Subject:	What People Are Reading: Part II
Date:	1999/06/20
Author:	fedinfo <fedinfo@halifax.com>
	Posting History

Computer gurus race clock vs. Y2K glitches by Azell Murphy Cavaan Sunday, June 20, 1999     With only six months to go before the dawn of the millennium, the outlook is bleak for scores of computer programmers frantically trying to prepare millions of computers for the year 2000.   ``We're looking at over 30 years worth of code that needs adjusting,'' said Wray. ``It's insane to think we can correct all of that in just a few years. Even if we started 10 years ago, we still wouldn't have everything ready by Jan. 1, 2000.''   ``There is no way we are going to make it,'' said Tony Wray, a Framingham-based Y2K expert who has been working on the problem for more than three years.   And, if the Y2K problem itself is not overwhelming enough, some say a spirit of deception has wiggled its way into the confusion.     Hoping to cast off any perception of incompetence, some Y2K experts are not being honest with their bosses in describing their ability to ``fix'' the problem - leading management to believe things are under control when, in reality, they are not.     ``We're professional liars,'' an anonymous Y2K programmer confessed on Y2KNEWSWIRE.COM. ``We're not telling our bosses how bad it is because of how severely we've seen others treated.''     Said another: ``Of course, we are reporting that we are clean and green - as the politicians require us to report.''     But why would politicians want to sugarcoat the truth?     ``Because the nation's economy is built on trust,'' said Wray. ``If you send a message that there are problems, then it could affect the economy.''     ================   This is it in a nutshell.   "It's insane to think we can correct all of that in just a few years. Even if we started 10 years ago, we still wouldn't have everything ready by Jan. 1, 2000."   "There is no way we are going to make it,"     Even a child can do the simple math. It is most certainly INSANE to have ever thought that a problem of this scope an magnitude in THIS economic environment, in THIS business world, would have been accomplished properly and on time.   The FACTS prove beyond a resonable doubt that the job is not even close to being done.   More and more articles like this are going to come out. And more and more people who have been ignoring the issue will start to get jumpy. And then....all of a sudden....critical mass will be reached. All at once. All those fools who were looking for that 'sign' will find that sign in a stampeding panic.   The only way to avoid that panic is to be the FIRST ONE OUT.     The dyed-in-the-wool pollyannas will be the last to do anything, if at all. They would rather do nothing to protect their families than admit that they were mistaken. But, they are in the minority. The overwhelming majority are not dyed-in-the-wool Pollyannas. They just try to ignore the consequences of Y2K as best they can so that they can sleep at night and go to work in the morning. THEY are the ones who will stampede.   The ones who have made preparations have done so, so that they will not be a burden to anyone else, so that they will not have to harm anyone else in provision of their daily needs. They care about the consequences to their children. They care more about the safety of their families than they do about potentially being mistaken. They know that egg on the face does not kill, but that no egg in the belly will.   The ones that will harm others are the ones who have not prepared. They do not 'want' to harm others , but care so little about the consequences that place themselves in a position where they may have to because of their own callousness. THEY are the dangerous people.   Of that group that has not prepared, the worst are those who refuse to prepare. A conscious decision NOT to prepare. They do nor care about their families. How much less will they care about yours when push comes to shove.   The truth about the consequences has been witheld intentionally, purposefully. The government and business have lied. Business has decided that it must protect it's money first. And government has decided that it has to protect the 'economy' by not intimating that preparations are necessary. They have decided that they do not want to incite a panic based on people trying to prepare and have opted to settle with a worse panic from UNPREPARED people.   If you remain in a populated area you have next to no chance of seing your family make it through, intact.   Ordinary and unprepared people will eventually panic. Your fault, my fault, nobody's fault at all, they will panic.   Avoid the panic. Prepare. Prepare so that you will not have to panic when all the others about you are. Have some extra for others.   Most important... GET OUT OF POPULATED AREAS. NOW.     http://www.bostonherald.com/bostonherald/lonw/y2k06201999.htm -- Paul Milne If you live within five miles of a 7-11, you're toast. Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Share what you know. Learn what you don't.

-- a (a@a.a), June 20, 1999

Answers

So after some digging, y2knewswire managed to find one programmer (who just happens to be selling remediation services), and fabricated a story by asking him leading questions.

It's true that the media have axes to grind. But some grind a whole lot harder than others. Doing your y2k research at y2knewswire is like determining the public's views on gun control by doing all your research at Gun Owners of America.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), June 20, 1999.

Milne dead head right-on the money again....

-- PJC (paulchri@msn.com), June 20, 1999.

Wow, what an article! If this doesn't stop the herd from chewing their crud for a while, what will? That accidental nuclear launch *promised* by the Russians?

Computer Gurus Race Clock vs. Y2K Glitches

xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxx

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), June 20, 1999.

Oops, missed another little tidbit:

"Information provided by S.F. Tomajczyk, author of ``101 Ways to Survive the Y2K Crisis'"

So this particular journalist used three sources: Someone selling remediation services, someone selling a book, and y2knewswire (which sells fear).

Yes folks, balanced research and reporting at its best. Isn't it strange the reception such a presentation gets, compared with the reception Norm's articles get? Well, nothing is more reasonable than a shared prejudice.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), June 20, 1999.

"All those fools who were looking for a 'sign', will find that sign in a stampeding panic". Milne has just described 98% of the American public. It's a sinking feeling deep in the gut. It's the truth.

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), June 20, 1999.

Flint: nice to have you back, good pic-nic? You're making yourself look foolish again, buddy. You could try holding your breathe until you turn blue, next. I love to hate you far too much to watch you do that. Please, I'm beggin' ya....take a trip, to a National park for awhile, but avoid any sewege treatment facilities. (they've finally begun some testing)

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), June 20, 1999.

Flint, this article appeared in the Boston Globe, not the Weekly World News.

-- a (a@a.a), June 20, 1999.

'a':

y2knewswire was one of the sources quoted. I read the article, and it raises good points and gives good advice. But you need real tunnel vision not to recognize that it was carefully written to express one of many possible viewpoints. It is an editorial. It is not news.

-- Flint (flintc@mindspring.com), June 20, 1999.

-sigh-

-- Will continue (farming@home.com), June 20, 1999.