What do you think of this gang? I'm boggled.

Here goes:

My hard drive crashed, and while chatting long distance with the experienced computer tech who helped me install a new one this afternoon (won't name the company, but I won't go there again. . .) I mentioned something about Y2K.

He said--and I quote--"Y2k will be a piece of cake."

Wow. I repeat, what do you think of this? It's the second time I've heard it from folks who work in the computer industry. If Y2K was going to be a big deal, wouldn't they be gossiping about it around the water cooler? Wouldn't they KNOW? $20,000 question: Are they right? Are we stupid? Are we ready for the loony bin?

Can't wait for some well researched responses on this one!

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), March 06, 1999

Answers

FM, You are on this board, so you must not think it is a big deal. Ed Yourdon, knows computers, and he thinks it is a big deal. I know computers, and I think it is a big deal. Just because you talk to a hardware weenie who doesn't know squat about software doesn't make it a big deal. Nuf Said.

-- (donna@home.now), March 06, 1999.

And besides, aren't we about ass deep around here in people who are in the computer business with ..oh...say 20 - 25 - 30 years experience?

Hell, they're thicker'n fleas on a lazy dog.

(No offence to Geeks. The above reference was not in any way meant to associate Highly Experienced Computer Professionals with paracytic insects. Only to comment on the numerical frequency of their appearence here as it bears on the statistical analysis of the standard mean deviation while weighing the overall input of non-trivial data)

Or as we say in Texas, "Somebody ask that guy with the pocket protector"

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), March 06, 1999.

Just in case somebody actually reads this thread......

Would everybody go up and click on the "About" please!?! Mr. Yourdon set up this forum with the purpose of discussing fall back plans of each person help onanother by sharing perparedness knowledge. As it can be accessed via his website one would hope that the people using this site would have the courtesy to read Mr. Yourdon and his daughter's book. If one has read the book one doesn't need to ask , "piece of cake type questions. Hint: corporations don't spend hundreds of millions of dollars for fun.

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), March 06, 1999.

If Y2K was a piece of cake, the business community would have finished its remediation by December 31, 1998. That's the date by which most said remediation would be complete.

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

Remember what happened to individual who said,

"Let them eat cake." ?

-- RD. ->H (drherr@erols.com), March 06, 1999.

I did technical support for Compaq a few years back. Discovered very quickly that I did not like phone support work. Anyway, most of the 50 or so guys on the floor were in the 20 - 30 year age bracket, for some their first job. Their expertise was not "computers," but Pee Cee's, and not PC's in general, but *Compaq* PC's, and not Compaq PC's in general, but Compaq PC *hardware*. I've found that this is similar for Gateway, Dell and other PC tech support people I've talked to. So it is not surprising that some might think that since their piece is under control, it will be a piece of cake. They just can't see outside their fishbowl.

-- Elbow Grease (Elbow_Grease@AutoShop.com), March 06, 1999.

Ken:

Those hundreds of millions (per large corporation) are what is supposed to make y2k a piece of cake. Current information indicates that it won't be a very big piece, though.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), March 06, 1999.

Sorry that I appear to have offended by posting this question. This guy's attitude was just a bit of a shock to me. (Anybody know where I can buy a hair shirt?) :(

Thanks for the responses anyway.

-- FM (vidprof@aol.com), March 06, 1999.

Hair shirts are available, with or without fleas, (hint: without is a bit more expensive but worth the extra) on the Midway at the Yourdon Circus (find teh correct thread and join us!!)

Chuck the blind midway barker, last seen pitching the girly shows to a small dog.

-- Chuck, night driver (rienzoo@en.com), March 06, 1999.

Your questionis appropriate and timely - for you. If others read the replies, and understand that "a computer expert" is about as variable a description as a government "Y2K expert" - so much the better.

Now, about your experience shoveling elephunt leftovers at the circus - have we got a job for you. Great variety, excellent benefits, long lasting, ....

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), March 06, 1999.

Minimum wage? :)

-- FM (vidprof@aol.cm), March 07, 1999.

The guy's a complete tosser.

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), March 07, 1999.

Also see...

http://www.esj.com/fullarticle.asp?ID=1059835345PM

"Top 10 Tricky Year 2000 Problems"

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), March 07, 1999.

Oddly enough FM,

The Pentagon agrees with that statement ...

The Year 2000 computer problem is a ``piece of cake'' compared with the challenge of safeguarding the Pentagon's computer network against an attack by high-tech terrorists or a rogue nation ...

