I just missed the news but heard them saying they were doing a large scale Y2K test with various scenerios. Did anyone else hear about this?

-- Andre Coltrin (andre@caselaw.com), December 08, 1999

Answers

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/cn/19991208/tc/19991208010.html

Link

Wednesday December 08 05:50 PM EST

New York does final Y2K checks

By Erich Luening

Staff Writer, CNET News.com

With just 23 days before the crystal ball drops in Times Square, New York City officials plan to hold the last Year 2000 test of all municipal computer systems tonight.

A spokesperson for the city's Office of Emergency Management said the test is taking place between 9:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. ET.

City officials plan to check hundreds of computer systems and countless devices in New York City's vast inventory of technology to be sure everything from traffic lights to elevators in public buildings will work after the century date change.

The evaluation comes just a few weeks before hundreds of thousands of people gather in Times Square to watch a Waterford ball descend.

In what is one of the most heavily attended New Year's Eve events in the world, 500,000 regularly attend the New Year's Eve Ball drop in Times Square. Another 300 million TV viewers watch festivities from home. Some estimate that this New Year's Eve nearly a million people will be in Times Square to take part in the festivities

New York City plans to spend $300 million, more than any other city in the world, in its effort to prevent any problems sparked by Y2K.

The high price tag for the Big Apple's Y2K program is paying off. Compared to many other US cities, New York is making headway in beating the computer problem.

According to the most recent survey conducted by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), the auditing arm of Congress, New York, Houston, San Diego, San Jose, Calif., Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Fla, Milwaukee, and Memphis, Tenn., completed Y2K renovations no later than Sept. 30. Today's test is the final check to see if that renovation work was done well.

The Year 2000 problem, also known as the millennium bug, stems from an old programming shortcut that used only the last two digits of the year. Many computers now must be modified or they may mistake the year 2000 for the year 1900 and not be able to function at all.

-- (New@News.Now), December 08, 1999.

There's only one small problem with the above CNET article by Eric Luening: the GAO has NOT said that New York City finished its Y2k work by Sept. 30. What the GAO did report in July was that NYC had said it would be ready by Sept. 30. Big difference there.

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1009-200-344887.html?tag=st.ne.1002

Link

By Erich Luening

Staff Writer, CNET News.com

July 15, 1999, 11:40 a.m. PT

Only 2 of 21 major U.S. cities have completed their efforts to prepare for the Year 2000 technology problem, according to a congressional audit released today.

Boston and Dallas finished their preparations this month, while nine other cities--New York; Houston, San Diego and San Jose, California; Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Florida; Milwaukee, and Memphis, Tennessee--said they expect to complete their Y2K work no later than September 30, according to a survey conducted by the US General Accounting Office (GAO), the auditing arm of Congress.

-- (small@correction.needed), December 09, 1999.

The New York NBC outlet aired a report tonight on the Y2K tests set to run until 2am EST...about an hour from now.

-- Irving (irvingf@myremarq.com), December 09, 1999.