COULD it BE that there is a NEWS BLACKOUT on y2k related failures?

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

I was wondering? could it BE that there indeed ARE serious failures but they are DELIBERATLY being kept from the publc? the reason WHY I ask is I haven't heard ONE company say they are FINISHED their code repair !! NO ONE is sayin' ANYTHING !! ( except SSA - NON_compliant ANYWAY )

NOT: the FAA; NSA, DOD, IRS,NERC , BANKS ; at & t , mci, SPRINT , THE U.N. ? what up ? - could it BE that the BUG is seriously doing massive damage not YET reportable ?

Sean

-- sean (venturer@interlog.com), January 05, 1999

Answers

Sure Sean....;-]

All companies and government agencies had a big secret meeting and decided to do just that.........

C'mon feller.......lighten up. The whole world is not one gigantic conspiracy...........

Methinks you need to take a break!

-- Craig (craig@ccinet.ab.ca), January 05, 1999.


Doubtful. Errors have occurred and will continue occurring. No doubt companies and government group will rush to hush up as many as possible but this nothing new - just business as usual.

I would like to point out that if any specific bug can be covered up (I'm talking over the long term here), then it really poses no immediate or serious threat. There are a few notible exceptions I suppose but I'm not too worried about the bugs that are easily covered up. (or easily dealt with)

However, as clues to the eventual effects of Y2K they would no doubt be invaluable, but we are not likely to see the whole picture here.

-- Arnie Rimmer (arnie_rimmer@usa.net), January 05, 1999.


Report what, to who? I've worked in this industry for close to 28 years and its easy to mis deadlines. eg

1) I was sick. 2) The OTHER departments did not give me any input. 3) The OTHER departments did not match data with my standards. 4) The vedor of the complier was slow in responding. 5) Hardware failures prevented meeting the schedule. 6) The boss quit. 7) I quit. 8) My programmer quit. 9) The secretary quit. 10)The client machine crashed. 11)Year end got in the way. 12)A user called with a printer problem (How's that for an original). 13)Communications were down. 14)Disk drive crashed. 15)Had to do the government survey 16)Hacker made a system break. 17)I'm dam tired. 18)Had to do an upgrade. 19)Had to attend a y2k seminar 20)Had to give a y2k seminar. 21)Backup filed last night,last week. 22)Tax department called and wanted more info. 23)Price updated had to be done. 24)Branch is down. 25)Storm hit the area. 26)Budget is out of money. 27)My mother is ill. 29)What sh.... code. 30)You want to do a review?? 31)Too many meetings on Y2k. want more....

-- doneitall_lou (louie.miotti@sait.ab.ca), January 05, 1999.


Most people who've worked on Y2k problems have recognized that the deadline for fixing a problem that would first manifest itself in January 1999 is a year earlier than the deadline for fixing a problem that would first be manifest in January 2000.

-- No Spam Please (anon@ymous.com), January 05, 1999.

There's no "conspiracy"--most Y2K-related problems and failures thus far haven't impacted the public directly or in immediately noticeable ways, and so the media hasn't covered them. Many of these problems are "back office" glitches or temporary production line failures, noticeable only internally (i.e., within the company itself). For obvious reasons, individual companies don't normally go out of their way to publicize these problems. So, unless it's a "high profile" failure such as credit cards being rejected or taxi meters not working, the failures just don't get reported, as a rule. But make no mistake: there are lots of them, and more all the time. In the spring of 1998 a survey reported by TechWeb found that 44% of U.S. companies had already had at least one Y2K glitch in production lines; recently Cap Gemini (the huge European software mfgr.) reported that at least 55% of all U.S. companies had already experienced one or more Y2K problems.

Only if a "critical mass" of failures is reached so that there are serious economic consequences (for an individual corporation or for the country as a whole), or if there is a failure threatening public safety (in a utility, ATC system, medical equipment, etc.), are you then likely to see extensive media coverage of Y2K failures.

-- Don Florence (dflorence@zianet.com), January 05, 1999.



If there was a person that you knew that witnessed what seemed to be a fairly serious problem at a place that would possibly affect thousands of people, and that company was not willing to talk to the press about it, do you think that it would be wise to write it here? Would you not put that person at risk?

-- Reporter (foo@foo.bar), January 05, 1999.

It would indeed put that person at risk. I commented on 'whistle-blowers' in previous threads and while I imagine we might see a few for critical services, I don't look for large numbers. At least here in the US, whistle blowing, even with the best of reasons is dealt with harshly and the penalties are quite severe, both legal and financially.

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), January 05, 1999.

Reporter and Arnie,

we all have a moral duty to be whistle blowers if we see a situation being covered up that could potentially do harm to human beings.

There are ways and means without identifying yourself, not too difficult to get word out on the net, to the press, to watchdogs, to government etc.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), January 06, 1999.


This link is to an older article (06/98).

Y2K opens Pentagon to infoterrorists

Y2K whistleblowers are invited to contact the article's writer Amara Angelica confidentially at amaraa@techweek.com or (408) 249-8300 ext. 195. MoVe Immediate

-- MVI (
vtoc@aol.com), January 06, 1999.


oops

-- MVI (vtoc@aol.com), January 06, 1999.


Sean,

There is no cover-up going on in regard to Y99 bugs, except that companies, of course, are reluctant to publicize their mistakes. Read this article:

http://detnews.com/1999/technology/9901/05/01050148.htm

"Most computers work fine at new year, but scattered glitches reported"

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 06, 1999.


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