Elon Musk claims to have found rampant fraud in the Social Security Administration. There's a much simpler explanation.

Because COBOL does not have a date type, some implementations rely instead on a system whereby all dates are coded to a reference point. The most commonly used is May 20, 1875, as this was the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the “Convention du Mètre.”

These systems default to the reference point when a birth date is missing or incomplete, meaning all of those entries in 2025 would show an age of 150.

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  • @Lasherz12
    22•3 days ago

    Another reminder that Elon sounds stupid from the moment you hear him talk about something you know a little bit about.

    • @CharlesDarwinEnglish
      9•3 days ago

      https://mastodon.social/@rodhilton/109572674700288958

      More apropos with every passing day. I remember going through the same thing when fElon acquired Twitter:

      He talked about electric cars. I don’t know anything about cars, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.

      Then he talked about rockets. I don’t know anything about rockets, so when people said he was a genius I figured he must be a genius.

      Now he talks about software. I happen to know a lot about software & Elon Musk is saying the stupidest shit I’ve ever heard anyone say, so when people say he’s a genius I figure I should stay the hell away from his cars and rockets.