Some good news on Y2K (long)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

Some regulars on the forum have a talent for finding "bad news." To demonstrate there is some good news on Y2K, I offer the following "snippets" and links:

[Sorry about the length, but there was a fair amount of good news reported during the past week and change.]

"The Internal Revenue Service has put the "biggest part of the most serious risk" behind it as the agency nears the final testing stage of its Year 2000 remediation effort, according to IRS commissioner Charles Rossotti." (July 29, 1999)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/tc/zd/story.html?s=v/zd/19990729/tc/19990729184

"Online business will eclipse Y2K fixes as the main focus for information technology spending worldwide by the year 2002, according to GartnerGroup market research released Thursday." (July 29, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990729/bf9.html

"U.S. financial institutions are better prepared for potential computer problems as the year 2000 approaches than are foreign firms, Federal Reserve Governor Roger Ferguson said on Wednesday." (July 29, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990729/bc3.html

"Even though the vast majority of the public believes that some glitches will occur as the world moves from '99 to '00, their level of worry is very low -- on average, 3 on a 10-point scale. And despite the hype about the ``millennium bug,'' only 7 percent of the public indicated that Y2K concerns are affecting their New Year's 2000 plans.

A mere 3% say Y2K concerns will keep them from traveling. And air travel, which recent headlines have fingered as most vulnerable to Y2K problems in the travel sector, will be specifically shunned by another 6 percent." (July 29, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/990729/nj_cahners_1.html

"I believe we have the Y2K problem under control in this country to a degree that I would not have anticipated when the special committee was created." Senator Robert Bennett (July 28, 1999)

"...I agree with your conclusion about the United States. We have picked up the rate of pace to adjust for the possibilities of problems, and I think, I feel far more comfortable than I did six months ago." Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan (July 28, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990728/bbi.html

"'Any firm that cannot achieve Y2K compliance in a timely fashion will be required to cease doing business by Dec. 1,' SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt said before the vote.

'A few firms' lack of readiness could have adverse consequences for countless others,' Levitt said. 'We simply cannot allow firms to continue to operate if they threaten the integrity of the system, or if they are not able to assure customers' access to their funds and securities.'" (July 27, 1999)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/technology/story.html?s=v/ap/19990727/tc/y2k_brokerages_4.html

"Mexico said on Monday that 95 percent of government computers are prepared for the Y2K millennium bug and ruled out any major failures in financial markets or telecommunications when the calendar clicks over to 2000." (July 27, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990726/bku.html

"Moody's Investors Service expects no Y2K-related rating actions among the 13 US securities firms it rates because it believes the industry as a whole is very well prepared for the millennium date change." (July 26, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990726/60.html

"While Delta Air Lines and its competitors spend their summer dueling over discount fares and fighting for frequent fliers, they're also teaming up to take on a common enemy - the Y2K bug.

The nation's major airlines still want to beat each other out of a buck. But they're also swapping tips to ensure each others' computer systems don't crash when the Year 2000 arrives.

They aren't alone. Rival banks, phone companies, hospitals, electric utilities and other industries have reached a similar conclusion - there's little or no advantage to be gained from a competitor's Y2K catastrophe."

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/ap/technology/story.html?s=v/ap/19990726/tc/y2k_why_compete_1.html

"A nationwide payments system used for the direct deposit of payroll checks into bank accounts said on Friday it successfully completed a test to ensure that its computers would be Y2K compliant.

The system also handles personal computer banking and theautomatic deposit of Social Security and pension payments." (July 23, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990723/bau.html

"The Defense Department said Thursday the U.S. military will be Y2K compliant by the end of the year and its nuclear forces will be ``safe, secure and reliable'' on Jan. 1, 2000." (July 23, 1999)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/tc/story.html?s=v/nm/19990723/tc/yk_military_2.html

"On average, South American nations are progressing well in rectifying the problem and Mexico, Brazil, Colombia and Argentina are most advanced, Moraga said." (July 22, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/990722/b2p.html

"Hibernia today announced that all of its 37 ``mission-critical'' computer systems have been upgraded for Year 2000 compliance. Mission-critical systems include hardware and software that support core business processes." (July 22, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/990722/la_hiberni_1.html

"Boston Communications Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCGI - news), the leading provider of prepaid services to wireless carriers throughout North and South America, announced that its core products are Y2K compliant." (July 22, 1999)

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/990722/ma_boston__2.html

"Industrialized countries, on the other hand, were generally found to be at low risk of having Y2K-related infrastructure failures, particularly in the finance sector." (July 22, 1999)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/tc/story.html?s=v/nm/19990722/tc/usa_global_5.html

"The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that all its computer systems were ready for the Year 2000, including those used for air traffic control.

