Y2K essays, links and resources remain on my site, for now...

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Folks,

Several people have emailed me to ask that I keep my Y2K essays and articles on my site, along with the links and resources.

I'm willing to do so for now, though I won't be updating them or adding any new information. Depending on how things develop over the next month or so, I may decide to remove all of it by the end of June -- so I'd recommend that you download or print or distribute any of the information that you find useful.

For those who look for "secret meanings" to such announcements: no, I don't know of any new or specific or secret Y2K events, announcements, or decisions looming ahead of us in the next few weeks. Indeed, I suspect that it's going to be a very quiet summer, as the American public focuses its relatively short attention span on vacations, baseball games, etc.

Thanks, Ed

-- Ed Yourdon (ed@yourdon.com), May 31, 1999

Answers

Thanks for the piece of your life invested in this issue. You have challenged many of us to think. Thanks especially for the _fine_ testimony to the congressional committee.

Best Regards, David

-- David Smith (dsmith@stexel.com), May 31, 1999.


ED.. I know where you are coming from. Short attention spans are the prevalent nature of the American public. Perhaps the world. Inabliity to face the truth is another. It will be and is the single most deterrent item in the Y2K issue this country faces. It is time to step back and watch what happens, and still hope for the best. Thanks to you and others, I was shown the light, or darknes if you will. We are ready here, and I know you are ready there. Let the show begin! Good luck, (We all need it).

-- J.L. Edwards (joeamerica@csnsys.com), May 31, 1999.

Ed- I'm sorry to ask this, but why does it seem you are trying to disassociate yourself from your forum? We have to wonder why now, and why your leaving statement wasn't stronger in many respects. And I know others are wondering, even if they don't want to admit it. I know you don't owe anyone anything, but it just seems strange.

-- sjbaker (sjbaker@prodigy.net), May 31, 1999.

Dear SJ, What's so strange? Why are so many of us having trouble taking the man at his word? Hasn't he done enough? Isn't he credible enough? Having the courage to make the choice to change direction usually indicates a sense of awareness and responsibility. Let's applaud the man for what he has done to make us all a bit more aware of how asleep we've been. Or do we continue our sickening ingrown patterns of destroying our real leaders?

-- Noah Gordon (noah.gordon@cwix.com), May 31, 1999.

Can anybody clue me in on all this , 'nyah - what he really meant when he said .......' stuff? I noticed this type of thing creeping and then leaping into journalism during the early 1980's when the talking heads would follow up a speech with an "ANALysis" of what the speaker REALLY meant. Maybe it was going on earlier and I just wasn't noticing/offended by it. Now I'll grant you that when the most public man in America has to redefine the meaning of the word "is" to cover his tracks, you do set the stage for suspicion. However, that suspicion should be aimed at the person doing the mealy mouthing, not at the person that acts more like E.C. Sager's character, "I y'am whats I y'am, and that's all whats I y'am".

Back to Ed. Ed's articles on his website are 685,252 bytes and his book (online version) is another 774,097 bytes, totaling 1,459,349 bytes. Had to take off my shoes for that one. Does anybody REALLY think that another couple k is going to make a difference. The point of diminshing returns probably was at about 1M or so. It's not like Ed is the sole source for Y2K analysis, insight and info. There are many other writers covering the subject, though certainly not from Ed's vantage point, which should require him to have to say even less.

"A word to the wise is sufficient. An encyclopedia to a fool is inadequate." - unknown (at least to me)

-- Ken Seger (kenseger@earthlink.net), May 31, 1999.



For those few who keeping questioning Eds motives:

Its about time you realized Ed is a MAN, NOT GOD.

What do you expect from him? He can't provide the answers for every question and meet every need. When a friend has helped you immensely then says he has other task to do also, only an idiot would say "No, you can't leave now --- I'm not done with you yet!"

Any half-decent person would just says "Thanks, you've helped me more than I can say. I will look forward to seeing you "on the other side". Thanks for being such a good friend."

As BigDog said in an earlier post --- you must move on.

Ed deserves at least that much respect, and you need to "get a life".

-- Jon Johnson (narnia4@usa.net), May 31, 1999.


Thanks Ed,

We appreciate your leaving the links for now.

And we greatly appreciate all your previous Y2K work on behalf of us all! Please be well and prosper... greatly. You deserve good fortune!

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), May 31, 1999.


Thanks Ed. Enjoy the summer, you deserve it, I'm going to enjoy it also. This may be the last good summer for several years. Its time to reflect and see you on the other side of y2k. Thanks Justthinkin

-- justthinkin com (y2k@justthinkin.com), May 31, 1999.

Thanks for everything Ed. Hope you and yours do well in the next few years...and hope we are all wrong about the extent of the disruptions; but I do not believe that we are wrong. ALSO surely do hope that hubby and I will be able to take our annual trek for trout fishing at the upper Pecos river in August. I recommend that area to you if you have not already seen it(Terrero,etc).

-- jeanne (jeanne@hurry.now), May 31, 1999.

I am not attacking Ed's decision to leave. It's the fact that he is saying articles, archives, everthing is going down asap. You say that he is not a God and then act as if he is one. I am told to get a life for asking a question (it is typical on this forum not to toleratate any challenging viewpoint) You couldn't just wait for the man himself to answer this one. I guess you knew he wouldn't. Don't worry about my viewpoint. It won't be presented here anymore.

-- sjbaker (sjbaker@prodigy.net), May 31, 1999.


....somthing about a door and.....

-- screens (doors@R.us.bam), May 31, 1999.

Also Ed,

Thaks for also providing a link back to the forum on your web-site... for now.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), May 31, 1999.


You have been a great source of help on issues relating to Y2K, in my "neck of the woods" (Venezuela). We met at the UN on December 1998. I hope you and your family will be well. Thanks for all your help.

God Bless.

Isabel

-- Isabel Bermudez (isabelbermudez@hotmail.com), May 31, 1999.


Speaking of baseball, Ed, one of the great things about crisis times is the wonderful surprise of seeing just WHO will step up to the plate, step out of the public role they've been known for, take a chance, and make a difference.

You've done all of that. If I go back to being a programmer in the decade ahead, I'll be proud (I think) to have known you as a programmer who stepped forward. Maybe that points the way to the rest of us not repeating this type of "professional omission" again.

You and Jennifer have exhibited clear thinking, clear communication, and well-reasoned actions all along. Society could use more such examples.

-- jor-el (jor-el@krypton.uni), June 01, 1999.


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