... the amount of attention given to the Year 2000 computer problem is ``laughable.'' ... ``the Y2K problem is a piece of cake. It's identified, and you know how to deal with it,'' ...

... ``This is the most important, most compelling danger and one to which we should apply our resources immediately,'' ...

To each his own corner of the world.

Diane

Military still vulnerable to cyber-terrorism, lawmaker says
TOM RAUM, Associated Press Writer
Saturday, March 6, 1999

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/ article.cgi?file=/news/archive/1999/03/06/national0106EST0414.DTL

(03-06) 01:06 EST WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Year 2000 computer problem is a ``piece of cake'' compared with the challenge of safeguarding the Pentagon's computer network against an attack by high-tech terrorists or a rogue nation, the head of a House Armed Services panel says.

Rep. Curt Weldon, R-Pa., chairman of the subcommittee on research and development, said a recent episode in which computer hackers were able to break into the network through the Internet in a new fashion only underscores the problem.

The Defense Department says it was able to stop the latest episode of computer hacking. It said the intruders did not penetrate the ``closed'' part of the network and thus were not able to access any classified material.

But Weldon said Friday, ``I would be shocked and surprised'' if the Pentagon had been successful in thwarting the recent efforts to break into the network.

Deputy Defense Secretary John Hamre gave a closed-door briefing to House members last week regarding efforts to hack into the Pentagon's computer system.

Congressional and administration officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Hamre told the lawmakers that a new, potentially more damaging method of penetrating the Pentagon's computer system had been detected.

A military computer server near San Antonio was probed for several days in January by hackers who entered the system through an overseas site on the Internet, the sources said. The intrusions were detected by the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Va.

The new method for intruding ``is larger and much harder to understand'' than previous assaults by hackers, Weldon said.

``I know they have made progress'' in coming up with better surveillance systems and programs, Weldon said. ``The frustration I have is I don't think the military is prepared to deal with this in the way that we have to in the next century.''

Weldon called for a full-scale effort to find innovative ways to safeguard the computer network.

Otherwise, he suggested that the first war ``of the 21st century is going to be an attack we don't even know about until it's under way.''

He said the amount of attention given to the Year 2000 computer problem is ``laughable.'' Compared with the problem of safeguarding the Pentagon's computers, ``the Y2K problem is a piece of cake. It's identified, and you know how to deal with it,'' Weldon said.

Across the Capitol, former government officials and defense experts said an attack on critical information infrastructures was the most immediate national security threat facing the United States.

Robert Ellsworth, a former deputy defense secretary, told the Senate Armed Services Committee's new panel on emerging threats and capabilities that the systems at risk include those involving medical services, electric power generation, telecommunications, banking and finance and oil and gas production.

``This is the most important, most compelling danger and one to which we should apply our resources immediately,'' Ellsworth said.

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), March 07, 1999.

A computer tech who has no systems development experience or has done no serious research on Y2K from a systems standpoint is no more qualified to comment on Y2K than an auto mechanic or a plumber. It's a systems problem, a management problem, a business problem, and is fixing to become an economic and social problem.

The Senate report and the testimony re Int'l issues combine to make it quite clear that this will be a big deal in many ways. The size and intensity of the impact will vary by locality, but it seems unlikely that any locality will remain unaffected in some way.

If you can, watch the Int'l testimony on CSPAN. Look at those folks' faces. They are grim.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.com), March 08, 1999.

You clearly misheard him. He said "pieces of cake"

Cake is a pretty good idea not much discussed on survivalist lists. A rich fruit cake sealed in a tin box will keep for several years, and even improve as it matures. It contains all the nutients you'll need in a balanced and assimilable form. If by some chance survival isn't the name of the game, pieces of cake will also be good for bartering.

;-)

-- Nigel Arnot (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), March 08, 1999.

Nigel, you've obviously missed the most important threads on this board - "The perfect Y2K food" and "Know Your Fruitcake" - strongly recommended to any who want more information on the uses of fruitcake in 2000 :-)

Diane, do you think your article is a response to the UK satellite problem? Seems to me that that was kind of a wake up call!

FM, most of the computer people I know in person think that Y2K is not going to be much of an issue, too. I hope they're right. On the other hand, I pay over $1000/yr in car insurance which we have used only once in 15 years (because someone did a hit and run on our parked car), and that's money down the drain. At least the "insurance" I'm buying for Y2K will get eaten and used regardless of the outcome.

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), March 08, 1999.