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When Avast needs to restart your computer after a program update, it provides an option to remind you "next century":

screenshot of Avast "start next century" option

Based on anecdotal responses to it that I've come across, it definitely doesn't wait an actual century, so just what exactly does the option do, and how long does it wait?

Mokubai
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Hashim Aziz
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  • Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/58147/discussion-on-question-by-hashim-what-exactly-does-the-avast-remind-me-next-cen). – DavidPostill May 03 '17 at 17:59
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    I would venture that it's merely a cheeky way of them saying 'Dont bother me again.' Have you tried asking them directly? – Hefewe1zen May 04 '17 at 15:22
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    I wonder if it is just a way to nudge the user that they shouldn't be so careless. Everytime I see it, I feel like it knows I'll keep postponing and I feel guilty about it. Maybe there is some psychology research behind that :) – Mohamed Khamis Feb 25 '19 at 11:40

2 Answers2

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Just tried pressing "Next Century" and "Ok" then set my clock forward 100 years minus 3 minutes. Waited 3 minutes and guess what:

it actually popped up again!

grooveplex
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rFXfAH9aMq
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    Comments are not for extended discussion; this conversation has been [moved to chat](http://chat.stackexchange.com/rooms/58070/discussion-on-answer-by-rfxfah9amq-what-exactly-does-the-avast-remind-me-next-c). – DavidPostill May 02 '17 at 16:55
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    Yes, but if you had chosen 10 minutes, and then set your clock ahead by a century, it would have behaved the same way. Unfortunately, it's not conclusive unless it *doesn't* show up (e.g. if you set the clock ahead into the last year of this century). – jpaugh May 03 '17 at 16:21
  • Removed my vote, the point raised by @jpaugh should be investigated. – Firebug May 03 '17 at 18:06
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    @jpaugh How so? It would have instantly shown up after he set his clock forward, instead of waiting 3 minutes. I assume that is the reason he did 100 years *-3 minutes* – Jordan May 03 '17 at 18:10
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    @Jordan the simplest algorithm for the program to implement is this: (1) Wait until an elapsed time (say, 5 minutes) has passed, then (2) check whether it is overdue. (3) If it's overdue, display the prompt (even if it's late). The program does not check every single millisecond for the correct time, and it probably doesn't count elapsed time based on the so-called "wall-clock" time which is the time displayed to the user, meaning that when it was waiting to check again (step 1), it probably wasn't affected by changing the date and time, – jpaugh May 03 '17 at 19:37
  • @Jordan so it just checked at the end of the elapsed time, which happened to be 3 minutes after the user reset his clock, and it happened to be overdue. Furthermore, whenever a human is trying to directly observe an event taking place on a computer, and to time it, the amount of error margin is, relatively speaking, **huge**: it is impossible for a human to observe a millisecond passing, yet a computer may perform several operations within that time frame. – jpaugh May 03 '17 at 19:42
  • For example, had step (1) occurred after 2 minutes instead of 3, the program might been late by the entire duration of *elapsed time* (5 minutes late in this example). That could only happen when the wait time was greater than 100 years - 1 minutes (since a 10-min wait time would have triggered it then, anyway); and therefore, it would be a more convincing argument had the program actually been slightly late. – jpaugh May 03 '17 at 19:44
  • @jpaugh There are two options: 1) The alarm that was scheduled to happen at (say) 01:00:00 on 03-May-2117 correctly triggered at that time (plus or minus a couple of seconds to allow for any inaccuracy in rFXfAH9aMq's observations); 2) purely coincidentally, when the clock was set to 00:57:00 on 03-May-2117, the software didn't check the time for three minutes (plus or minus a couple of seconds), realised it was at or past the alarm time and sounded the alarm. If you're really serious about choosing 2), I know a guy called William who'll want to talk to you about some shaving equipment. – David Richerby May 03 '17 at 21:45
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    So set the clock forward 96 years minus three minutes and wait and see what happens. Do the same with 97 years m t m, with 98 years m t m, with 99 years m t m, with 100 years m t m, with 101 years m t m, and with 102 years m t m. If nothing happens within five minutes in the four first cases, the popup is shown after three minutes in the fifth case, and the popup is shown immediately in the last two cases, we do have pretty good evidence. – Andreas Rejbrand May 03 '17 at 23:06
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    Do note that **next century** is not the same as **in 100 years**. In 100 years will start early May, 2117. Next century will start January 1, 2100. – dotancohen May 04 '17 at 05:56
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    @dotancohen: The next century actually starts on January 1, 2101 because whoever formed the calendar didn't know to number from 0. Of course, roughly as many people will care about this on December 31, 2099 as cared about it on December 21, 1999... – Jack Aidley May 04 '17 at 10:18
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    * I mean, of course, December 31, 1999 not December 21 *sigh* – Jack Aidley May 04 '17 at 10:42
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    @JackAidley Brings back memories of the Y2K1...no, wait, Y2K hysteria... – Panzercrisis May 04 '17 at 12:45
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    Nonetheless, it's still just way too convenient and simple to go ahead and start centuries at "x00" and millenia at "xy00". The AD 1 thing can just be noted with an asterisk. – Panzercrisis May 04 '17 at 12:47
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    @JackAidley That depends on your estimate for population size – gauteh May 04 '17 at 18:08
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    Pretty sure it's safe to assume next century does mean 100 years, since next week is implied to mean "remind me in 7 days" not "remind me at 12:00 AM on the next coming Sunday". – ovinophile May 04 '17 at 18:14
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    @ovinophile Next week doesn't necessarily mean exactly 7 days though. If i told an employee to do something next week, I'd be happy if they decided to do it sometime between Monday and Friday. :) – Mordred May 05 '17 at 06:31
  • @gauteh: Nope. Not in this case. – Jack Aidley May 05 '17 at 08:20
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    @JackAidley: If the same proportion of the population as in 1999 cares, then the amount will be greater. – gauteh May 05 '17 at 09:54
  • @gauteh I fear you have rather missed the joke. – Jack Aidley May 05 '17 at 11:45
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    @JackAidley, Alas, I think not! – gauteh May 05 '17 at 12:26
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It just a joke from Avast. I pressed that button and they reminded me again the next day! It seems they saying: nobody will be there to remind you on that virtual date!

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