When most people think of Y2K, they think "overblown hoax". But thanks to a lot of really smart people, and a few billion dollars, the New Millennium passed quietly.

In the early hours of January 19, 2038, our clocks will break again.

So much software and hardware around us relies on 32-bit Unix time, and it's approaching some technical limits that can cause even bigger problems than Y2K would have. Pile on aging container images, legacy integer date datatypes, the hyper-connected world we live in, and vibe-coded timestamp logic, and we are actively deploying architecture today that will break tomorrow.

In this session, we'll talk about:
* The 32-Bit Overflow Mechanics: A couple of billion seconds sounds like a lot until you run out of them. Thanks to integer overflow, your clocks will think it's 1901.
* "Not My Problem" Thinking: We knew about these problems in the 50s, yet kept kicking the can down the road for "someone else to fix". Besides, "the code will be replaced by then anyway". But, ask COBOL developers how long code sticks around.
* Band-Aids Aren't Fixes: Some of the stop-gap hacks are actively expiring and causing Y2K issues even today. We shouldn't keep making that mistake.
* The 2036 NTP Canary: In 2036, Network Time Protocol will experience the integer rollover. This will be a great trial run. Or wake-up call.
* The AI Supply Chain Threat: As GenAI and "vibe coding" have become more prevalent, relying on these tools has accidentally reintroduced legacy date bugs into our greenfield codebases.
* An Infrastructure Playbook: With all this Doom and Gloom, we need a few practical steps we can use to audit our infrastructure to minimize the problems.

As the geeks in the room, we've guaranteed ourselves front row seats for the "Epochalypse". We're running out of time. Sorta literally.

Will it be "overblown"? Probably. But it still won't be a hoax. Are you ready to be "someone else"?

This is a Level 100 session. It's for anyone. I have previously presented it as a 45-60 minute session, but I also have a condensed 25-30 minute version.

Slides from previous presentation at https://slides.com/codefumonkey/y2k38-the-coming-epochalypse-v11-scs26