The FAA completed the work by an internal deadline of June 30 but held off making an official announcement while the results were verified by an outside contractor and the Department of Transportation's Inspector General." (July 22, 1999)

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/tc/story.html?s=v/nm/19990722/tc/yk_faa_4.html

``All mission-critical systems are fully Y2K compliant,'' added Melvin S. Cutler, Chairman. (Madison Bank)

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/990729/fl_madison_1.html

"SAN DIEGO -- San Diego County is prepared for Y2K.

Whether malfunctioning traffic signals and home security systems overloading law enforcement agencies, fights and civil disturbances erupting at New Year's Eve celebrations, explosions or wildfires, the county has a plan that apparently works, according to a four-hour training exercise this week." (July 29, 1999)

http://www.y2ktoday.com/modules/home/default.asp?id=1855

"An advisory panel has reported to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that U.S. telecommunications companies will achieve readiness for the Year 2000 date conversion by the end of September. The Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC), in a press statement on the report released July 23 in Washington, says it expects the phone system to "continue to reliably function, interoperate and interconnect on and after January 1, 2000."" (July 27, 1999)

http://www.usia.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/topic/global&f=99072703.ggi&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml

"The Bank of Japan will take appropriate steps to counter a computer bug problem linked to the year 2000 and prepare 40 trillion yen ($345 billion) in cash to help banks borrow before the year end, a deputy governor said."

http://www.businesstoday.com/techpages/y2kboj07291999.htm

"A state report issued Wednesday said cities, counties and other government agencies are mostly on target with efforts to fix the Y2K problem, although utilities were criticized for failing to reassure the public that power and telephone service will be available, as usual, Jan. 1, 2000." (July 29, 1999)

http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/STATE/t000067498.html

"Tech firm lays off 100 as Y2K market fizzles

The Year 2000 came earlier than expected for SPR Inc., the Oak Brook information-technology firm, resulting in layoffs of 100 technology workers so far and more to come, along with a dramatic drop in earnings." (July 27, 1999)

No URL provided.

"While U.S. manufacturers say they are not overly worried about Y2K-related supply-chain problems, they expect to see slight disruptions from off-shore vendors, according to an informal survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers and Ed Yardeni, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell's chief economist.

More than half the 96 global NAM member companies that responded to the poll said they receive materials, parts, goods, and services from 500 or more vendors, and 60% said they expect that all their suppliers will be ready for the Y2K phenomenon on time. About 25% said some of their Asian, Latin American, and European vendors might fail to deliver, but they expect to have other reliable sources." (July 26, 1999)

http://www.techweb.com/se/directlink.cgi?EBN19990726S0058

"The banking industry has been largely successful in preparing for the year 2000. "By the end of May, 98 percent of the nation's depository institutions examined by Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council agencies were making satisfactory progress on their Year 2000 preparations," he (Greenspan) said." (July 23, 1999)

http://currents.net/newstoday/99/07/23/news7.html

"AT&T Corp. and BellSouth successfully tested private business lines for year 2000 compliance, according to a statement from the companies.

The companies moved the clocks in their laboratories forward to test the private lines, such as T1 service, AT&T and BellSouth said. Critical dates tested included Sept. 9, 1999, and the rollover from Dec. 31 to Jan. 1, 2000."

http://www.computerworld.com/home/news.nsf/all/9907213belatt

-- Mr. Decker (kcdecker@worldnet.att.net), July 29, 1999

Answers

Mr. Decker

Very impressive! A little bit of research goes along way.

One note, in the "A state report issued Wednesday said cities" you cut which state it was. Not a attack or anything but it maybe of interest to the folk that live in that state.

Have you thought about hot links? Not needed but it is not hard to do either.

