This message is to the moderated Cascadian y2k Forum partipants, subscribed to the list at y2kforum@efn.org. Anyone is welcomed to join. For more information, please read the Topic "Cascadian y2k Forum: Guidelines and Protocols" here in the salons.

Please post your introduction to yourself, your community work with respect to y2k, and/or a web page or bio that you maintain that you use in your community preparedness outreach.

Posting here is necessary in order to participate in the Cascadian y2k Forum on community preparedness for the Northwest Region of the US.

Your information here allows participants in the Forum to understand where you're working, and at what level, making the information we exchange more meaningful. Remember - you can't get ready if you can't get away from your computer screen, so take a stroll through your community and look at what needs your attention before 2000-01-01!

Thank you for being a part of the solution.

Best,

Cynthia Beal

-- cynthia (cabeal@efn.org), June 16, 1998

Answers

My name is Cynthia Beal. I am a grocer, plant conservator and blueberry farmer in Noti and Eugene, Oregon, USA.

I have a web page at http://skymind.org/y2k. In it, I state my version of the problem as it affects me and link readers to the sites that have proved most helpful for raising my awareness and inspiring solutions.

I am enthusiastic about the potential of the listserv at y2kforum@efn.org to coordinate community preparedness efforts and make suggestions about what to do with y2k, especially given the increasing complexity of the problem.

My measure of success with this forum will be whether or not public staff, citizens, business members and institutional organizations in my area, and the areas of the other community preparedness groups, are signed on and finding it useful.

-- cynthia (cabeal@efn.org), June 17, 1998.

My name is Wayne Schumacher and I am the Associate Director of Family Housing at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, OR.

My main Y2K focus: developing a sense of community and preparedness in both my own neighborhood where I live, and within the 200+ household Family Housing Complex at the University. If there is a silver lining to Y2K, I believe it will become most evident as neighbors get to know and respect each other while working _together_ to craft plans for weathering whatever lies ahead. The call is for community and collective planning, not self-centered survival and separatism.

Let's pull together on this one!

-Wayne Schumacher Southern Oregon University Schumacher@sou.edu

-- Wayne Schumacher (Schumacher@sou.edu), June 17, 1998.

Hi, I'm Mick Winter and in live in California's Napa Valley. For the past year I've maintained an online guide to the valley at http://www.napavalleyonline.com/

I'm in the process now of forming a valley-wide group focused on Y2K. I've contacted and provided Y2K info packets to various community leaders - elected officials, city administrators, emergency services, education, religious, media, and I'm slowly finding others who share the same concerns as to how Y2K can affect our community.

I've set up a y2k web page for the community at: http://www.napavalleyonline.com/y2k/ So far there's no local information, but that will come. I'm interested in sharing ideas and resources with other communities as the need and opportunity arises.

I'm a former advertising copywriter, technical writer, winery tour guide, computer person (I'm currently working with local non-profits that deal with the homeless to assist both agencies and homeless in using the Internet), and married to a local elected official. We have a teenage daughter who'll be a high school senior next fall.

I used to live in Vancouver, B.C. so my heart's up there. In the meantime, I'm down here in the lower reaches of Cascadia.

Mick

-- Mick Winter (mick@westsong.com), June 28, 1998.

Hi, my name is Harlan Smith and I am a retired electrical engineer living in my motor home which is presently in Florida. I was born in Seattle, Washington, spent time in the US Army working on radar repair and subsequently received a BSEE from the University of Washington in Seattle. My career took me to General Electric in Syracuse, NY working on development of large ground based radar systems and then 26.5 years at Texas Instruments in Dallas where I focused primarily on large airborne systems. Some of these incorporated 10s of 1000's of integrated circuits implementing a large aggregation of computers and special purpose "embedded systems".

Since mid 1997 I have concentrated on raising awareness of the year 2000 problem and my June 1998 paper "Synergistic Mitigation and Contingency Preparation" has been sent to every member of the United States Congress, officials in Canada and many foreign governments. It has been posted at the G7 sponsored International Year 2000 Conference On Information Technology spawned by the May G8 conference of developed nations at Birminham, England reference http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mks/yr2000/paper16.htm and the latest revision appears at http://www.scotsystems.com/harlany2k.html where at this one site alone it has received more than 3,000 hits in less than 2 months time.

I am an active member of Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR) and a regular contributor to their y2k site. I am also active in the news:comp.software.year-2000 newsgroup and Associate SYSOP on CompuServe GO YEAR2000.

