At the end of last week, I said that Id post something about what we at Energyland.net will be doing in terms of facilitating information exchange and status monitoring during the Y2K transition.

Heres a brief synopsis, and Ill post more as things develop.

1. Ill be serving as an on-air Y2k analyst with MSNBC. Ill be in their studios from December 30 to through January 1, and possibly a bit before and after both of those dates as necessary. MSNBC is the only network that will be providing around the clock Y2k issue coverage during the transition. More info on this will be forthcoming shortly. (A personal note: the MSNBC studio is not in New York City  and is about 80 miles from my house  so Ill be relatively close if anything happens that requires my attention on the home front.)

2. Energyland.net and MSNBC will be exchanging real time content during the transition  so, you can keep up with whats happening with all aspects of Y2k simply by pointing your browser to Energyland.net.

3. Over the past month or so, weve established a worldwide network of folks in the energy industry that will be giving us real-time updates during the transition. These updates will be provided via phone, fax, email, and smoke signal, if necessary. The people who have agreed to be part of the team are operators, supervisors, and technicians sitting in the control rooms and field locations of the world, not the talking heads or spokespeople. (If you are in one of the energy related industries outside of the U.S., fit this profile, and would like to contribute, please drop me an email ASAP.)

4. As an element of that worldwide network, Energyland.net will be implementing a new online bulletin board at the beginning of next week. General chatter will still be posted to this forum; direct industry updates will be posted to the new forum. Also, the new bulletin board will be hosted on a different network using different software  that way, we have somewhat of a contingency plan if the MIT servers that this forum is hosted on are unavailable for any reason. Im trying to build in some redundancy and minimize the potential for common mode failure of this communication mechanism. The new bulletin board WILL NOT REQUIRE a password to read, but the only folks posting will be those who in the energy industries who have agreed to be part of our real-time reporting network.

Lastly, were going to try to dovetail part of our reporting efforts not only with MSNBC, but a few other internet based transition monitoring efforts. Ill keep you posted as this develops.

Id welcome your thoughts on how we can present the coverage, and the angles to explore. Its going to be a busy time  but the whole Energyland.net team will be working hard to give you the best possible view of the situation before, during and after the transition.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Answers

I will be on standby for another major network in case there are developments at nuclear plants. The TV studios are 6 blocks from my home.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Rick,

Sounds great! I look forward to seeing what's going on and will be tuning in. Excellent that you will have, in the field, where the rubber meets the road type of commentary.

I would appreciate some clarification. When I click on the link you have above for Energyland.Net it is just taking me to an link to the TB2000 forum. Will this BB, with the current password, be the primary BB with the new one you are setting up as back up also added to the real Energyland.net?

Also, (trying to get a peak inside your head) what percentage of America do you think will be able to see your commentary? You know one of those SWAGs you call em. Come on!!! I am not the only one that would like a SWAG here.

Suggestions:

Is there any possibility of having Factfinder and Lane on the show with you? <:0)

And, figuring that the grid stays up, and most of us will be able to watch, I think it would be good to include covering the story from the perspective of the energy requirements of the nations utilities and what it takes to fuel them. Harkening back to your interview with Drew, I believe you covered all of the interdependancies IE: gas pipelines to coal mines and transportation etc.

Thanks,

A Blessed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day to you and your family.

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Norm - I don't know why the hotlinks wouldn't work (they were formatted correctly) - but in any case, I've removed them. Just point the brower to www.energyland.net.

I'll see what I can do about your suggestions. I think both FF and Lane would be a good addition to the coverage. ;-) Let's see if we can get them to work with me "on air". ;-)

-- Anonymous, December 22, 1999

Thanks. I think....

-- Anonymous, December 23, 1999

Hey Rick if you are going to be 80 miles from home and you need to drive back in the midst of a power problem, or even a civil disturbance I hope you have packed a survival kit in the trunk of the car. And I mean food, water, extra dry winter clothing and shoes, a hat. gloves and water proof outerwear in case you have to walk. I would also include S&W .357 magnum or the trusty winchester lever action .30-.30 properly locked up in the trunk in compliance with all laws. Firearm inclusion under the assumption that you have trained with one in the past, dont go out to K-mart and buy your 1st one now!!!!!

-- Anonymous, December 23, 1999