The words used in the post below speak for themselves.

grab and fight loot dangers ahead widespread disruptive discharge windfalls in their food-stamp accounts most widespread damage $30 million in unexpected credits to food stamp recipients statewide shopping spree premature benefits will keep the bonus news galloped through low-income communities the benefits, which average about $75 for each person

One authority on the issues that computer people often refer to as Y2K, Dr. Howard A. Rubin of Hunter College, said the New Jersey episode appeared to be "the biggest visible occurrence of Y2K impact on the public." ****************** This is what I have to say about this. The "problem" turned out to be human error, not a Y2K problem. Yet look at the wording!!!

It was a disaster!! It was chaos! It was terrible that these people got their monthly allotment for groceries~~~ALL 75 dollars worth a week early! This is enough in itself that they were able to by food to eat at the end of the month when the last months 75 dollars worths had probably run a little thin!

I guess this proves that poor people are criminally inclined and are a threat to all the honest Y2K concerned people who sell books and speak in seminars and sell dried foods and worry if their cell phones and and internet connections will work on Jan 1, 2000. After all they have too much to worry about with Y2K than to have to be bothered about how to streach 75 dollars out to feed one person for a month.

Everyone was so ready to condem these people and attribute all of the negitive attributes they could think of to them and Y2K. Perhaps it would be a good thing if the worse case scenerio happened, some people benifit from learning what a joy it is to be in a position where they are considered leatches, lazy and take your tax money so they can have a free ride. If people were made to pay off their credit cards tomorrow, what a different attitude there would be. Go ahead and think the worse, then if you loose your job tomorrow perhaps you would buy groceries a week early if the opertunity arose. Or if you had been born to different parents...

I am discusted with the automatic reaction to this situation. Cherri

> > Received: 03/24 8:17 AM > From: T.King, tking3@softhome.net > To: Norman Kurland, kurlandn@att.net > > TK > Passengers, in the 'real world', grab and fight for lifeboats and loot > at first sight of (only) the tip of the Y2K iceberg ahead (see story). > IMO, unless the masses are informed of dangers ahead and shown > how to prepare, Y2K problems can be the cause for a widespread > disruptive discharge, unlike any other known "winter of discontent". > > http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/regional/nj-food-stamp. > html > > March 23, 1999 > Bad Repair of Year 2000 Bug Causes Errors in Food Stamps > By MIKE ALLEN > > In what some are calling the most widespread damage yet > from an attempt to fix a year 2000 bug, New Jersey officials scrambled > MOnday to correct a computer error that gave $30 million in unexpected > credits to food stamp recipients, who crowded grocery stores for the > second day of a statewide shopping spree. > > Programmers warn that the mistake points to the potential for > disruptions throughout the year, not just on the widely anticipated > witching day of Jan 1. > > Tens of thousands of New Jersey residents continued to carry the > windfalls in their food-stamp accounts through MOnday afternoon. State > officials said they had fixed the problem by nightfall, and now expect > to take several days to decide whether those who used the premature > benefits will keep the bonus, or wait until May for their next credit, > a prospect that advocates for the poor say could lead to desperation. > > On Sunday morning, New Jersey accidentally credited 194,000 food-stamp > accounts with benefits that should have arrived April 1, giving > food-stamp recipients a large balance at a time of month when most > accounts are depleted. > > The error occurred after the State Department of Human Services tried > to fix a computer to defuse the problems caused by a programming > shortcut that reduced years to the last two digits, meaning that some > computers could mistake 2000 for 1900. > > The mistake affected the 90 percent of New Jersey's food-stamp users > who get their benefits by swiping a magnetic card, much like a debit > card, at the cash registers of grocery stores. People discovered the > mistake when they went to make purchases Sunday morning and found a > surprisingly large balance on the receipt. The news galloped through > low-income communities and grocery stores reported runs similar to > those before a huge snow storm. At noon yesterday, 84,000 families > still had use of the benefits, which average about $75 for each > person. > > > One authority on the issues that computer people often refer to as > Y2K, Dr. Howard A. Rubin of Hunter College, said the New Jersey > episode appeared to be "the biggest visible occurrence of Y2K impact > on the public." > > "Things have gone wrong, but they've been spotty and caught quickly," > said Dr. Rubin, the chairman of the computer science department. > "There have been problems with banking systems, but nothing that has > affected so many people." > > > Late yesterday, officials doing a computer autopsy discovered the > reason. Because of an error introduced during the adjustment two weeks > ago, it failed to fill in the year this weekend when data-processing > workers were setting up the order for April's benefits. According to > state officials, one of the workers then tried to fix the year > manually by typing in "1999" but left off the last "9." The computer > assumed the blank space was a zero. > > > New Jersey's experience underscores warnings by computer experts that > fixing Y2K problems is not a risk-free business. > > It also serves as a reminder that Y2K computer problems can strike > both before and after Jan. 1, 2000, the day most people fear. > > Harold G. Pakulat, the manager of database services at the > Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said that although "January 1st > gets all the press," people can expect small disruptions throughout > the year as governments and corporations finish their fiscal years, > and as new programs introduce new problems. "As we, quote, fix > software, you hope for smaller and smaller bugs," Pakulat said. "But > software is written by humans and tested by humans." > -------------------------------------------------- > Murphy's Y2K laws-That which can not fail, will. > Murphy's Y2K laws-That thought compliant, isn't. > Denial is never a long term survival strategy. > 1998, -Peter de Jager & Phil Dodd- > ------------------------------------------------- > "Pray history doesn't record Chicken Little > as having been a Y2K optimist." -TK-98 > -------------------------------------------------- > Libertarian Self Reliance in the Face of Y2K > http://www.geocities.com/ResearchTriangle/Lab/7731/ > -------------------------------------------------- > Protect privacy, boycott Intel: > http://www.bigbrotherinside.org > --------------------------------------------------

