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Technology Stocks : Year 2000 (Y2K) Embedded Systems & Infrastructure Problem -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: John Mansfield who wrote (428)	5/27/1998 4:25:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 618

[RAILTRACK] 'On Tue, 26 May 1998 09:56:56, "Harlan Smith" <hwsmith.nowhere@cris.com> wrote: > cory hamasaki <kiyoinc@ibm.XOUT.net> wrote in article > <7kepWhCNP4qd-pn2-816PwdMkeljN@localhost>... > > > Try AAR at (202) 639-2550, which is their public affairs department. > Also, > > check with RAILINC at (202) 639-5500. If you're in the DC area, you can > > probably arrange a visit to their facility. Heck, offer to fix their > problem... > > but don't give them a guarentee. > > I did a little bit of browsing and found the following and sent e-mail to > an AAR guy as below. Let's see if he replys. Here's what I've found so > far: ..good research, Harlan... for an old geezer, that is. > aar.com > Member Railroads -> Union Pacific -> Union Pacific Technologies > > Railroad Operations Systems > > USA/Canada - or - International TCS (in Spanish, Internacional TCS/SICOTRA) > > > North America > > UPT has extensive experience in railroad computerization. Personnel > currently associated with UPT were responsible for the original development > of the Transportation Control System (TCS) on the Missouri Pacific Railroad > and its subsequent implementation on the Union Pacific and Western Pacific > Railroads after the 1982 merger. TCS is recognized as the most > comprehensive freight car management system in the railroad industry today. > Over 2,000 man-years have been spent developing a highly integrated system > that controls all aspects of railroad operation, including: 2,000 man-years? Shmuel, how big was D2/D3? I guessing about 1,000 man-years and a billion dollars including hardware. TCS is bigger than D2/D3! ...and they say TCS was running in 1982. I taste blood in the water... Controls all aspects of railroad operation.... Like the creature in "Alien", this thing has grown bigger than what I saw. Where's Sigourney Weaver? 2,000 man-years at 100K/man-year = 200 million dollar development effort, very roughly. ..and this is a single point of failure for everything. > Billing and Rating Car and Train Movement Empty Car Distribution > Freight Car Scheduling Yard Classification and Inventory Control Car > Cycle Inquiries Intermodal System Locomotive Scheduling and Maintenance > Crew Dispatching Work Order Management Interline shipment monitoring Scheduling = Dates Billing = Dates Dispatching = Dates shipment monitoring = Dates Size Does Matter. cory hamasaki Harlan, Don, Paul, keep pecking at them! Let's get the truth! It's starting to look like I'll have a new job mucking out the barn at camp milne, please sir, if I muck for another hour, can I skip tonight's economics lecture? ____ Subject: Re: Cory - still using TCAM 10? Date: 26 May 1998 23:15:18 GMT From: kiyoinc@ibm.XOUT.net (cory hamasaki) Organization: HHResearch Co. Newsgroups: comp.software.year-2000 References: 1 , 2 , 3

To: John Mansfield who wrote (428)	5/30/1998 3:22:00 AM
From: John Mansfield	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 618

[UTILITIES] 'SUBCOMMITTEE ON TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE ON SCIENCE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES WASHINGTON D.C. 20515 Millennium Short Circuit: The Y2K Effect on Energy Utilities Thursday, May 14, 1998 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 2318 Rayburn House Office Building OBJECTIVES To determine the business vulnerabilities, system risks, and safety issues presented by the Year 2000 computer problem on energy utilities. To discuss the strategies being employed to avoid interruptions in the normal delivery of power to American homes and businesses. To review the potential Year 2000 impact on the delivery and distribution of our nation's current electric supply grid and the contingency plans necessary if it fails. BACKGROUND This will be the eighth hearing on the Year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem by the Technology Subcommittee. The Year 2000 problem has the potential to severely disrupt our nation's ability to deliver energy to the American public, which is a vital industry necessary to maintain our personal and economic quality of life. In the February 4, 1998 Executive Order issued by the President, the newly created Year 2000 Conversion Council identified the electric power generation system, as a critical national and local priority. Over the past two years, the Technology Subcommittee has been actively engaged in reviewing the Year 2000 computer problem. Through a series of oversight hearings and legislative initiatives, the Technology Subcommittee has raised awareness of the Year 2000 problem and pushed both the public and private sectors in the United States to act expeditiously to correct the problem in a timely manner. Utility Regulatory Web Electric utilities are regulated primarily by the states, but there is an important federal role. The Federal Power Act (FPA) and the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) of 1935 established a regime of regulating electric utilities that gave specific and separate powers to the states and the federal government. State regulatory commissions, such as the Texas Public Utility Commission, address intrastate utility activities, including wholesale and retail rate making. State authority currently tends to be as broad and as varied as the states are diverse. At the least, a state public utility commission will have authority over retail rates, and often over investment and debt. At the other end of the spectrum, the state regulatory body will oversee many facets of utility operation. Despite this diversity, the essential mission of the state regulator is the establishment of retail electric prices. Under the FPA, federal economic regulation addresses wholesale transactions and rates for electric power flowing in interstate commerce. Federal regulation followed state regulation and is premised on the need to fill the regulatory vacuum resulting from the Constitutional inability of states to regulate interstate commerce. In this bifurcation of regulatory jurisdiction, federal regulation is limited and intended to supplement state regulation. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has the principal functions at the federal level for the economic regulation of the electricity utility industry, including financial transactions, wholesale rate regulation, interconnection and wheeling of wholesale electricity, and ensuring adequate and reliable service. FERC is an independent regulatory agency within the Department of Energy that regulates the transmission and sale for resale of natural gas in interstate commerce, regulates the transmission of oil by pipeline in interstate commerce, regulates the transmission and wholesale sales of electricity in interstate commerce, licenses and inspects private, municipal and state hydroelectric projects, oversees related environmental matters and administers accounting and financial reporting regulations and conducts of jurisdictional companies. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency established by the U.S. Congress under the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 to ensure adequate protection of the public health and safety, the common defense and security, and the environment in the use of nuclear materials in the United States. The NRC's scope of responsibility includes regulation of: commercial nuclear power reactors, and the disposal of nuclear materials and waste. Hearing Summary The hearing will explore the vulnerabilities of electric utilities to the Year 2000 problem. What role, if any, the Federal Government should play in reducing risk associated with the problem, and how Year 2000 compliance can be coordinated through the myriad of regulatory bodies that control energy utilities. Witnesses There will be one panel of five witnesses. The panel includes Mr. Hugh L. Thompson, Jr., Deputy Executive Director for Regulatory Programs of the NRC; Ms. Kathleen M Hirning, Chief Information Officer of the FERC; Mr. John L. Laakso, Executive Director of the Texas Public Utilities Commission; Mr. Kenneth P. Cohn, Computer Services Manager of Potomac Electric Power Company (PEPCO) of Washington, D.C.; and Mr. Richard Cowles, Director, Year 2000 Industry Solution, Tara\R.W. Beck, LLC, Penns Grove, N.J. house.gov