HHHMMMM an interesting thread would be to list all the good Y2K research sites for both sides of the fence. Going to have to ponder that one, letting out trade secrets and all that.

Regards

Mr Imager *VBG*

-- Brian (imager@home.com), July 29, 1999.


Brian:

Here's a site that attempts to list both good news and bad news: IT2000 Y2k News

-- Anita (spoonera@msn.com), July 30, 1999.


Thanks anita, This is one of the best links for a wide range of sites dealing with US affairs.

Hint when you see something in the press you go to the source. This makes the information more authentic than just out off the press releases.  And the link below is one of the best places to start digging.
 

Year 2000 Conversion - United States Information Agency

-- Brian (imager@home.com), July 30, 1999.


Music dude(ess)

Very funny

-- Brian (imager@home.com), July 30, 1999.


Hey Mr. Decker! Having the IRS remediated in time for y2k is NOT good news! :)

-- Helen (sstaten@fullnet.net), July 30, 1999.


Helen:

I doubt that there's a person in the U.S. who wouldn't agree with you. The way I see the IRS, however, is kindof the same way I see cockroaches. If we suffer from them, we all want to see them crash and burn, but they have a way of living through ANY disaster.

-- Anita (spoonera@msn.com), July 30, 1999.


Not THIS one Anita - if any gubbmint functioning next year - flat tax...

-- Andy (2000EOD@prodigy.net), July 30, 1999.

Decker -- Good news and one would expect a ton of it if even 80% are "ready" (4:1 good news). Why are we only getting 2:2 good news or 3:1? And is 4:1 enough? We'll find out.

Maestro -- OK, I surrender. This clip is definitely "content relevant" musical speech!

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), July 30, 1999.


Surprise, surprise! There really IS other news than just the run of the mill doom and gloom. As someone who sits firmly on the fence, I really appreciate the balance and am somewhat surprised that no one has come in here to lambaste Mr.Decker yet (or at least, his intentions).

Much thanks to Anita, as well, for the site.

-- Bad Company (johnny@shootingstar.com), July 30, 1999.


Helen, I think Paul Milne will breathe a sigh of relief if the IRS can process his claim.

BD, if you watch the evening news, does it seem positive or negative? Do we ever hear reports of planes landing successfully? (chuckle) Compliance reports are a bit like reading the telephone book. It's just another company announcing they have completed testing and are Y2K 'ready.' Ho hum. Even Fortune 500 reports receive little play. If small and mid-sized companies are making Y2K ready press releases, it may not make the business section of the local paper even on a slow news day.

The "doom and gloom" speculation, however, sells papers. Did you see the all-black cover of "Wired" magazine a few months ago. It was very dramatic. The "60 Minutes" coverage was a grab at ratings. The California sewage spill broke nationally. "Here is is, folks! A genuine Y2K-related failure."

I do not think the news coverage accurately reflects the actual progress. The news media is biased towards negativity and sensationalistism. It is what people seem to want. "Real" video of police chases and horrific accidents. (sigh) In short, I think for every reported airplane crash there are thousands of unreported successful landings. In rough terms, I think this applies to Y2K as well.

Regards,

-- Mr. Decker (kcdecker@worldnet.att.net), July 30, 1999.



Ken

As I mentioned, here are some of the best links on the net to research Y2K.

If you need any help let me know.

 Good Research Links for your Y2K investigations (Brian, imager@home.com, 1999-07-30)

-- Brian (imager@home.com), July 30, 1999.


Decker:

By not enough "good news", I mean the kind that passes the smell test, not the PR test. But we will disagree about this until rollover, based on our different professions and experience. Not much longer now.

-- BigDog (BigDog@duffer.com), July 30, 1999.


I don't see how it could be worthwhile to compare good news to bad. news. The key question is how many companies or government agencies not being ready will it take to throw the country into depression. If 20 percent are not ready, will that cause a recession or depression? What about foreign companies? How do they fit into the overall picture?

Also, there a question in my mind concerning critical systems. If the IRS cannot match information from brokerage firms to the taxpayers return, is that critical? Probably not, provided it gets fixed within a year or two and they can keep their specific problems hidden from the public.

-- Dave (dannco@hotmail.com), July 30, 1999.


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