It's the Y2K Spin Game! It's easy to play, just use your browser's Find facility (try Control + F) to look for these words in any PR statement or news article on Y2K. Total up all the points to find the Spin Rating for the article. A positive score indicates a vague and meaningless statement. A negative score indicates a precise and specific statement.

+5 points for each occurance of these:
can't guarantee
won't guarantee
all being well

+2 points for each occurance of these:
confident
(Bonus phrase: fully confident scores you +10 instead!)
probable
possible

+1 points for each occurance of these:
expect
likely
unlikely
no need

-2 points for each occurance of these:
prudent
sensible
precautions

-5 points for each occurance of these:
responsible
accountable

-10 points for each occurance of these:
can guarantee
will guarantee
compensation

If you find any article that produces a negative score: we all win!


-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), December 03, 1999