I just received a 56 minute video from the Gov't entitled "Preparing for the Challenge Y2K" The back reads as follows:

The year 2000 is rapidly approaching and with it "Y2K" or the year 2000 computer problem. The United States Department of Commerce, working in a coordinated effort with President Clinton's Council on Year 2000 Conversion and several other federal agencie, has developed this video program as well as a CD_ROM "self-help tool." This program is an effort to objectively (laughing) look at the issues and concerns about Y2K and suggest reasonable solutions and logical courses of action to remediate problems and prepare for contingencies.

To that end, the Department of Commerce, led by Secretary William Daly and Deputy Secretary Robert Mallett, has worked since June of 1998 to produce one of the most comprehensive collections of interviews and resource information available.

Our program is international in scope. No matter where you are, no matter what your business, no matter if you own a computer or not, most Y2K related problems have a common genesis and will affect our governments , our economies, our communities and our personal lives. this program strives to make education the focus and forward thinking the key that will minimize Y2K related problems for everyone."

This should be interesting. I will post tomorrow after I watch the video this evening. Should be funny.

-- Donna Messenger (Donnaeli@yahoo.com), November 05, 1999

Answers

Where can I get a copy? This could be a collector's item!

-- Mad Monk (madmonk@hawaiian.net), November 05, 1999.

I've seen a copy of this video. Do not waste your time. It is all interviews with wonderfull subjects, but I'm guessing all of the meaningfull quotes were left out. John Koskinen should have a new title.

I hereby present a motion to name John Koskinen as the new MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA. --------- ------

-- Omega Man (Wishing I were H@ri Seldon.com), November 05, 1999.

Donna, Im curious how you happened to be selected to receive this video. None of my cross section of friends and acquaintances has seen or heard of this. Did it just arrive in the mail unsolicited?

-- Truth (at@the.ready), November 05, 1999.

Will post the rest of the back when I get home and give everyone the address where they can contact to get the video. Got it off of one of the many sites I frequent for Y2K info. Not sure which one??????

-- Donna Messenger (Donnaeli@yahoo.com), November 05, 1999.

I too got this video about 2 months ago. the order information is on Gary North's web page.

It is a fair assesment of the problem. It is strictly information and has no real slant. If your not smart enough to put 2 and 2 together then it would be a waist of time to watch. Kosky and our own Ed Yourdon are just two of the people interviewed on it and I would say they gave equal time to everyone. It was kind of funny to watch Kosky do the bureaucratic mambo and Ed on the other hand talking like just one of the guys.

I will see if I can find the phone number you need to call to order it. It was free (well I guess we all payed for it) and it took about 6 weeks for delivery. guess I should get cracking if you want to see it this year :)

DOC.

-- DOC (DOC@...), November 05, 1999.

http://www.doc.gov/y2k/videos.htm is where to go to order this video from the Dept of Commerce. I got a copy of this video many months ago before it was available to the public, an old high school chum produced it. In our occassional e-mails back and forth he said "It's not what you think" apparently he somehow had come to the conclusion that I thought is was Armageddon. (??) When I got the video, I dropped a note to GN and also posted a review, I think it was in C.S.Y2K. I thought it would be funny too. For something produced by the Dept of Commerce, I was surprised. Koskinen appears for a moment at the beginning and that's it! The video was intended to be shown on PBS, but the intended audience is supposed to be small business. not individuals. So they end up getting pretty serious about the consequences of not being ready for Y2K. The only part I really had a problem with was the woman who was somehow in charge of explaining trains for the dept of Transportation. She said there was very little problems, trains just go from point A to point B. She mentioned nothing of bar-coded boxcars and computerized track switching. I'll see if I can dig up my favorite doomer summation quotes from Sec of Commerce Bill Daly and his vice Sec.

LINK to the Video page

-- plonk! (realaddresss@hotmail.com), November 05, 1999.