From CIO Magazine ...

This fellow would probably meet Corey's requirements for a "Polly" Article ... but I doubt if he'd be interested in writing for the little WRP rag when he can get published in CIO magazine (not to mention the odd journal article from time to time)...

-- Stephen M. Poole, CEt (smpoole7@bellsouth.net), June 04, 1999

Answers

I wonder if this guy changed his name. He sounds (and looks) just like an imbecile prof. (when you get to know them, all good illusions about college professors are shattered)I had at Harvard.

No wonder "Johnny can't read".

Also, you're late again, Poole --- posted/discussed days (?)ago.

-- Jon Johnson (narnia4@usa.net), June 04, 1999.

Poole maybe a little late, but I noticed this article is now front and center on CNN.com as well.

http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9906/03/fruitcake.y2k.idg/

CN N

-- Buddy (@@@.@), June 04, 1999.

Hmmm....let's see if I got this right.

You said, "... but I doubt if he'd be interested in writing for the little WRP rag when he can get published in CIO magazine (not to mention the odd journal article from time to time)..."

So it is GOOD for this guy to make money writing y2k opinions, rather than "giving them away" to WRP....

But it is BAD for Ed Yourdon to make money writing y2k opinions....

Just want to be sure I know where you're coming from.

Anita Evangelista

-- Anita Evangelista (ale@townsqr.com), June 04, 1999.

Some excerpts from this computer scholar's diatribe:

toilets...are infected with the dreaded millennium bug

If my refrigerator...will morph itself into an icebox.

...when 999 became 1000, similarly bizarre behaviors occurred.

Bill Gates is the antichrist

We'll use up our entire treasury surplus investigating these yahoos

A few airplanes falling out of the sky at midnight

Hmm...pretty well balanced -- Year 1000, airplanes, toasters. Very typical of the ivory tower academia. This is what Cory means when he refers to those with "big brains", Stephen.

Enjoy you laughter now. It'll be at a premium next year.

-- a (a@a.a), June 04, 1999.

From the bottom of the CNN article:

RELATED STORIES:

City folk worried about Y2K bug head for the hills in Virginia (May 22, 1999)

The seedy side of Y2K (May 18, 1999)

Y2K survivalists push up demand for precious metals (April 16, 1999)

Y2K doomsayers cash in on millennium bug (March 30, 1999)

RELATED IDG.net STORIES:

The wackier side of Y2K (PC World Online)

Y2Chaos (CIO)

Humor: A couple of zeros (CIO)

Poll: Preparing for a New Year's hangover (CIO)

Your own Y2K (Computerworld)

Computerworld's year-2000 overviews (Computerworld)

Year 2000 Research Center (CIO)

IDG.net's Year 2000 World (IDG.net)

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

RELATED SITES:

Y2K Fun Page

Y2K Humor

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.

Anyone else see a pattern? All sorts of neutral terms used, like "head for the hills... seedy... survivalists... doomsayers...". Extremely helpful in encouraging people to takes steps in making preparations.

-- Mac (sneak@lurk.hid), June 04, 1999.

I also see a pattern, although not the same as you: HUMOR. "Y2K Fun Page", "Y2K Humor", "The Wacky Side of Y2K". The Honorable Professor didn't "Blast" Y2K, as Poole suggests, he merely poked fun at it. I personally thought it was pretty funny.

good for a laugh...

-- newlurker (no@no.com), June 04, 1999.

Steven The guy is a complete fool. I recommend everyone should read that article. What a joke. What bothers me is not the survivalist stuff as much as he minimizes the Y2K issue. This kind of crap is why there are going to be small business problems. They will figure Y2K as some kind of joke.

Now Steven, as you will remember I flashed the Microsoft SEC disclosure at you a while back. Here is the revised Microsoft Y2K page. THEY ARE STILL TRYING TO GET IT RIGHT!!!! What is wrong with this picture????

