An article you won't find online

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

This is an editorial from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel. They have a pretty crappy website that only has a few of the daily papers items online, and this wasn't one of them, so since it is a slow (Friday!) afternoon, I thought I'd retype it from the paper. *****************************
Don't panic over the Y2K bug; just pretend it's s hurricane


Midnight of January 1, 200, and the arrival of the deaded Millenium Bug both are 322 days away, but many prudent and/or paranoid Americans already are taking steps to deal with the moment when the world's computerized safety net could come crashing down.

By now you've probably heard much more about the the Y2K problem then you want to know, but here are the basics. Because the industrialized world has become totally dependent on artificial intelligence to run everything from air-traffic control systems to alarm clocks, the result could be worldwide chaos if millions of computers mistakenly interpret Jan. 1, 2000, as Jan. 1, 1900, and either shut down, obliterate data or otherwise seld-destruct.

Experts consider this a very real possibility, particularly for the countless machines whose internal brains were programmed to express years in only 2 digits as a means of conserving disk spade. Talk about planned obsolescence!

The potential problem is considered so serious that governments, businessnes and individuals have spent billions of dollars to make their computers "year 2000 compliant" and prevent the prospect of intercontinental missles being launched by mistake, or the national transportation system shutting down, or electricity being cut off for tens of millions of homes.

Frankly, I don't think the stroke of midnight on Jan. 1 will prove to be nearly as apocalyptic as the doomsayers predict nor as benign as some computer mavens suggest, but just to be on the safe side, I don't plan to venture far from my driveway on New Years Eve.

I've also obtained a copy of the University of Iowa's Team 2000 Millenium To-Do List, which contains many common-sense tips that are worthwhile even in the absence of a computer meltdown. Some of the recomendations:
Stay healthy (don't end up in the hospital!)
Spend Dec. 31 with nearby friends and family. Don't fly or take a train.
Make backup copies of all data files on your home and office PC.
Have cash on hand so you don't have to use an automated teller.
Stock up on groceries.
Refill prescription medicines.
Fill you car's gas tank, do all your laundry and save 10-15 gallons of water in the bathtub for washing, brushing teeth and flushing toilets.
Check bank statements and mortgage loan payment schedules.
Check life insurance and retirement annuity calculations.
request a personal credit report in 1999, and again in 2000.
Test your alarm clock prior to the first business day.
Some Americans are going so far as to conduct Y2k practice sessions to prepare themselves for Bug Day. Several Santa Rosa, California, families recently shut off the lights, shut off the water, pulled all the plugs and virtually spent 24 hours in the 19th century.

Instead of sitting passively in front of the television sets or video games, they devoyed the time to talking, reading and writing letters under kerosene lamps while their children played with windup toys and board games.
They cooked by camp stove and reminisced about youthful good times spent around a campfire. It was so much fun they decided to make it a monthly event.
Actually, all residents of South Florida should already know how to prepare for the Y2k threat. Just treat it as you would the aproach of a typical hurricane, by stocking up on drinking water, batteries, candles, cooking fuel, canned food and champagne. Then, if The Bug fails to materialize, you can simply pop the cork on the champagne, drink a toast to 2000 and set aside the emergency supplies for the first hurricane of the new century.
*****************************

Well, guess they managed to use all the common cliches. About the only idea I got out of it was the laundry thing - not to wash clothes, but that the washer will hold a fair amount of non drinking water.
Question. Is it better to have this type of article in your local paper, or no article at all? If it prompts people to at least have a few days of food and water on hand, it's better then nothing IMHO.

-- Online2Much (fingerssore@themoment.com), February 12, 1999

Answers

ummm... the typos are mine...the paper didn't actually say Jan. 1, 200...LOL!

-- Online2Much (proofreading@themoment.com), February 12, 1999.

"Bug day".... excellent. Sets Y2K up as an event, not a mental illness.

It's got a nice tone - personal and not condescending or derisive.

At least you GOT an article.

-- Lisa (likeit@good.name), February 12, 1999.


Online2Much, thanks for taking the time and trouble to type the whole thing. One of the best things about this forum is up-to-the-minute Y2K coverage, with people like you working so hard to maintain it!!

-- Jack (jsprat@eld.net), February 12, 1999.

Hey, I kinda like the idea of a national day to practive you skills.

Anyone out there have the inclination and time to try to promote it? (Hint: Diane)

We need a catchy name. Let's see...hmm.. we have the National Smoke Out. Naaa, this is WAY to tempting to call the National Bug Out Day.

How about Survive Alive (admitted redundancy, but most of us geeks are lucky to be able to rhyme 2 words). Practice to Live. National Prep Day. .... the creative imaginary juice are not flowing today.

Anyone have any ideas. I'll give away a free been recipe for the best idea.

-- Greybear, who just realized that names like Beans R' Us just simply will not do. Nor other humor related to beans.

- Got matches?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), February 12, 1999.


Re: the article, what strikes me is that the assumption is that if Jan.1 is pretty much non-event in your neighbourhood, that the worries are over. However, that doesn't take into account the oil supply problems, the world effects and social unrest that will likely occur only after some time has passed.

Re: National Be Prepared Day, maybe more people would prepare if they had a subliminal connect to the Scouts, rather than to 'kooks' - so this gets my vote :-)

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), February 12, 1999.



Graybar; I need that bean recipe; so here's my suggestion for naming a date. "World Millenium Realization Day" sound correct for the situation,hope it's considered? Furie...

-- Furie (furieart@dnet.net), February 12, 1999.

Sorry Greybear, I mispelled your nick name, I am old and tired and need a bean recipe,ha ha ... Furie...

-- Furie (furieart@dnet.net), February 12, 1999.

We gotta get this boy a scanner! <:)=

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), February 13, 1999.

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