My primary Y2K interests are focused on what I perceive to be the worst y2k problem. That is promoting a national and global attack on preserving the functionality of our core infrastructures. These certainly include electric, oil & gas and other utilities, water, telecom, healthcare, food generation and distribution Subsets of that interest include a optimization of the technical approach used for addressing "embedded systems" and promoting assistance to foreign countries that form part of the global economy we heavily depend on. These are all areas where the effort must be greatly increased in intensity and scale.

You will know me by my signature.

Harlan Smith

Synergistic Mitigation & Contingency Preparation -- "Austere Infrastructure" http://2000.jbaworld.com/harlan/smcp.htm http://www.scotsystems.com/harlany2k.html (for printout) Quick Small Business Guide to Y2K http://www.angelfire.com/mn/inforest/harbiz.html Embedded Systems Remediation http://2000.jbaworld.com/embed/remediation.htm http://www.y2knews.com/harlansmith.htm YOU CAN HELP http://www.angelfire.com/mn/inforest/smpc1.html

-- Harlan Smith (hwsmith@cris.com), July 19, 1998.

Aside from the accompaning bio, I am now spending 20+ hours per week in rallying the folks here in Florida at the very local level (church, fellowship groups, neighborhood) and pushing for statewide/regional meeting(s) for government groups. What an exciting time to be alive! Makes one think of that old Chinese curse "May you live in interesting times".

BIO: STEPHEN E. KRULIN

Managing Director LAW AND TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS, INC. Editor COMPUTER LAW JOURNAL of The Florida Bar. Attorney and Counselor at Law LAW OFFICES OF STEPHEN E. KRULIN

Steve Krulin has applied his experience to the Legal and Technical aspects of the Year 2000 computer problem since 1996. He is a member of The Florida Bars Computer Law Committee. He participated in the National Institute Of Science and Technologys, Washington DC symposium on the Y2k Millennium Rollover, National League of Cities Miami seminar on Y2k Preparation, The Florida Governors symposium on Y2k Project Management, and presented a paper on Legal Issues of Y2k for The Florida Bars Annual meeting in 1997 and 1998. Steve is a member of Alan Simpsons Wildfire team of attorneys and technical experts who present Y2k as a hard hitting court room drama . He is a well known speaker and panelist for International Y2k Banking issues at Y2k conferences in New York and Orlando. Steve is a founding member of the South Florida Y2k Working Group, and, editor of the Computer Law Journal of The Florida Bar.

Steve Krulin has a Information Systems background as a technical project manager and consultant. He is a former Technical Director for Cap Geminis New York banking and insurance branch. Previously, he was Systems Engineering Manager of StorageTeks f/k/a Storage Technology Corporation eastern region. He designed and implemented fixed price projects for ACIs New York office. He has implemented major systems projects for client firms including: Chase Bank, The Insurance Services Office, Inc. (ISO), Met Life, MONY, Swiss Bank, Hitachi, Chemical Bank. Steve taught project management and systems design techniques, as well as client level courses in CICS, COBOL and MVS internals. As an attorney/instructor he teaches Internet related subjects (Email security, TCP/IP, Encryption) for the Continuing Legal Education program for Florida attorneys.

He was born November 19, 1941 in New Rochelle, New York. He served in the U.S. Air Force as an AirCrash Rescue crewman (1961-1964), later attending college on the G.I. Bill. Mr. Krulin received a BS in Behavioral Sciences, cum laude and with Department Honors, from Mercy College, Dobbs Ferry, New York (1978) and a Juris Doctorate from Saint Thomas University School of Law, Miami, Florida (1991).

Stephen Krulin is available for consultation on Year 2000 matters. He can be reached by 24hour voicemail at 305-891-6545, by E-mail at or by mail to: Law & Technology Partners, Inc. 12805 Hickory Road, Miami Florida 33181 USA Separately, he also maintains a law practice with an office in North Miami, Florida, is admitted to practice before all courts of the State of Florida and the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. His practice includes computer law, intellectual property and commercial disputes.

-- Stephen E. Krulin (webmaster@tropic-lawyer.com), August 11, 1998.

CPA and contoller of gun mfg co in Olympia. VN vet (1st Cavalry Div), and chairman of Town of Rainier Planning Commission, Main interest is community preparation for small towns. Most residents here are semi-rural and used to short-term (2-14 days) power outages but are not always current on total potential effects of Y2K problems.

