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re: If COBOL programming defaults DOB to 1875 then why are there people over 150 in SS?
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:17 am to stout
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:17 am to stout
COBOL doesnt store data. Its just code to manage data.
The DBMS stores the data and usually NULL date fields are assigned user-defined functions to populate them with default values if that value is required (but not present or not valid on the file).
This value could be different from system to system and the SSA is updated by each states Vital Stats (or equivalent) department. If those imports into SSA are created by local systems with their own fat fingers or UDFs you can end up with crazy birthdates in the final SSA DB. Now these errors SHOULD be caught and kicked out, but local systems tend to suck and large government run systems tend to be slow and dumb.
This can happen.
The question isn't the age itself. It’s whether people with invalid ages were receiving benefits (AND the obviously inflated number of people with SS#s to begin with).
Benefit spans <> Age
The DBMS stores the data and usually NULL date fields are assigned user-defined functions to populate them with default values if that value is required (but not present or not valid on the file).
This value could be different from system to system and the SSA is updated by each states Vital Stats (or equivalent) department. If those imports into SSA are created by local systems with their own fat fingers or UDFs you can end up with crazy birthdates in the final SSA DB. Now these errors SHOULD be caught and kicked out, but local systems tend to suck and large government run systems tend to be slow and dumb.
This can happen.
The question isn't the age itself. It’s whether people with invalid ages were receiving benefits (AND the obviously inflated number of people with SS#s to begin with).
Benefit spans <> Age
This post was edited on 2/18/25 at 11:04 am
0
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:18 am to 4cubbies
quote:
I need to see a primary source to verify the social media posts. I don’t just gobble up what the elite spoon feeds the public without question.
Right. You only gobble up news about how poorly murderers are treated in prison and how we should be treating them all with kids gloves
In other words, you are subject to propaganda even though you constantly come here and act like you are above the fray and operate on an intellectually higher level than everyone.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:18 am to 4cubbies
quote:
I don’t just gobble up what the elite spoon feeds the public without question.
So Trump isn't a racist, xenophobic, idiot misogynist?
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:19 am to stout
It doesn't matter.
If the 1875 is really representative of just not knowing the age of someone in the system...IT'S THE SAME HUGE frickING PROBLEM.
If the 1875 is really representative of just not knowing the age of someone in the system...IT'S THE SAME HUGE frickING PROBLEM.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:25 am to chryso
quote:
1875 is the default. That means if nothing is entered it will put 1875. However a user could still accidentally enter an incorrect date like put 1863 instead of 1963.
Let’s say that’s the case. Then what happens when someone calls in and gets verified? We’ve all been there - call the bank, mortgage company, whatever. First thing they do is ask for your last 4, date of birth, and whatever else to verify you.
Someone would catch it.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:30 am to stout
If they are still using legacy “software” written in cobol, that’s fricked up.
COBOL programmers are a dying breed and very expensive to hire.
COBOL programmers are a dying breed and very expensive to hire.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:37 am to stout
quote:
You only gobble up news about how poorly murderers are treated in prison and how we should be treating them all with kids gloves
Hyperbole does not make you seem smarter. It just confirms that you’re full of shite, bud.
quote:
you are subject to propaganda even though you constantly come here and act like you are above the fray and operate on an intellectually higher level than everyone.
I don’t act like anything. You are always talking about how I’m not as smart as blah blah blah. I’ve never ever posted about being smart or that I’m smarter than anyone else. I’m not sure why you’re fixated on that other than your being incredibly insecure. Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:39 am to LNCHBOX
quote:
So Trump isn't a racist, xenophobic, idiot misogynist?
I’ve never said he was any of those things.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:40 am to chryso
You really want to believe there are edits on the front end to prevent a user from entering or editing DOB data for a "live" person that indicates they are over 125.
I mean, it's possible, but that's basic, basic stuff. This seems like a systemic frickup, not a whole bunch of data entry errors.
I mean, it's possible, but that's basic, basic stuff. This seems like a systemic frickup, not a whole bunch of data entry errors.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:40 am to 4cubbies
quote:
Hyperbole
Right. You have never posted tons of articles advocating for all of the poor innocent people we have in prison. wink wink*
quote:
I don’t act like anything
Yea thats not true at all. You are smug AF and your arrogance shows. I am far from the only one pointing it out so perhaps there is something to it.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:43 am to 4cubbies
quote:
I don’t just gobble up what the elite spoon feeds the public without questio
lol hilarious
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:47 am to TigerCoon
quote:its probably a bit of both over decades with obviously zero reconciliation/auditing or whatever. I mean they even knew they were paying dead people in 2015 yet no one bothered to clean this shite up then?
This seems like a systemic frickup, not a whole bunch of data entry errors.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:48 am to stout
quote:
Right. You have never posted tons of articles advocating for all of the poor innocent people we have in prison. wink wink*
You equate posting an article with "we should be treating murderers with kid gloves." That's the dishonesty. If you weren't being hyperbolic, you were simply lying.
quote:
You are smug AF and your arrogance shows
More projection from you.
quote:
I am far from the only one pointing it out so perhaps there is something to it.
Yeah, you unfortunately not the only miserable, insecure hack who posts here. For some reason, many posters here become emotional when someone questions or disagrees with them, which is when the name calling, insults and cussing shows up.
Just look at our exchange in this thread. I questioned the data (ETA it's not even data. its a social media post) and you came right back with insults. That's not how someone who is confident in his position would react to a question.
This post was edited on 2/18/25 at 10:49 am
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:55 am to 4cubbies
Look at how insecure you are making such long responses
Posted on 2/18/25 at 10:58 am to roadGator
I am pretty sure there are still COBOL systems pointed to old IMS hierarchical databases handling super high volume batch processing on critical systems in a lot of places. Folks are terrified to replace them, and know it would cost a ton to do it reliably.
Those old systems still do the job-- folks didn't get off IMS because it was slow-- but I bet the entities that have them pay huge license / hardware money to keep them going, and their staff who knew anything about the guts are long retired.
I have been out of that realm for a LONG time, and I don't know crap about SSA systems. None of this might apply here.
Those old systems still do the job-- folks didn't get off IMS because it was slow-- but I bet the entities that have them pay huge license / hardware money to keep them going, and their staff who knew anything about the guts are long retired.
I have been out of that realm for a LONG time, and I don't know crap about SSA systems. None of this might apply here.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 11:00 am to stout
On a positive note, I just found out my great, great, great grandfather who was born in 1837 is still alive and kicking.
On a negative note, he's obviously hiding from my family.
On a negative note, he's obviously hiding from my family.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 11:02 am to UncleFestersLegs
yep. Not everyone was as good as you or me.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 11:05 am to stout
MSM is desperate for a win……but they lose again….. 
Posted on 2/18/25 at 11:07 am to WhiskeyThrottle
quote:
Also, on the note of COBOL, it is still very widely used in the financial world. Some of the biggest banks in the world are still running a portion of their operation in COBOL.
Lots of legacy systems still out there limping along in COBOL. Many others ended up being converted over into something else over time if there was a big enough project the business or agency could afford to do.
My employer transitioned from COBOL to using Visual Basic and MS SQL over the course of several years by prioritizing what needed to be done and what were considered good test cases to prove it was working right.
OTOH, there are also a lot of lawsuits which involve conversions which got stuck in limbo. In school I heard horror stories about colleges whose systems were like that and how it made it a nightmare to confirm someone had all the credits they needed for graduation if their info was split.
Posted on 2/18/25 at 11:09 am to stout
That's a lot of smoke either due to incompetence, error or fraud. Guess they'll have to cross check what portion actually got payment.
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