I keep reading reports that the people in britian are y2k aware this is a complete joke. business people are aware but not the general public. local councils have no awareness campaigns planned, Government are running no awareness campaigns for the public. It will be to late by the time they find out, it will cause panic.

If I didnt know better i would think this was deliberate or gross stupidity at best.

Best wishes

-- Graham hyslop (Bob@ghoward-oxley.demon.co.uk), June 08, 1999

Answers

Yep. Both. A truly botched job all around. God help us all!

-- -. (dit@dot.dash), June 08, 1999.

Graham, we used to think it was unbelievably stoooopid. Now it is calculated evil. TPTB have figured somehow they can finangle the coming meltdown to their advantage. No consideration or concern for the common folk or little ppl whatsoever.

But mega events often go astray of even the plans of mice and men ...

xxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx xxxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.

Same goes for Australia, pretty much. The global perception managers did a brilliant job, especially with their line about y2k being "a scam to make money for computer consultants." I can just imagine the snivelly little demons at Hill and Knowlton perhaps, calculating, scheming..."Hey our numbers show that the population has a generally very high cynicism score on our last five surveys. Maybe we could tap into this cynicism, use it to our advantage on our y2k perception managment contract. We should link their inherent cynicism with y2k, let them enjoy the buzz of feeling smug and aloof for 5 seconds, let them feel like they're over-and-above y2k issue because they "know it's just a moneymaking scam by geeks". This should build a strong emotional anchor to a dismissive attitude to y2k. And best of all, from there on they won't have to THINK about it - they'll love it. "All these other idiots are running around worrying about y2k, but I'm smooth 'cause I know it's all a scam. Aren't I savvy." We can make these suckers think whatever we want them too, but more importantly, seeing as they don't do much thinking, we can make them FEEL any way that suits our clients. heh heh heh. "

paranoia is a form of awareness

-- humpty no.6 (Iam_not_a_number@hotmail.com), June 08, 1999.

Right on, vascillating #6! Ya gots thattun figured smack dab. Marketing manipulation. Evil comes in many treacherous forms.

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 08, 1999.

Britain Acts to Soothe Public Y2K Fears 2.29 p.m. ET (1829 GMT) June 8, 1999 By Mike Peacock

LONDON  Britain on Tuesday launched a national awareness campaign about the millennium bug to combat what it says is a serious component of the computer problem  groundless public fear.

"There are some problems remaining but what we have to be wary of is creating further problems ourselves," senior cabinet minister Margaret Beckett told Reuters.

The campaign, centered on a booklet called Facts Not Fiction which the government aims to get into every home in the land, is designed to calm unfounded fears and scare stories.

It promises Britons their money is as safe as ever, pensions and mortgages will be paid and cashpoint machines will dispense money as usual over the new year.

It also said key services  electricity, gas, water and telecoms  were well ahead of the game, so there was no need to fill the bath with water and stock up on firewood.

"The public utilities and the public services are among the people who have done the most preparatory work," Beckett said.

The Year 2000 problem comes from older computers and software, which only allow two digits for the year in dates. Unless dealt with, the year 2000 may be read as 1900, causing computers to crash as 1999 gives way to the new millennium.

With computers indelibly involved in all parts of life, apocalyptic stories have circulated about the need to prepare for the worst. "This campaign is about giving people confidence the work is being done," Beckett said.

Britain is generally regarded as being among the best prepared but last month, the National Audit Office found key sectors were still in danger of being scuppered by the bug.

While most areas of business and services are at little or no risk of shutdown, some services  including the police, fire and rescue and hospitals  all showed "elements where severe risks of material disruption remain," the watchdog said.

Beckett insisted the National Health Service and police force were working hard to be ready in time  and would be.

Perhaps most at risk are small businesses which lack the finances or expertise to become millennium compliant.

Information technology law firm Nabarro Nathanson said the government should grant tax relief on Y2K-related expenditure by small firms, something proposed in the United States.

Beckett also said there were other dates that could prove a problem, such as September 9, 1999. Four nines was used as a cut-off code in some older programmes. "We have to be aware throughout the year and even into next," she said.

comments@foxnews.com

-- paster (cut@dottedline.xxx), June 08, 1999.

"Britain Acts To Sooth Public Y2K Fears"

http://infoseek.go.com/Content?arn=a1419LBY224reulb-19990608&qt=% 22year+2000% 22+bug*+glitch*+y2k&sv=IS&lk=noframes&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), June 08, 1999.

It sounds as if Britain is following the U.S. example...

http://www.wired.com/news/print_version/politics/story/17527.html?wnpg =all

"Feds Plan Y2K Spin Control"

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), June 08, 1999.

Yeah but its just damage limitation to late for anything else?

-- Graham hyslop (Bob@ghoward-oxley.demon.co.uk), June 09, 1999.