Yourdonites

  As a person that has lived in conditions that were isolated and minimalist for years in my youth the Y2K preparations is of special interest to me. A couple of weeks ago I posted the beginning of an archive compiled from posts on the Timebomb 2000 forum. There is a vast amount of information from the wide amounts of experience in all matters of concern for folks prepping up for the rollover on this forum.

 This is a huge topic. There are many things to concern any individual living anywhere. How long is it going to be? How bad is it going to be? How prepared are the services that folks rely on? When is the panic going to hit? How much is going cost to get prepared? When is the panic going to start?

 Now these questions have been bantered back and forth over the net for a year or two. On a Elist that was split off from Comp.Software-Year2000  (AKA CSY2K) last summer the position was taken that the identification of risk factors should remain separate from the preparation aspect. We found this was a forward idea and for the last 8 months have conducted our prep advice to each other.  CSY2K was at one time the only forum that was busy, to discuss y2k prep.  This of course contributed to the signal to noise level though. The DGIs ridiculed the efforts of those that were concerned.  And on the other side of the coin, if folks werent planning a farm in a rural community they were toast in Paul Milne eyes.  Of course those that were on the newsgroup for the purpose of getting information to actually fix the problem were not  impressed.

 This lead to the evolution of the Elist Y2K Prep.  While on there I archived allot of the more informative posts in a manner that was categorized. It is this level of categorization that led to the Archive below.  This is being explained as I am a new person on this forum but an individual that GOT IT early last year when Rick Cowles was spreading warnings on CSY2K  and other sites.  The thought of folks in cities with no power is an image that is quite frightening.

So in regards to the Archive below, it is built some what similar to the Timebomb 2000 forum but has a little twist.  The table of contents are on a form below and all one has to do is select the category and press enter. This will bring you to the lead page of the category.  It goes to the lead page because the archive is on threads and it is important  that the category have the chance to grow if it comes to that. Earlier this Archive was posted and there was a password. This was because of the fact I was not aware of the need for Phil Greenspun to disable the password feature. There is now no password needed.

  All posts on the archive are from this forum. There maybe some that are not as relative as others and of course there are the trolls with their lack of intelligence being demonstrated. It is the best that can be done at the moment. The Greenspun forums are a valuable communication tool with a wide variety of options for growth and options.  There is allot to do and not much time to do it in. Best of luck to all folks in their future preparations.

Year 2000 Preparation Archive

Choose the category you are interested in and press Enter. The link will appear in a new page. Close window to return.

Category	Year 2000 Preparation ArchivePersonal ConsiderationsPreparationFamilyHomeFoodFood Storage and PreservingGrowing FoodFood - CookingClotheswaterSanitationHealthLightingHeatFuelAlternate powerMoney and Y2KCommunity PreparationRural LivingUrban LivingBugging outSecurity and gunsHam Radio - CommunicationsBooksLeadershipAnimals

-- Brian (imager@ampsc.com), March 29, 1999

Answers

I have looked up some of these threads via the search machine you have created, and just want to thank you for all your hard work. With so many posts, it is a great gift to bring these threads out of the tangle and into a form where old GI's and newbies alike can access all the wisdom and info.

I find sometimes I have to read or hear a tip several times before it sinks in, since so much of what is happening on this steep learning curve is new to my way of thinking _and_ with so many multiplying branches of need-to-know stuff. It's great to have an effective way to find again what gets lost in the deluge.

-- (Awed@your.contribution), March 29, 1999.

Excellent effort Brian, Thanks!

I have also managed to download most, but not quite all of the discussions here (~64MB). If there is a particular thread you are looking for but can't find, let me know and I'll text search through my archives. If you do so, please make the request as specific as possible, (the more specific/narrow the search, the easier and quicker).

For general, categorized information though, I think you'll find Brian's work much easier to use.

-- Arnie Rimmer (arnie_rimmer@usa.net), March 29, 1999.

Thanks folks!

Arnie one thing that could be done from your position is to post the particularly valuable threads in their categories. I plan on updating the archive but going through all the threads here is quite a task. And it is my experiance that the gardeners and the gun folk put up the most posts. Neither of which I know about. Anyone that can contribute a hand if need be could help in the future.

By the way Arnie thanks for "The Middle Ground" All folks got to chip in if we are going to achieve anything

-- Brian (imager@ampsc.com), March 29, 1999.

Arnie, how did you automate downloading of the forum? Not in detail, just in general. Am trying to get an idea if I could write something that would do it.

-- Debbie (dbspence@usa.net), March 29, 1999.

Thanks folks!

One thing I forgot to mention is that the source code can be copied and pasted to any thread. So if anyone is into it and can copy and paste the source code they can put it with their Preparation threads. Moveable archive :o)

By the way Arnie thanks for the "Middle Ground" article. Great!

-- Brian (imager@ampsc.com), March 29, 1999.

Debbie: No mysterious and wonderous magic here, I'm afraid. And no need to write your own. Just search the 'offline browser tools' software. For example, here's a list:

http://www.jumbo.com/pages/internet/sections.asp?x_sectionid=2766

I tried several that choked. Finally got Blue Squirrel's Grab-A-Site to get through most of it. However, after a while on NT, the CPU utilization goes to 100% and it slows to crawl. Took all weekend to grab the 64MB of files I did get (at least at that rate, I know I didn't add too much to the load at this site).

Brian: Thanks for the comments on the Middle Ground essay. I don't post a lot of the essay-type stuff and it should be obvious from all the help I had to get from this forum that I'm not a professional writer either. But the essay seemed to have life of its own. I'd been thinking about it for a few weeks. I'd like to believe that my words would help encourage people to prepare but I suspect the reality is somewhat less than that. Like so many of my co-participants here, I've tried to encourage preparation as best I can among those I know but with very limited success.

I was honored that Rick Cowles felt it was good enough to post on his web site.

I was a bit nervous though when I heard Gary North had posted a link to it - you know how Gary can be - thought maybe I'd see some outrageous title put on it - but he was mercifully brief with his comments and let my essay speak for itself. I was pleased that he approached it this way.

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), March 30, 1999.

dag nab link off! - off I say! Er, uh, sorry

-- Arnie Rimmer (Arnie_Rimmer@usa.net), March 30, 1999.

Damn constructive work, Brian.

-- PNG (png@gol.com), March 30, 1999.

Brian, splendid job, really, how very kind of you to go to all that trouble. I wonder if Phil can find some way of keeping your post at the top of the two lists?

If you can walk me through the technical aspects, I'd be glad to help out with sorting the gardening stuff. But bear in mind I'm an old git and the comprehension's not as absorbent as a new git's.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), March 30, 1999.