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Technology Stocks : WDC/Sandisk Corporation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Starlight who wrote (7018)	9/21/1999 3:54:00 PM
From: Sam	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 60323

First, sorry, there was a typo in there, I should have re-read it more closely before my 15 minutes were up. It should have read that "Earthquakes are not the only reason for power outages". Second, have you ever been responsible for a computer system? I have. The first thing anyone tells you, the first three lessons of managing of system, are "Backup, backup, backup." You always want ot minimize any downtime, and you never want to lose any material. Obviously, there are some events which are difficult--no, impossible--to predict, and you will possibly lose things. Not data in this case, but wafers, work in progress at the time of the quake. But I find it remarkable--and yes, disturbing, since my investment is dependent in part on these production processes--that, with this extremely expensive equipment, UMC appears not to have enough backup power to survive an outage from the main electrical system and continue production for at least a few days. Perhaps their power requirements are such that this is not feasible, I don't know. If so, then so it goes. Finally, if you want me to say I'm glad that no one was killed or injured, frankly, that goes without saying. Of course I'm glad about that. This isn't the "Feelings" thread, though. I had relatives who lived in Taipei for years and friends who did business there for decades. I'm far from insensitive to their plight, or to the plight of people in NC, where I myself lived for 5 years. Should we not post because of their respective tragedies? What is happening, e.g., in N. Korea, right now (and for quite awhile now) dwarfs anything that they are going through, should we begin each day with a prayer for them? Or just maintain a "decent" silence? Or is it an indecent silence? I don't think I have to apologize for looking at this from one of many possible perspectives. My opinion, you're entitled to yours.