This was on Breaking News today at Drudge Report.

Report: States lag in preparing computers for year 2000 NEW YORK (AP) - Welfare, Medicaid, unemployment checks and other types of benefit payments will likely be delayed unless states accelerate efforts to prepare their computer systems for 2000, The New York Times reported today. Only one-third of the 421 computer systems used for seven major health, welfare and nutrition programs is ready, the newspaper said, citing a recent General Accounting Office report. Failure to fix the computer bug ``could result in billions of dollars not being delivered,44 the report said. The concerns are especially acute for county governments, which administer many federal programs. ``I4d be surprised if there was not some sort of dislocation and some interruption of services,44 said Randy Johnson, chairman of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners in Minneapolis and former president of the National Association of Counties. ``We are trying to work with our clients.44 The bug that threatens so many benefits has a simple diagnosis but a massively tedious and time-consuming cure. Many computer calendars are programed to recognize just the last two digits of a year instead of all four. That means when 2000 rolls around, many computers are expected to click back to 1900 instead of advancing ahead from 1999. Computers can be reprogrammed by rewriting the software code, but many devices have embedded microchips that must be physically replaced. There are billions of software functions and billions chips to check, with little more than a year to finish the job. John Thomas Flynn, chief information officer of California, said governors ignore the Year 2000 problem at their peril. ``If social services are disrupted, you4ll have more than computer problems,44 he said. ``You could have civil disturbances. That4s why this issue is a high priority for us.44

-- Nancy E. Smith (Taurus91@wetv.net), November 27, 1998

Answers

Here's a copy of the AP report:

http://www5.mercurycenter.com/breaking/docs/054323.htm

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), November 27, 1998.

Here is the NY Times article:

http://partners.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/11/biztech/articles/27bene .html?RefId=KZOPjxYEutt2uuFw

-- Gayla Dunbar (privacy@please.com), November 27, 1998.

Could someone give me the Drudge address for this report

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), November 27, 1998.

Drudge report: http://www.drudgereport.com/

(Hey Diane - check out the "Quake report" section!)

These guys also regularly run y2K updates, also; they are the original source of most of the "loss of personal freedoms" news you get second-hand from everybody else, and never from the "politically corrupt" mainstream media.

WorldNetDaily: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), November 27, 1998.

Saw the front page of another Ohio newspaper, The Akron Beacon Journal, in the grocery store today. Can't remember the title, but the main headline was about computers missing the mark in the year 2000. It was an article from the New York Times.

Have been listening to WTAM, they don't give a time on their ad for the Y2k piece.

-- Christine A. Newbie (vaganti01@aol.com), November 27, 1998.