Boy, are we a bunch of suckers.

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TB2K spinoff uncensored : One Thread

I guess most people knew back in '98 Y2K wasn't going to be bad. Knew Yourdon and other hucksters were going to profit too:

Warning: You will probably feel foolish after reading this article. I did.

A HREF="http://www.skepdic.com/millen.html">skepdic.com

"Then again, the New Millennium could be just another profitable delusion.

There is even something for the non-religious this millennium: the Y2K problem. The end of the world as we know it (EOW, for short) will occur because our computers will think that January 1, 2000, is actually 1900. Since computers control and determine everything we depend on (so the theory goes), everything will come to a halt. Traffic lights won't work, farmers won't know how to plant seeds or grow crops, trucks won't be able to deliver goods, airplanes will fall from the sky, the trains won't run on time, ATM machines and banks won't know how to handle automatic deposits, etc. The ensuing chaos will make life dangerous as those with the foresight to stockpile food and weapons are stalked by the unprepared. The EOW will occur because computer programmers reserved only enough memory for a two-digit number when they wrote programs years ago. Yes, there was a time when computer memory was precious and programmers were more frugal. Our stupid computers will think 00 means 1900, since they think 99 means 1999 and 98 means 1998, etc. There are already Y2K millenarians heading for New Mexico with stockpiles of water, weapons and ammunition, and canned food. On the other hand, there are some who are using their computers to announce to the world that the Y2K problem is a capitalist hoax,link designed to generate money by generating fear. I doubt it. Think of all the restaurants, hotels, airlines, etc., that will lose money because people will stay home waiting for the EOW instead of going to exotic places to celebrate the New Millennium.

Is there a Y2K problem? Yes. Will it cause the EOW? I doubt it. Of course, Art Bell and his pals will do as much as they can to generate smoke and fear about Y2K. And all government incompetence in handling this matter will be duly reported and its significance greatly exaggerated in the mass media. For example, the Pentagon has made sure that the fear of the EOW will continue to expand by falsifying Y2K readiness reports. Who among the conspiratorially minded will now doubt that there is a government cover-up of the true nature of the problem? The inept inevitably support the unbalanced.

The only REALLY BIG thing that the New Millennium is likely to bring about is more hype about how REALLY BIG THINGS are about to begin or end. Will the New Millennium be a Great New Beginning for Humankind or will it be the End of the World? Who will you follow? Art Bell or Al Gore? Or, are these false dilemmas? One thing is certain, however: the HYPE regarding the New Millennium will expand faster than the universe. The question is, will there be enough brain matter to stop it?"

-- (Burt @nd .Ernie), April 17, 2000

Answers

Can't you get anything right, Burt?

skepdic.com

-- (Ernie @ trying the link this .time), April 17, 2000.


how about you try '96 you clowns.

Y2K as racket and ruse Nicholas Z (Da Man what hit a "home run" according to Russ Kelly)

-- Oscar (Da@Friggin.Grouch), April 17, 2000.


BTW, jokers, turn off the e-mail notification if your going to post fake names.

-- Oscar (Da@Friggin.Grouch), April 17, 2000.

This IS our real e-mail address!

(Really, how do we do that?)

-- (Burt @nd .Ernie), April 17, 2000.


This article is full of personal opinion, while at the same time, lacking in any kind of information on how much needed to be fixed and the rate at which remediation was taking place before the rollover. These sentences...

There is even something for the non-religious this millennium: the Y2K problem.

and

There are already Y2K millenarians heading for New Mexico with stockpiles of water, weapons and ammunition, and canned food.

...are a tip off that the author was skeptical of Y2K because the author is also skeptical of religion.

My Y2K preps had nothing to do with my religious beliefs nor the millennium. There was a good deal of uncertainty about how much Y2K work here and abroad would get done before January of 2000.

-- Not superstitious (but@prudent.yes), April 18, 2000.



B&E:

When you post a new question, there is a little box that asks if you want to be notified by e-mail of responses. the default setting is yes you must check no. the fake e-mail cause problems for greenspun in general.

-- Oscar (Da@Friggin.Grouch), April 18, 2000.


Thanks Oscar. We'll try to remember that next time.

BTW, did you know in '96?

-- (Ernie @ by .myself), April 18, 2000.


Yes

-- Oscar (Da@Friggin.Grouch), April 19, 2000.

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