-- Bruce Bell (boo3@ix.netcom.com), November 12, 1998.

Hi, I'm Tom Osher, also known as bagelhole1. In the 60's I started the first antique clothing store in the western hemisphere, also was the first to market used jeans, back then. Since then, I have fathered two kids, now grown. I have also been an activist with Food Not Bombs for many years, and participated in many civil disobedience actions, having suffered numerous arrests mainly, for just serving vegetarian food to the homeless. I pioneered and taught creative movement to children in the private schools of Sf. I am deeply involved in the arts for many years, have practiced the way of the bodhisattva (zen) for many years outside of any institutions. Am a "resorceror" being in the hauling and moving business, I am in constant flow of things. I love to dance, and practice tap to African and asian music, among others. Recently, I have taken up White Crane, a beautiful martial art, in the past I studied aikido. I have many interests, that I no longer have time for, because of my dedication to mobilizing creativity in fashioning an ever-improving list if cheap and simple ideas for self-sustainable neighborhoods as both a real contingency for y2k worst-case scenerio possibility and a possible way to transform the paradigm of competition to co-operation. I need help. If anyone has access to a computer, please contact if you wish to help. Of course, more could be said, but suffice it to say, that I have had plenty experience dealing with difficult problems, and feel confident because of that to deal with this. Non-violence has been my path for over 25 years and I have little patience with bullshit and people who just like to see their ideas in print or their voices on the news. I wish to work with those truly willing to transcend ego.

-- Tom Osher (bagelhole1@aol.com), December 07, 1998.

Hi,

My name's Bill Dale. I'm this guy who lives on the edge of the woods in Minnesota. About 8 months ago I found myself in charge of building this web site Cynthia Beal thought ought to be called the Millennium Salons, and attempting to do so according to some pretty obscure, but somehow clear specifications we both seemed to agree on that we seem to be getting fairly close to having fulfilled. You're probably familiar with that web site, seeing's how there's no way you could be reading this if you weren't.

More recently (at the same time) I've been involved in putting together a different kind of web site/communication system for communities to use in their efforts to get a grip on y2k. I seem to think these systems (that you can read about by clicking the link underneath the picture on the salon's home page) are a better information/communication bet than conventional web sites, email, and listservers. We'll see about that.

Okay. That's enough for here and now.

-- Bill (billdale@lakesnet.net), December 27, 1998.

Hi, My name is Richard Bloom. I am 45 years old, father of 3 boys and 2 girls, 11 year old son still at home. I have 2 grandaughters and 3 grandsons. I have been married to the same wonderful woman for 27 years. I work a s a mechanic for a branch of the largest construction equipment rental company in the USA. I have been building and upgrading PCs for 6 years. I refurbish old throw-a-ways and give them to kids of all ages. Many times the people receiving these machines helped rebuild them.

I love teaching and working with people. I have volunteered to teach PC and Interent usage at the local Senior center here in Eugene, Or. I have written my city council and mayor about my Y2k concerns.

In 1980, I lived with my family, as caretaker, on 500+ acres outside of Lowell, Or. for a year, in a 1 room, 10' X 24' cabin. Wood heat, no electricity, no running water. When we moved back to the city, the place had hot and cold water(solar), with shower, 2 improved springs, 2 seat outhouse (movable)and many other creature comforts. I was then a transplanted Florida flat-lander, who had only dreamed of being in such a situation. Survival can be an adventure.

I have taken it upon myself to gather information about local Y2k contingencies for my family. I am willing to contribute any knowledge and experience I have gained during my lifetime that may better the chances of the survival of my community and family.

So far, my usual day consists of leaving for work, in Albany, at 6:00am, getting back home by 5:30pm and logging on to the net. The information overload is becoming to great. It is time to start doing things on a local level that can be quantified and checked and tried.

My youngest son and I made waterproof matches, put them in a water tight container with a striker, for everyone in our family, for Christmas presents. I plan to start having alternative technology classes at our house. We will be building solar water purification systems from what ever materials we have on hand. I know this isn't much but it gets everyone thinking on a different level and it forces us to try things we never have before.

I really need to network with people in this area and get started doing those things that have to be done now, while we still can. It is time to get started doing.

God Bless and Good Health To You and Yours.

-- Richard Bloom (rfbloom@uswest.net), December 28, 1998.