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Nippon TV and y2k

What's this??? A y2k story on Japanese TV? Sure enough, Nippon TV had a small segment on their "Ombudsman" show Sunday night Jan 31, 1999.

The hidden face of a computer company executive explaining that if a company is just starting now... they are sushi. His message was so scary because he spoke with no traditional Japanese vagueness. Bluntly telling the audience that it is too late.

A lot of unanswered questions were asked about power, telecommunications, banking and transportation. Dramatic music and questions with no real answers...todays 'journalism.' Pitiful.

The only infrastructure segment that I have confidence in is NTT. NTT is truely as technically competent a company as one can find anywhere on earth.

The banks will have an opportunity to begin network testing on February 14th... If they are ready to try testing. Several of the Japanese banking networks are ready to accept user testing this month. I'll post a schedule later this week.

Tokyo Power and the gas companies are scaring the life out me. I could tell from the language used by the announcers that they were scared also. There is a unique Japanese technique of "zurui kotoba" or a kind of cunning or misleading language that indicates the speaker has absolutely no faith in what they are saying, but are saying it anyway. Urging the companies to fight on, but with a hopeless and serious look in their eyes. It's the same face TV reporters use when the topic is a tragic death.

Tokyo Power says they'll be finished November, 1999 and the gas companies say December, 1999. Nothing like cutting it close, guys.

Tokyo Power made a recent announcement that generating stations have no digital equipment that uses dates, therefore power would be just fine. This is probably the second stupidest statement ever made by a power company representative in the history of statements.

The number 1 stupidest statement was made by another Tokyo Power representative about 8 months ago. He was quoted in a newpaper as saying that it is unreasonable for people to think that their electric service would be interrupted because of the year 2000 problem. After all, Japan has earthquakes and typhoons all the time...

No mention was made of power distribution in spite of the fact that Japan has a substation remote automation rate of over 98%.

One small segment showed a small business owner explaining that he understands the problem quite well, thank you. His old system crashes now when he projects into next year. Here, look for yourself, Mr. Cameraman.

He planned to do what all his business associates planned to do...buy a new system since the old one needed to be replaced anyway. An abolute bottom-of-the-line system will cost him 6,000,000 yen (US$50,000) but he doesn't need top-of-the-line.

Naturally, his long time bank turned him down for a loan. He, his business and his employees are sushi.

Thailand

Y2k awareness in Thailand is surprisingly high, but financial problems of the "Thaitanic" are hindering remediation efforts. Thailand is also suffering a dramatic water shortage problem that is cause for immediate concern. The politicians are still squabbling and blaming each other for the financial problems that started in 1997. But that's what politicians are for...it's easier to bicker about the past than deal with the future.

I think the pace of y2k remediation in Thailand will improve after the army and government workers decide on the official bribery rates for y2k remediation contracts and permits.

I saw more y2k newspaper articles in Thailand in one week than I've seen in the last six months in Japan. The government is quite candid about the fact that they are late, but they will just do the best they can. What else can they do? Stock brokers will be suspended after July 1st if they are not compliant and the sale of shares of noncompliant companies will be halted after December 31st. Pretty simple incentives.

-- a (a@a.a), February 01, 1999

Answers

"Urging the companies to fight on, but with a hopeless and serious look in their eyes."

As when rallying the Japanese troops on Okinawa furing the invasion-- or addressing kamikaze pilots before a mission....

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 01, 1999.

I certainly hope the Japanese are preparing to weather the Y2K tsunami "at home." Once they figure out, and communicate the kanji equivalent for "burnt toast."

Diane *Big Sigh*

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), February 02, 1999.

This truly is not good news... If the Japanese think this way now, what about the other south east asian countries...??

Oh, on a side note... Why did Kamikaze pilots always wear helmets...?? Never figured that one out....

Let's get to work people....

-- STFrancis (STFrancis@heaven.com), February 02, 1999.

PNG's excellent web site is www2.gol.com/users/png/.

-- Ken Davis (kendavis@lookingglass.net), February 02, 1999.

Ref kamakazi pilot helmets - ever flown in an unheated, unpressurized cockpit at 12-20,000 feet? - Those fur-lined padded flying helmets of WWI were made for warmth, ear protection (noise), radio earphone mounts, and inter-cockpit comm's.

Shock-resistance didn't come into account until US pilots started the "hard-shell" helmet designs during Korean War era. Soviet too about then - but theirs looked like space helmets - or the Soviet space suits looked like high-altitude pressure suits, depending on how you looked at it.)

Also, it's easier to give an aviator standard outfitting gear to use, rather than invent specialized gear, especially if your nation is facing severe shortages of everything. And anyway, they had to train the kamikazi's with at least a few practice flights.

Seriously - this whole message is very frightening - and I see no relief in site.

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), February 02, 1999.