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

To: Jeff Mizer who wrote (7245)	7/26/1999 5:04:00 PM
From: Lane3	Respond to of 9818

If the Pollys are right what will they crow about ? Their not protecting their family because of stubbornness ? fear of friends , neighbors laughing ? afraid of spending a few hundred to couple thousand on life saving insurance ? I agree that someone who acts like that has no basis to crow. Neither does someone who squanders money and life energy on foolish fears, however noble the intention. I see on this thread an excellent exercise in brainstorming all the things that could go wrong on January 1. But my overall impression is of a huge leap from a raw list of potential dangers to committed preparation for each and every one of them. I think that this situation we all face deserves the finest critical thinking that we can muster and, effusive compliments notwithstanding, I have seen precious little of it. People in the States, and probably elsewhere, are notoriously inept when it comes to risk assessment. We typically fear, for example, an trip in an airliner more than a trip in a car even though statistics prove that air travel is much safer. We get all exercised over alar on apples, and then we smoke. I am no expert in risk assessment, but I do know that there are two aspects to be considered. One is the probability that something will occur and the other is the seriousness of that occurrence. No diabetic is his right mind would let a prescription for insulin run out. Conversely, no father in his right mind would spend thousands of dollars to asteroid-proof his home when a kid needs braces. Both the probability and the seriousness are to some extent individual. Someone who lives in the desert needs to be more concerned about water than someone with ready access to snow. But most are similar for all of us. The shame is in reacting to the collective dangers either by pulling a chicken little or by pulling the covers over one's head--and dissing the other camp in the process--rather than making a rational risk assessment and acting accordingly. IMO, that's "who has the most to lose."

To: Jeff Mizer who wrote (7245)	7/27/1999 1:43:00 AM
From: Ken	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

More on the new (military) strange highway (convoy) signs:<<<Convoy Signs? 1680 AM Radio? Theme Park Parades? I publish this because I was sent photos verifying the existence of the signs mentioned here. The explanation is speculative. The person is asking the right questions. Note: A.M. radios will usually go as high as 1680, but the frequency is empty. Not, however, in the near future. Here are questions that deserve answerrs. 1. Why are there road signs directing people to tune into empty channels? 2. Who paid to put up these signs recently? 3. Why are they being put up in Orlando now? * * * * * * * * * * * About eight weeks ago, I saw the first posting on your site that pointed out the blue directional signs popping up in various places on the highways. I live near a very well known and very large theme park in Orlando Florida. About four weeks ago, I noticed the very same signs you described going up at a major intersection to the theme park. The signs are state produced, about two-foot square and contain obvious road information. However, the information is too small to be read as you pass by and the signs are located in the center of the ramp after you have committed to the turn. After pointing them out to friends, the ones with army experience explained they are standard military convoy signs. They also point out that the theme park is the perfect place to stage a military presence if you wanted to control the central Florida area. But I have an even odder mystery for you. In conjunction with the directional signs, a series of other brand new signs are going up. The signs read "TRAVELER'S INFO, 1680 AM". They began appearing on major ramps from the interstate running through Orlando. The signs come in two sizes. A much larger version can be seen in various places on the turnpike running through Orlando. At first I thought nothing of these signs until I made some observations. I tuned my auto AM to 1680 and discovered nothing is being broadcast. After doing some checking, I discovered the standard AM band only runs from 500 to 1650 kHz. The signs are brand new. Some are covered with black plastic while others have the plastic blowing off which allows you to read them. The signs also appear on the private property of the large theme park. In some cases, the signs are even quite prominent as you are leaving the city. Since the signs are on the theme park's property, I decided to call the security department and ask them about it. They insisted the station will be used to broadcast "parade times" inside the theme park. I found this quite odd since the signs appear as you leave the city about 20 miles away from the theme park and no one can tune to the broadcast up on their car radio anyway. Considering I might be really wrong about this and the signs are exactly what they look like, to be of any use as an information source, the broadcast would have to be very general and quite powerful to cover such a large area. In that case, will people listen to a radio station for an extended period of time to get details about their location in a 400 square mile area? If anyone else is seeing similar signs, perhaps they can add some insight. >>>