platform. Note to Wordpress users: you cannot post future publishing dates beyond Tuesday January 19, 2038 as of this writing. If you try to do it, you’ll see your date reverted by Wordpress to the day before Epoch time January 1, 1970:

A techie aside: by switching the timestamp libraries to a 64 bit integer would take us into 2139 (actually, it would take us 292 billion years to/from 1/1/1970), which is the most likely next fix. Assuming Wordpress is even in use any more in 2038 (and still being updated) — which is unlikely — there will be something that handles the current 32-bit timestamp date limitation. I’m reasonably certain the Wordpress team hasn’t thought about this too much yet, but someday if they are still around and updating the Wordpress blog software, they will. What to do in the meantime if you’re using Wordpress and want to post blog posts beyond 2038? Easiest, non-programming way would be to publish before that date and simply mark in the post body what the actual publishing date should be. Something like the timestamp shown to the right. Better solution: use the year 2037 (since it’s a complete year before the Epoch) as Wordpress post publishing date and use the minutes as the year (e.g 20:46 = 2046) and day/date for the actual day date. E.g let’s say I’m making a post on December 3, 2050, it would look like this: December 3, 2037: time: 20:50 Of course the real solution would be to mod Wordpress or use some other blog publishing platform that doesn’t rely on 32-bit integer UNIX timestamps for dates. Beyond the technology concerns, this raises a number of intriguing questions though. What will you be doing in 38 years? I was 2 years old 38 years ago and don’t remember much. A lot can happen in 38 years. Something tells me that we won’t call this type of publishing ‘blogging’ in 38 years. What it will be called, I don’t know and don’t want to venture a guess right now, but it doesn’t matter. But what if I’m dead  Being a betting man of sorts, I’m willing to bet against the reaper. My health is good and I don’t have a risky lifestyle. I smoked many, many years ago for about 3 years total and then quit to smoke nevermore. I am within my BMI normal levels. Had to reapply for life insurance recently as my term life was nearing expiration and got the best preferred rate. My dad is alive and well in his 70s and my mother could — and should — have prevented her death. Relatives on both family side tend to live longer than normal. Add to all this the fact that statisically people are living longer. Heck, if John McCain wins the presidency for two terms, then he’ll be older than I would be in 38 years old by the time his second term closes. Can never rule out things like accident or being in the wrong place at the wrong time (homicide). Hopefully none of that will apply, but for the purposes of this section let’s say the reaper wins and I’m gone. Assuming this website will continue to be maintained after my premature death — and I’m asking for this to be done of my survivors — and it is using the same software, then automatically this post will publish as if I’m still here, heart a pumping. In 2008 anyway there is no reason not to continue this blog beyond my death because it is profitable and more than pays for itself. More 2046 posts You really didn’t think I’d stop at one blog post and call it a day, did you? I’m planning on adding more posts from time to time. Assuming the reaper doesn’t win, I think it will be fascinating to return nearly 40 years into the past and read things that make you go hmm. Join MakeYouGoHmm.com in September 2046 Is this the ultimate make you go hmm? What could be more hmm inspiring than blogging beyond death? Or planning to blog beyond that? So for those of you who are still alive 38 years from now in October 2046 you’ll be able to read this post written on my 40th birthday in all its glory (or lameness if you think it sucks). What about those of you older than me? I think it would be neat to be able to setup a reader version of beating the actuarial tables. This way hmm readers who are older than me could read these posts published 2046 and beyond. Sure, somebody could simply lie about their age, but what’s the fun in that? Maybe there will be a more reliable technological way to verify age within the next 38 years. Hmm. A good point to eject.