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), March 26, 1999

Answers

Cherri:

Please reread what you posted. This is EXACTLY one of the manifestations of Y2K problems. A person tries to fix an error in the date handling portion of a system, and gets it wrong. One of the errors we have talked about before. NOT all Y2K errors will be automatic. Many will have human intervention/help.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (reinzoo@en.com), March 26, 1999.

The person forgot to type a digit. Like leaving a comma out. It has been happening for years. But the first thing that happened was it was reported as a Y2K problem, and all the BS was said about it...

Bad Repair of Year 2000 Bug Causes Errors in Food Stamps (someone forgot to type a number)

grab and fight loot dangers ahead widespread disruptive discharge

Dr. Howard A. Rubin of Hunter College, said the New Jersey episode appeared to be "the biggest visible occurrence of Y2K impact on the public."

It is just that so many are so willing to go along with the mob mentality.

The poster was just going "see!! see!! look at how bad it is and how the mobs reacted!

people need to get a grip. The Y2K "news" these days almost makes me wish for the days of news about (barf) Monica.

-- Cherri (sams@brigadoon.com), March 26, 1999.

Hi Cherri,

It's apparent that you (and probably many others) think Y2K problems will occur only in non-remediated software -- software that hasn't been looked at or fixed as yet.

While it's true that non-remediated software can fail (if it has date processing errors), it's also true that remediated AND TESTED software will also fail. The industry numbers for failures in production systems after maintenence is 15%. That is, 15% of completetely fixed and tested systems will have a failure that's discovered only after the system has been put into production.

This is the fact that Infomagic uses to predict a spiral into a deep economic depression for our economy.

-- Dean -- from (almost) Duh Moines (dtmiller@nevia.net), March 26, 1999.

Cherri, look what you posted. It's a mess. That's what happens when people get involved with computers. Sometimes, they spew out a big mess, even though they don't intend to. karen

-- karen (karen@karen.com), March 26, 1999.

Cherrie - your posting confirms the exact point (I think) you were trying to complain about - but, please, clarify what that point is/was in any case.

While I wait your response, re-read this:

This State > officials said they had fixed the problem by nightfall, and now expect > to take several days to decide whether those who used the premature > benefits will keep the bonus, or wait until May for their next credit, > a prospect that advocates for the poor say could lead to desperation. > > On Sunday morning, New Jersey accidentally credited 194,000 food-stamp > accounts with benefits that should have arrived April 1, giving > food-stamp recipients a large balance at a time of month when most > accounts are depleted. > > The error occurred after the State Department of Human Services tried > to fix a computer to defuse the problems caused by a programming > shortcut that reduced years to the last two digits, meaning that some > computers could mistake 2000 for 1900. > > The mistake affected the 90 percent of New Jersey's food-stamp users > who get their benefits by swiping a magnetic card, much like a debit > card, at the cash registers of grocery stores. People discovered the > mistake when they went to make purchases Sunday morning and found a > surprisingly large balance on the receipt. The news galloped through > low-income communities and grocery stores reported runs similar to > those before a huge snow storm.

We who are most concerned about year 2000 preparedness - those of us who are are trying to get more Americans to prepare mentally and physically for some degree of disruptions - despite the government pressure that says "this will be nothing more than a bump in the road" -- have most feared government services and infrastructure collapse in wide areas for varying periods of time.

Your posting shows the way "unprepared" Americans - those most threatened are certainly the poor who are already at the mercy of the government for food stamps - and at the mercy of corrupt and inept city governments for everything needed for survival = heat, light, food, water, clothing, shelter, and power and lights. So this is how they behave when presented with a simple moral choice about the future: do I prepare for the future, or do I squander a sudden $75.00 and spread the word? If I squander the money - knowing it is intended for next month, do I demand more next month in April from the taxpayers because I wasted it in March? Or do I use it wisely?

Sure it was a Y2K programming error - and an example of the societal breakdown possible - probable ? - next January when they have reason to be desperate. This kind of error will most likely happen several million times next Jan, Feb, and March, and Apr, and May.....

But what will the people affected do? Act like this? Like they did in LA? In Ecuador? In Brazil? In Miami, after the armored car accident spilling money in the bridge? Do you honestly think this is an example of "safe" reasoned behavior of the same public most threatened by other more serious Y2K issues?

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), March 26, 1999.

Seriously, Do you really think that one little comma or what ever out of place caused this???? No one in the past fifty years has made a typo???? Why didn't this happen before when there was a typo??? Explanation sounds a little fishy to me...maybe they were afraid this would start the stampede so they embellished on the story alittle.

-- Moore Dinty moore (not@thistime.com), March 26, 1999.