Doing a good job Ed......keep it up!

DM

-- DustyM (dusstmopp@aol.com), January 01, 1999

Answers

Well, I think some useful information was communicated, but it's not easy. While Bobbi Battista and the woman from the Atlanta Constitution could see each other in the Atlanta studio, the rest of us were effectively "blind": Paloma was in a Denver studio, I was in a New York Studio, the other computer fellow was somewhere else, and John Koskinen was participating by phone while on vacation in Hawaii. None of us could see each other on camera (we were staring into a blank TV monitor), none of us knew what the questions would be, and none of us knew when/if it was appropriate or allowable to butt in and say, "Bah! Humbug! That's rubbish!" So the fact that anything useful got communicated is a bit of a miracle. (This is not a criticism of CNN per se; it's the same with any of these "remote" TV interviews or talk shows.)

Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), January 01, 1999.

If Bobbi of "Talk Back Live" was running the show, it doesn't look like we have much to worry about. It sounds like more "inconvenience"-type problems. We're getting used to this from the media.

Ed, Dave (of Zonar) and Paloma are up against a Marilyn "Geewhiz' media-type who thinks we can bounce back after a few hours of using our flashlights and candles. John Koskinen came on and did the federal Shuffle, as per usual.

Bless you, Ed, for taking issue with Koskinen's happy faces report about mission-critical systems in the Dept. of Defense. Paloma stood fast, and Dave made some good points. But where was the voice of an Infomagic?

Very conservative, but still, an important beginning.

-- Sara Nealy (saran@ptd.net), January 01, 1999.

The program (Talkback Live) was recorded on Dec 30. Probably one of the best programs CNN has done to date. Koskinen was his usual 'what, me worry?' self. Does anybody know where Koskinen got his information that the US Government's Y2K remediation costs would be DROPPING from 30 billion to 7-8 billion? Everything I've seen leads me to believe that just exactly the opposite is true. (I don't believe he said this was a 'fact' -- only suggested it was a possibility.)

The basic theme was that personal and community preparation is prudent. Starting yesterday.

People who are prepared have no reason to panic. They have no reason to be frightened. They have no reason to cause problems for others around them.

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), January 01, 1999.

Bless you, Ed??????

Give me a break!

David Koresh/Bill Clinton x Tony Robbins = Ed YourDoneFer

-- Jimmy Bagga Doughnuts (jim1bets@worldnet.att.net), January 01, 1999.

The 25 Rules of Disinformation

Rule Number 18

Emotionalize, Antagonize, and Goad Opponents. If you can't do anything else, chide and taunt your opponents and draw them into emotional responses which will tend to make them look foolish and overly motivated, and generally render their material somewhat less coherent. Not only will you avoid discussing the issues in the first instance, but even if their emotional response addresses the issue, you can further avoid the issues by then focusing on how "sensitive they are to criticism".

MoVe Immediate

-- MVI (vtoc@aol.com), January 01, 1999.

I think Ed did very well given the circumstances. The lady from Atlanta was to well rehersed. She made sure she followed the camera and got all her close ups. Too bad what came out of her mouth, it appears she thinks all will be well after a couple of days of inconvenience. For all her assurances, I wonder if she will put back a little food and cash.

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), January 01, 1999.

I was concerned about you this morning Mr. Doughnut. I thought you were going soft.

-- Type r (Sortapreparin@polly.anna), January 01, 1999.