I will tell you. Microsoft just over a year ago said that there was little problem with their systems, "minor issues" Now they are updating their compliance statements. This should have been in place this time last year. The world will not fall apart Steve but why do you have to confuse the seriousness with the mundane.

And then there is the health industry, in Canada it is now issue number one and they are WAY behind. This means Power, Banks, Telcoms, and Government are looking good. They have the technical expertise to deal with problems.

The average person and businesses do not.

Microsoft

Microsoft's Compliance

Classification Update Microsofts compliance classifications are being updated in the coming weeks to respond to customer requests for simplicity, and to better correspond to two-tiered compliance systems. The revised classifications will rigorously map to our existing classifications so that if you prefer to continue to use the traditional terminology, you can. Many who use two-tiered classification systems will find Microsofts revised classifications easier to use.

 Microsoft TechNet - Year 2000
http://www.microsoft.com/y2k/

-- Brian (imager@home.com), June 04, 1999.

Brian said: "The average person and businesses do not [have the expertise to handle Y2K remediation]"

Define "average".

I am the owner of a small/medium business (25 employees) and most of the small businesses I deal with are WAY smaller than mine. What kind of expertise does it take to remediate the Y2K problems in a typical / "average" small business. 99.9% won't have custom/mainframe software - only COTS. Install the patch or buy a new version that is compliant. Embedded chips? Switchboard, fire/security alarm, perhaps some manufacturing machinery - hardly like having to check an oil refinery or chemical plant. Supply chain? Think about key raw materials and stockpile accordingly. A lot of the other stuff (banks, power etc) is out of our hands.

There is a lot of comment in this forum about the problems of lack of Y2K remediation in the small business sector, most of it way too gloomy. Yes, entrepeneurs tend to be procrastinators but most small- businesses can do their Y2K remediation in less than a week when push comes to shove. And they can also be imaginative and resourceful when circumstances demand.

[By the way, I seem to recall from an earlier post of yours that you are a Leaf fan, n'est-ce pas? Bummer about the Sabres, eh?!]

-- Johnny Canuck (nospam@eh.com), June 04, 1999.

"This fellow would probably meet Corey's requirements for a "Polly" Article..."

yeah right... this guy wouldn't know what big iron was if it fell on his head.

-- John Q. Public (poole@idiot.com), June 04, 1999.

newlurker (no@no.com),

You are 100% on-target. :-)

Some folks are emotionally primed to take a few things too seriously (I say "knowingly", having been one of that group myself on some past occasions). Humor, among other things, can be a casualty of the interforum war now in progress.

-- No Spam Please (nos_pam_please@hotmail.com), June 04, 1999.

Johnny

Did the leafs ever get beat! And so goes Colorado.

Yes you have mentioned your small business and I hope it holds to gether for your employees

But on the other hand there is a busy local comp store and as of last winter Y2K was not an issue for any computer or software sold in the last 4 years.

I have their name and phone number.

What about their clients? How could a wintell dealership not care about the Y2K problem? And if it took them so long to deal with it then how long is it going to take the other business as they laugh in the coffee room.

Now I know that alot of the fixes are easy relatively speaking.

You are right I should have rephrased that.

But you should have seen the look on my old boss when he thought that having the comp guys come in and make the system compliant would do it and I told him to check the Nortel compliance as the meridian phone system had compliance issues. He had no idea the phone system could be at risk and the business could die because of it.

Nortel Networks: Year 2000 Readiness - Meridian 1

-- Brian (imager@home.com), June 04, 1999.

Plus

At the "Town Hall" Y2K meeting there was lots of awareness and hundreds showed up to hear the government, utilities, food supplier, prep rep, talk on the Y2K situation. The business meetings were not well attended. One only had 20 odd turn up and I new some of the people there. They were not all business types.

I hope all business have the drive you do John. They don't seem to have the awareness.

-- Brian (imager@home.com), June 05, 1999.