Although I don't make a Y2K connection on this one, it just goes to show the prevalence of computers and what effects they can have on seemingly unrelated situations. (This was in today's paper)

AUSTRALIA

A bizarre computer glitch has left soft drink machines calling for help - literally.

The faulty machines may have placed hundreds of phone calls to police, ambulance and fire service emergency phone lines, blocking true emergency calls, a newspaper reported.

Thousands of the machines around Sydney are programmed to automatically call a number at a distribution company when they are near empty. But some of the machines dialed a default 000 number, the emergency number.

-- dakota (none@thistime.com), July 04, 1999

Answers

very interesting...embedded micro-system glitch?

Mike =====================================================================

-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), July 04, 1999.

" ... fail in weird, wild, wonderful ways ... "

-- Ashton & Leska in Cascadia (allaha@earthlink.net), July 04, 1999.

I wrote and installed a system once that called people back to do a survey. The instruction to the caller were to enter JUST thier area code and telephone number. Turns out that a significant number of people think the 1 (as in 1-800-555-1212) is part of thier number.

The system dialed a 9 to get an outside line, then a 1 to access long distance, then the number the caller had entered. Of course for all those who had entered a 1 as the first number of thier number the result was that the system dialed 911.

I can attest to the fact that the emergency services folks have a VERY small sense of humor on these issues. (rightly so)

Things can and do fail in strange and wonderous ways.

-Greybear

-- Got Logic?

-- Greybear (greybear@home.com), July 04, 1999.

Errrrrrrr... that's "their" bear. :) That is ONE word I learned how to spell. Ha

-- FLAME AWAY (BLehman202@aol.com), July 04, 1999.

Maybe thats why the program failed??!!!Yup, its y2k. Got toilet paper?

-- treading litely (rs@marketwatch.com), July 04, 1999.