--hamster, you have an interesting statement from a thread below, quote:

"I work on non-compliant computers every day but these same companies are all telling their customers they are "y2k ready" right now.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 19, 1999. "

--okey doke, my question is, if you (rhetorically speaking)could somehow be guaranteed another job and legal representation to protect you, would you be willing to scan in all sorts of company documents, and go on the record to bust this company you are working for, for outright lying? I'm really not trying to put you on the spot, and no, I don't have that job or anything, just an idea and wondered if you would be "the one" to help break the corporate code of lying and/or silence, with documentation? I think once the dam is breached by brave people, that a small tidal wave will follow. --furthermore, I'd present this as a challenge to any IT person here, to break the code of lying. Get media coverage as a group. Retain a lawyer in advance--whatever it takes. Many businesses and governmental agencies, all at once, a news conference right now, I'd like to think if I had written documentation of corporate malfeasance and deception, that I would do it. I've quit one job once in the past, was making serious good money for me, because i wouldn't participate in bribery to get or maintain accounts. but, it didn't have the far reaching consequences of y2k, either. --i'd also like to extend the challenge to anyone in a governmental service who has access to real documentation that contadicts the official spin. --it would, to use a phrase, be neat-0. --and i also fully understand if this is totally out of the question. --just asking, zog --p.s. I'm not trying to be out of line or be a wiseacre or anything, this is legitimate interest on my part, for the common good of everyone-I always feel the truth is worth the hassle.

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), November 19, 1999

Answers

oh, zog, hamster woulda done it if he felt it was right. He's a good guy. There's enough truth out there, but no one is listening. That's the problem.

-- Mara (MaraWayne@aol.com), November 19, 1999.

How can one little insider compete with SPIN CITY.

-- karla (karlacalif@aol.com), November 19, 1999.

Zog --

As a long-time contract professional in this industry, I'd point out that maybe, and that is a real long-shot, but just maybe, that *next* job could be guaranteeed. But what about the one after that. And the one after that. I don't know if Hamster is a contractor, consultant, or direct, but if a contractor, the jobs are typically 6 months long. And what you have is resume and reputation. Lose either and you are instantaneously retired, like it or not.

In any event, what is the point at this late date? We've got what, 42 days to go? What makes you think that even if it was proven that they are lying anything would change. If the govt. and industry position is to prevent 'panic' at all costs right up until there is no further method of doing so, then any such story would get buried no matter what it took.

-- just another (another@engineer.com), November 19, 1999.

I wouldnt do it even if you gave me a new job and legal protection. Thousands, maybe tens of thousands of companies are lying. I hear from many that say all they have to do is assure the companies they supply for that they are compliant and its all ok. I had a company come to me for special networking needs and they told me all I had to do was send them a letter saying we were y2k compliant and we could do business, they wouldnt check up on us, they just wanted something so they wouldnt get hammered for doing business with non-compliant companies. Lady called me yesterday because she wanted to know of some inventory programs that are Y2k compliant, she said she had to "start thinking about this y2k thing now". She is running something on Windows 3.1 which only uses 2 digit date handling and does calcs based on 00 being the low year. A guy dropped off 3 computers today for y2k work (basic windows, cpu, etc.) and all the application programs are older than 1996, I didnt bother to check their compliancy but I am willing to guess most arent compliant. I cant even begin to tell you how many tell me they are compliant because they set their clock to 11:59 and it went to 2000. Most of them didnt even think about their programs or data. Many cant even get updates for custom software and dont know where to turn for replacement packages.

I would be a fool to open my mouth, future employers would be wary of hiring me. Besides its not my problem. I know that sounds like a cop out, but I am not in the business of taking in customers for repair and such only to "out" them. Let them hang themselves when the date rolls over. It doesnt matter anymore, some will make it in time, some wont and some dont even care.

Nobody can tell who is telling the truth and who is lying. Whats more we dont even know if the people who are doing the testing are doing it right. I just want to get well past the rollover and find something else to do with my time. I hate waking up every day and being involved with this crap, and I hate reading this stuff every day. I hate having to try to figure out what is fact and what is fiction. I hate having to deal with the true doomers and the flat-out pollies. I want it to be 1/15/2000 so I can decide if its over or not and get back to what I used to do.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), November 19, 1999.

I concur with Mara & Karla.

If a contractor violates a non-disclosure clause, his next job will involve making french fries or emptying waste paper baskets.

-- Not Whistlin' Dixie (not_whistlin_dixie@yahoo.com), November 19, 1999.

hamster --

AMEN! Wish it would *all* just go away. Wake up and it is Jan. 31, 2000 and NOTHING happened.

-- just another (another@engineer.com), November 19, 1999.

I agree with "justanother" and "hamster".
I'm about as prepared as I'm gonna get, and just sitting around waiting to see what's gonna happen. It's like sitting around, cleaning your piece, waiting to see when and where you're gonna be shipped. At least when you get there, there's gonna be something to do. :-)

-- A (A@AisA.com), November 19, 1999.