American says British Government is wronggreenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread |
I found this interesting.
The British Government's campaign aimed at dispelling Millennium Bug myths has been received a scathing review from an American Y2K analyst.
The #5 million Facts Not Fiction campaign was launched by Leader of the House of Commons Margaret Beckett and BBC presenter Nick Ross in London earlier this week.
It is based round a booklet which is designed to inform the public about the Millennium Bug and how it will affect them.
The booklet describes how key services will operate over the New Year holiday.
However, Dr Gary North said the campaign had trivialised an important issue.
"I can remember when Y2K awareness meant warning businessmen and local government officials that Y2K was a threat to their systems and therefore the survival of their organisations was at stake (1997-1998).
"I can remember a tiny, underfunded organisation called Taskforce 2000 doing everything it could to warn the British business community that Y2K is real.
"Not many businessmen listened," he said in a newsletter sent out to visitors to his internet site today.
"I remember when half of small businesses in the English-speaking world had done nothing to fix Y2K (last week).
"But that's all changed now in Great Britain. Today, Y2K awareness is about making the citizens aware that Y2K is no big deal, that they don't have to stockpile goods, that everything is just fine."
Dr North said the public would go away believing UK industries were Y2K compliant.
"No industry is compliant. No public utility sector is compliant."
And he claims the campaign tells the public to stop preparing for the New Year.
"Sit there. Do nothing. Your government has fixed it. You can trust your government. Sit back. Relax. Your eyes are growing heavy. You feel so comfortable.
"You just can't keep your eyes open. Listen to my words, "Y2K is no big problem. Y2K is no big problem. You don't need to take currency out of the bank. You don't need to fill your bathtub with water.
"You don't need to chop firewood. But especially, above all, first and foremost, you don't need to take currency out of the bank," he said.
The Facts Not Fiction booklet is being distributed in national and regional Sunday newspapers this weekend, and is being supported by a television and radio campaign.
-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), June 11, 1999
Tell you what, Mr. y2k Dave...I'm mightily impressed by a whole page of links that don't work
DUH.com
-- Chicken Little (panic@forthebirds.net), June 11, 1999.
Here's a recent article about this new British campaign:"Britain Acts To Sooth Public Y2K Fears"
-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), June 11, 1999.
Britain Acts To Soothe Public Y2K Fears09:06 a.m. Jun 08, 1999 Eastern
By Mike Peacock
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain Tuesday launched a national awareness campaign about the millennium bug to combat what it says is a serious component of the computer problem -- groundless public fear.
``There are some problems remaining but what we have to be wary of is creating further problems ourselves,'' senior cabinet minister Margaret Beckett told Reuters.
The campaign, centered on a booklet called ``Facts Not Fiction'' which the government aims to get into every home in the land, is designed to calm unfounded fears and scare stories. It promises Britons their money is as safe as ever, pensions and mortgages will be paid and ATM machines will dispense money as usual over the new year.
It also said key services -- electricity, gas, water and telecoms -- were well ahead of the game, so there was no need to fill the bath with water and stock up on firewood.
``The public utilities and the public services are among the people who have done the most preparatory work,'' Beckett said.
The Year 2000 problem comes from older computers and software, which only allow two digits for the year in dates. Unless dealt with, the year 2000 may be read as 1900, causing computers to crash as 1999 gives way to the new millennium.
With computers indelibly involved in all parts of life, apocalyptic stories have circulated about the need to prepare for the worst. ``This campaign is about giving people confidence the work is being done,'' Beckett said. Britain is generally regarded as being among the best prepared but last month, the National Audit Office found key sectors were still in danger of being bothered by the bug.
While most areas of business and services are at little or no risk of shutdown, some services -- including the police, fire and rescue and hospitals -- all showed ``elements where severe risks of material disruption remain,'' the watchdog said.
Beckett insisted the National Health Service and police force were working hard to be ready in time -- and would be.
Perhaps most at risk are small businesses which lack the finances or expertise to become millennium compliant.
Information technology law firm Nabarro Nathanson said the government should grant tax relief on Y2K-related expenditure by small firms, something proposed in the United States.
Beckett also said there were other dates that could prove a problem, such as September 9, 1999. Four nines was used as a cut-off code in some older programs. ``We have to be aware throughout the year and even into next,'' she said.
Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), June 11, 1999.
anybody got a hot link to the actual booklet?justme
-- justme (finally @home.com), June 11, 1999.
Hey Chicken,My mistake. Better luck next time.
-- y2k dave (xsdaa111@hotmail.com), June 11, 1999.
Yeah Dave, just remember this when you try to tell me how friggin smart you are, and how friggin stoopid I am. (a la Andy and his crap)OK?
I will. Got it SurfSaved. Can reproduce the event.
-- Chicken Little (panic@forthebirds.net), June 11, 1999.
I must admit, any pamphlet about y2k entitled "Fact Not Fiction" would set me off too. A much better title would be "Our Spin is Right, Their Spin is Wrong". And I don't care what it says inside. The fact that North gives it a scathing review implies that it's filled with "Don't worry, be happy" pap. Somehow, though, I suspect North would have heartily approved if it were an "all roads lead to doom" effort.
-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), June 11, 1999.
Um...yeeeeah,...because that's what Gazza thinks we are facing.
-- number six (Iam_not_a_number@hotmail.com), June 12, 1999.