July 1 was supposedly the first of several "flash-point" dates to watch because that was the beginning of fiscal 1998-1999 for 46 states. Any reports on media coverage of computer shutdowns (99 often used to shut down programs, I understand). I watched and read carefully on July 1 but saw nothing. Also, I have a friend who says he heard that we may begin experiencing extended power outages on OCT. 1 (the second of the list of "flash-point" dates)?!? Is this possible? This is the first I have heard of this possibly occurring on the first day of the Fed's fiscal 1998-1999 year! I knew there was a 1998 problem, but is this part of it? It seems that if we begin having such relatively drastic effects on Oct.1, 1998, the US and world could reach a crisis point this year!?

-- Justin Sturz (CJSturz@skantech.net), July 04, 1998

Answers

I would suspect that this date will cause problems for some organizations. However, this is easy to cover-up at this time. I would look to the end of the month when monthly processing is run on the database. The eom processing should flush out the bug. Most businesses(mainframe shops) will be posting entries to the database during the month and then process on 07/31/98.

It will be interesting to watch. I personally do not expect much to happen on 'flash points' this year. I think 12/31/98 and the month after that will be a huge test of repairs.

j

-- j (yada@yada.com), July 06, 1998.