http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991027/tc/yk_britain_2.html

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), October 27, 1999

Answers

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Wednesday October 27 11:25 AM ET

Britain Steps Up Millennium Bug Plans

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain announced Wednesday fresh measures to prepare for the millennium bug -- a government nerve center that will operate over the new year and a leafleting campaign to reach every British home.

Leader of the House Margaret Beckett said the Government Millennium Center would coordinate across the administration to react to unexpected events from new year's eve until at least until Jan. 7.

She stressed that any problems that do arise could be due to the weather rather than the bug. ``We don't want people to be alarmed unnecessarily,'' she told reporters.

Home Secretary Jack Straw, alongside her, said the operation would also allow news from those countries nearer the dateline, who will hit the new millennium hours earlier, to filter through and lessons to be learned.

A select band of journalists will be allowed into the center to report direct.

Beckett said government systems were tested Tuesday by ''Operation Herald,'' an exercise where hypothetical new year events were thrown at officials to test their responses.

It went well enough that another full-scale exercise is not planned, she said.

``We are not expecting any major disasters,'' Straw said. ''But we have a clear duty to check and recheck the emergency arrangements.''

He said public safety was paramount, with London bearing a heavy brunt with up to three million revelers expected to throng the capital.

``London will bear a very heavy burden from celebrations and celebrants on millennium night,'' he said.

Beckett will make a statement to parliament Thursday over government's millennium compliance -- sorting out their systems to make sure the glitch, which meant some computers would not recognize the year 2000 and could crash, has been eradicated.

Monday, Beckett will launch a new leaflet campaign to raise public awareness, an official told Reuters.

A 24-page booklet will be sent to every home in the country at a cost of $15 million.

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-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), October 27, 1999.

Wow, Japan is doing pretty much the same, they are going to release and 11 point list of things for their people to do. They are eeven asking people to not use the phones or the internet much during the "New Year season", which is about a week.

Anyone see the governments getting a bit panicky?.

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), October 27, 1999.

Japan:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001eBd

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), October 27, 1999.

TOO LATE!!

-- bobby (bob@country.bunker), October 27, 1999.

October 18 thread on this subject:

http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=001bVW

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), October 27, 1999.

Here's some new info on the booklet as well as other media that will be used in Britain's campaign. I doubt there is any mention of potential supply-chain problems, and it sounds like the kind of advice that would assure you planes won't be falling from the sky...

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/19991101/tc/yk_britain_4.html

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

Monday November 1 7:24 AM ET

Britons To Get Millennium Bug Booklet

By Giles Elgood

LONDON (Reuters) - Britons were assured Monday that the Millennium Bug would not make their toasters explode or cause banks to lose their financial records.

Action 2000, the government body set up to issue advice on how to combat the bug, said it was sending a special booklet to every household in the country.

From next Monday, the 26 million homes in Britain will receive a copy of ``What everyone should know about the Millennium Bug, Facts not Fiction'' through their letterbox.

Gwynneth Flower, Action 2000's managing director, said: ``As we approach New Year's Eve it is time to bring together the latest information for consumers.

``An increasing amount of information directed toward the public is ill-informed, inaccurate speculation and scaremongering. Banks are not going to lose your financial records and your central heating will come on.''

Margaret Beckett, the cabinet minister responsible for the bug, said a huge amount of work had been done to prepare for the Millennium Bug.

``We are not expecting any significant problems over that period as a result of the Bug. Everyone can be confident that the UK is as well prepared as any country in the world.''

Launching the booklet, she added: ``This New Year is likely to be the biggest celebration since VE Day. Our aim is that the festivities will not be affected by the Bug and that we enter the new Millennium with no major disruption to services.''

Action 2000 was putting together a 9.4 million pounds publicity push that would include press, radio, television and an outdoor poster campaign that will run for the next two weeks.

The television advertisement aims to debunk ``myths such as toasters exploding and cash machines malfunctioning,'' Action 2000 said.

The booklet will also be available in Gujarati, Hindi, Vietnamese, Chinese and Arabic. It can be ordered in Braille, large print or on audio tape.

``This booklet is crucial to explain to consumers that no unusual action is need to beat the Bug in the UK as the work has been done to ensure they have a bug-free New Year,'' Flower added.

The Millennium Bug is the result of many computers being unable to recognize the abbreviated year date ``00,'' causing a potential problem when 1999 changes to 2000.

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-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), November 01, 1999.