Check this out. Not that it would really do anything, but the wheels are a turning.

Annie

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9902/01/newyears.y2k.idg/

Proposal seeks to move back 'official' New Year's Day

February 1, 1999 Web posted at: 11:02 a.m. EST (1602 GMT)

by Kathleen Ohlson

(IDG) -- As the countdown for Jan. 1, 2000, closes in, some technology professionals may need every precious minute to ensure computer systems won't fail. They will get even more time than they thought if legislation is passed that would change the "official" New Year's Day holiday next year.

Congressmen John Linder (R-Ga.) and David Dreier (R-Calif.) introduced the bill, called H.J. Res. 14, to move the official holiday from Friday, Dec. 31, 1999, to Monday, Jan. 3, 2000.

"Congressional committees have been successfully working to prepare the nation for Y2K, and this is a modest proposal for their consideration," said Rep. Linder in an official statement. "It is not a silver bullet to solve the problem," Linder said. He said the bill, if passed, would allow a 24-hour period for businesses and government agencies to correct any problems that occur.

Linder originally introduced the bill last September, but due to an election year, Congress adjourned in October, said Bill Evans, press secretary for Linder.

While the efforts are good intentioned, one analyst said they probably aren't enough. The proposal for an "extra two days won't do anything," said Kazim Isfahani, an analyst at Giga Information Group in Norwell, Mass. "Legislating the problem away isn't the way to go about it," he said.

-- Annie O'Dea (tarotmaid@yahoo.com), February 01, 1999

Answers

Yea, Annie, I saw a story about this the other day. I think that was the one that made me snorf cola out my nose. These people are actually spending attention and energy coming up with ideas like this. Incredible, isn't it?

-- pshannon (pshannon@inch.com), February 01, 1999.

pshannon has come up with a worthy potential addition to the internet acronym lexicon -- "SCOOMN" (Snorf [snort?] Cola Out Of My Nose).

-- A (A@AisA.com), February 01, 1999.

This is hilarious. It is unreal that they think if we have computer problewms (and there will be some) that they will al just be peachy in a couple of days. They are going about this all the wrond way.

-- PMM (grute22@yahoo.com), February 01, 1999.

The Chinese are taking this approach...the lunar New Year holiday will be extended 2 weeks to give more 'down-time' preparation.

I know this is off the thread topic, but I find it amazing that the Chinese government minister that effectively handles government IT has publicly stated that yes, the country started too late and yes, they anticipate serious problems and yes, they just finished training 5,000 people for remediation work and will train more and yes, software pirating has caused reluctance and indecision in remediation work and yes, they don't have the money to pay for legitimate software licensing.

Yet, the U.S. government is hiring P.R. firms to massage the message to Americans because they think their bosses (the taxpayers) must be treated like children and in the words of Jack Nicholson: "You can't handle the truth."

-- PNG (png@gol.com), February 01, 1999.

PNG,

Re: Chinese public admissions about Y2k vs. U.S.

Well, dictatorships _do_ have a couple of edges here and there. Mussolini and the trains, and so forth.

-- No Spam Please (anon@ymous.com), February 01, 1999.

PNG -

a couple of things you need to realize about the chinese:

1. whatever that minister said you can bet that the vast majority of the chinese population didn't hear it...they (the Chinese generally and the PRC government specificly) write off Huai guei zi [I think the Japanese equivalent is 'gaijin' or something like that] in any case - can't be embarassed in front of us because we aren't Chinese to begin with, and therefore don't count...you may have run into that attitude elsewhere...

2. Over the last 50 years the PRC has accomplished phenomenal things through the simple expedient of executing anyone who fails to perform in a critical situation. Given a sufficiently large population and a sufficiently ruthless government, very few problems fail to succumb to this approach...though they may be discovering that y2k is one such problem.

just my 2 yuan worth, Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), February 01, 1999.

No Spam:

Agreed. Certainly wasn't saying they're better... just a little ironic!

You know, walking into the Forbidden City and seeing the monumental painting of Mao at the entrance reminded more of a Chinese emperor 500 years ago, than a "peoples hero."

I find the eyes of Chinese people to completely lacking in hope. Companies I work that have Chinese factories must physically take the workers for a walk in the streets and patiently explain that if they build a lousy product, the people will buy a competitors and the factory will close and they must then go back to their rural home without a job. Generations under communist rule has eliminated the basic understanding of market economics.

Many factories have a turnover of workers every year. The government decides which rural areas will send workers to foreign factories. The workers return after a year to sing praise for the government...then another batch from different areas are sent to work for a year. It's hell retraining everyone once a year, but those are the rules if you want the benefit of cheap labor and market access.

-- PNG (png@gol.com), February 01, 1999.

PNG

ah I see you are familiar,sorry.

Arlin

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), February 02, 1999.

Arlin: Apology not necessary. The limits of forums, don't you think? Could you imagine meeting and conversing with the folks here for a weekend(less trolls)?

-- PNG (png@gol.com), February 02, 1999.

Hey - SCOOMN works for coffee, too !

-- Grrr (grrr@grrr.net), February 02, 1999.

Arlin, the most usual phrase in Mandarin would be "YANG(2) guei(3) (zi optional)" meaning foreign ghost or devil, a somewhat archaic phrase, but still relevant.

-- Runway Cat (Runway_Cat@hotmail.com), February 02, 1999.