Yet another example of what we're up against in convincing folks to get ready:

USA TODAY: Y2Krackpots...

I particularly enjoyed the last part, yes, indeedy:

"How can [the Y2Krackpots] even imagine that the American people -- the nation that triumphed over the Great Depression, over the Nazi war machine and over the masters of the Soviet gulags -- might be beaten by a computer bug?"

Oh, I dunno. Maybe because all that "triumphing" came at a horrendous human cost worldwide and only looks like "triumph" from the current oh-so-comfy vantage point - it probably looked more like Hell on earth for the millions who went through it. And also possibly because the majority of those wunnerful "American people" apparently have no intention of taking even the minimum necessary steps to prepare themselves for the impact of that "computer bug" (partly due to tripe like this article) and are therefore increasing the likelihood of even greater harm coming to themselves and those they love.

Now I know what Cory Hamasaki means when he talks about wanting to just grab some folks and sh-sh-sh-shake some sense into them...

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), February 11, 1999

Answers

Mac, if we had three names (Sam Vincent Meddis) then maybe we would know everything too. The name sounds like something on a menu... and I think that I see Darwin licking his chops.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), February 11, 1999.

when I run into guys who write like that USA Today reporter, I'm reminded of GN's take on reporters: dead men typing...

-- Arlin H. Adams (ahadams@ix.netcom.com), February 12, 1999.

Whyisit when Pollyannas criticise the press it is because of their endless maunderings about TEOStuff? Then doomers take them to task because of their "What, me worry?" slant. Is it because they're doing a good, fair and balanced job?

I didn't think so.

Hallyx

"The learned Fool writes his Nonsense in better language than the Unlearned, but 'tis still Nonsense".....B. Franklin.

-- Hallyx (Hallyx@aol.com), February 12, 1999.

Pay attention to the way language is manipulated. "The Great Depression... the "Nazi war machine ...." versus ....."a computer bug"?? Yep, no contest.

Grrrrr! It's millions of bugs, not just one bug. It's many, many different problems, many different manifestations of the problems. Which will all converge at the same time.

The very language keeps people asleep. A bug is tiny. This is not just an innocuous convention of language. Calling it a "bug" minimizes it, make it feel manageable. How very convenient. (As a CIA official said, quoted in the Vanity Fair article, "If we see it, we'll spray for it.")

-- Debbie Spence (dbspence@usa.net), February 12, 1999.