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Technology Stocks : Discuss Year 2000 Issues -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: flatsville who wrote (6109)	6/23/1999 11:42:00 AM
From: flatsville	Respond to of 9818

greenspun.com MOSCOW -- Armed with thick repair manuals and rosters of experts, Russian officials have opened an all-out campaign to expel the so-called year 2000 bug from the nation's eight million computers, their microchips and their programs. But 60 miles south of the Kremlin in the little town of Stupino, Mike Tuffs is not waiting for the victory party. Tuffs, regional technology manager for Mars Inc., the American candy maker, asked the regional government and utility officials last year how they planned to deal with the bug. What he found was that many did not know that their equipment was vulnerable and that others believed -- wrongly -- that they were already protected. Mars has since outfitted its two Russian factories so that they can continue some production during power and water breakdowns, and it is stockpiling raw materials in anticipation of transportation and customs problems. "Our greatest concern is for public utilities and state organizations," Tuffs said. "It would appear that many public organizations are not aware of the equipment that they use and how they interact and how a failure in one area will affect another." What worries Tuffs also rattles the technology chiefs of other companies, as well as computer experts and consultants. They say Russia has awakened to the year 2000 threat too late, spread the alarm too thinly and has far too little money to perform much more than digital triage on the Government and economy. <SNIP> International Firms Make Their Own Plans But many multinational companies that have conducted their own research -- Nestlé, British Petroleum and Global One, an international telecommunications concern -- have elected to prepare for trouble. Mars candy executives say they expect power and telephone blackouts in early January, followed by weeks of scheduled brownouts. To avoid any tieup of imports and exports in customs offices, Mars will suspend international shipments around Jan. 1. The company also has begun to educate local officials and businesses about the problem, part of a longstanding effort to maintain good relations with Moscow and the region. The need is there, Tuffs said. In some cases, Mars has received written assurances from officials outside Stupino that the area is ready for the new year, even when the company's examination proved otherwise. Executives at Global One said the long-distance networks were safe, but planned to beef up emergency power supplies at a computer center downtown. Most local calls are routed and timed by a switch whose maker no longer exists, according to Lawrence Haw, a telecommunications consultant here. "It's not year 2000 compatible," Haw said. "There's nobody to work on this switch. There haven't been any software upgrades. There's no vendor for the switch any more. So who's going to do the upgrades?" Against this backdrop of possible chaos and uncertainty, more than a few Russian experts bridle at the notion that their efforts may not meet Western standards. When a top computer specialist at the Russian Federal Aviation Service, Boris V. Mikhailovich, was asked by a reporter whether year 2000 preparations at air-traffic-control centers were adequate, he had a ready response. "What do you think I am?" he asked. "An enemy of my own people?" ------------------------------------ I am beginning to believe that any mention of "shipping" in relation to y2k is worthy of attention at this point in time.

To: flatsville who wrote (6109)	6/23/1999 7:33:00 PM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Interesting, eh? Indeed!!! I read that article this morning in the Financial Times. No mention of Y2K, however. Just discussed a "millenium surcharge" without identifying the underlying cause as to WHY there would be so much additional transportation of goods. This are some of the signs we picked up that tell us that companies are building inventory and EVEN IF there is no major problems here in the US (things we can't work around), there will still be economic disruption from inventories being built up and then used up. Regards, Ron