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Technology Stocks : TAVA Technologies (TAVA-NASDAQ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?


To: Josef Svejk who wrote (11571)2/17/1998 10:57:00 PM
From: Hawkmoon  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 31646
 
Since you were the last poster Joseph, I guess you you're the victim of my WDCY2K report..... <wink>

Actually, from my perspective those who have tracked the Tava story are way ahead of the power curve in knowledge related to Embedded Systems. There were some very good presentations, especially by Utility Guru, Rick Cowles, but the limited time of each presentation prevented in-depth discussion of the particulars.

In a nutshell, here are some of my observations.

Re: Nuclear Plants: Rick Cowles feels that almost all US Nuclear plants will be shut down on Jan 1st, 2000 due to an inability to validate that they are Y2K "ready". This is not to say that are particularly vulnerable to Y2K embedded chips or software issues, but that the laborious process necessary and the relative lethargy of the industry will force regulators to have plants shut down until compliance can be affirmed.

Currently 20% of all US electricity is generated by nuclear power. And there lies the rub.

Rick still feels there is almost certain chance that the US will suffer a systemic power failure on Jan 1st, 2000, (if not sooner due to unforseen problems).

Another speaker mentioned that she feels that DOD is far behind the power curve in addressing embedded chip assessment/compliance. Her area of expertise involved the fire control systems of certain Naval missiles. (We'll leave it at that... :0) Her view was they felt their office was very proactive regarding assessment of US weapons systems, but expressed concern about the lack of attention by other armed services.

Another gentleman from GTE addressed the general process of implementing Y2K programs, to include embedded systems. Basic background information only which has been more than detailed here.

On an aside, my wife and I were sitting next to a gentleman with a local utility (I won't say which one... :). Suffice it to say that he mentioned that they had only began addressing embedded chips vulnerabilities within the past 6 weeks and were still attempting to develop a methodology and sense of what needed to be done.

Very innocently and with no ulterior motive <wink>, I brought to his attention a certain company with a certain database of suspect or non-compliant chips, as well as a complete methodology available that would keep them from reinventing the wheel..... :0) (If they do a deal with Tava, I will be contacting them for the finder's fee... <vbg>

Btw, as I sit here typing away, I'm watching a program on Dicovery Channel about new designs of locomotives. Did you know that most of the new locomotives incorporate at 12 computers regulating power flow?? I didn't. I see another potential problem staring me in the face right now.

Additional snippets of info gleaned from the conference: Someone mentioned that KLM airlines had stated (somewhere) that some of their airliners incorporate 167 date reliant embedded chips and that most aircraft such as the Airbus and other "fly by wire" avionics will require extensive validation before being given approval for flight past 2000. This could require months...

Here is a link provided by a member of the audience who works for the FDA and is a member of the CIO council. He briefly addressed some of the measures FDA is requiring for Y2K compliance from manufacturers of medical equipment.

fda.gov

Then scroll down to "y" for Year2000.

Sure hope that gentleman calls Tava and does a deal.... :0) I'll throw the finder's fee back into TAVA stock.... <wink>

Regards,

Ron