'Subject: Y2K is Important to Maine Residents
'From:
"Harlan Smith" <hwsmith.nowhere@cris.com>
22:20
-----Original Message-----
From: Harlan Smith [SMTP:hwsmith.XOUT@cris.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 26, 1998 3:24 PM
To: 'Governor Angus S. King, Jr. [governor.XOUT@state.me.us]'; 'Senator
Olympia J. Snowe [Olympia.XOUT @snowe.senate.gov]'; 'Senator Susan Collins
[senator.XOUT@collins.senate.gov]'
Cc: 'Tom Weber [bdnmail.XOUT@bangornews.infi.net]'
Subject: Y2K is Important to Maine Residents
Dear Governor King and Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins,
This message was precipitated by a couple of rather frivolous articles on
the Y2K problem published in the Bangor Daily News and written by Tom
Weber.
a. "People ahead of politicians on 2000 'bug'" The Bangor Daily News,
Saturday, July 18, 1998
bangornews.com
b. "Irritating bug draws remote Maine closer" The Bangor Daily News,
Saturday, July 25, 1998
bangornews.com (search on
title)
These articles prompted me to investigate how the State of Maine is
attacking the Y2K problem. My limited indicates that Maine is not attacking
the problem very seriously, as documented in this message.
This is somewhat confounding as Senator Snowe is sponsoring a series of
forums to help Maine small businesses address Y2K issues.
senate.gov
[snip]
ARE YOU READY FOR THE YEAR 2000? - SENATOR OLYMPIA J. SNOWE - Invites you
to attend - A FORUM ON THE YEAR 2000 (Y2K) COMPUTER PROBLEM
Tuesday, August 4, 1998 - Portland, Maine - Portland City Hall, Council
Chamber Room - 389 Congress Street
9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. - (Doors Open at 9:00 a.m.)
Tuesday, August 4, 1998 - Augusta, Maine - Civic Center, Cushnoc
Auditorium - 76 Community Drive
2:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. - (Doors open at 2:00 p.m.)
Wednesday, August 5, 1998 - Lewiston, Maine - Central Maine Medical Center
- Chairman's Room - 300 Main Street - 9:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. - (Doors opens
at 8:30 a.m.)
Wednesday, August 5, 1998 - Bangor, Maine - Dyke Center for Family Business
- Husson College - 2:30 p.m.- 5:00 p.m. - (Doors open at 2:00 p.m.)
Thursday, August 6, 1998 - Presque Isle, Maine - Northern Maine Technical
College - Christine Building, Lecture Hall - 1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - (Doors
open at 1:00 p.m.)
[end snip]
Tom Weber and other news reporters - Y2K is not to be ignored and not to be
made fun of. It is of great significance to all citizens of the world and
its impact will clearly tell us how tightly coupled we all are to the
global community and global economy.
The fact that various kooks and profiteers have attached themselves to the
Y2K cause does not diminish the fact that it is a real problem. If you are
as old as I am (probably not), you will remember that the existence of
"WWII Profiteering" made WWII no less real. The analogy is mentioned
because we are in a "Y2K War" but, as a nation, have not mobilized to meet
the challenge.
We need to mobilize a war against Y2K to preserve our lifestyle, regardless
of our individual politics, religion, education, occupation, knowledge,
experience or any other factor influencing our views on Y2K or other
matters. Clinton's recent Y2K speech, at the National Academy of Sciences,
was a pitifully weak and late attempt to start doing what we should have
started at least 2 years ago.
A good low key introduction to the severity of the problem appears at:
miamionthenet.com.
A proposed solution appears at: scotsystems.com.
To get calibrated on the miserable state of the federal government, visit
House Majority Leader Dick Armey's site:
freedom.house.gov &
freedom.house.gov.
With regard to the matter of mobilization, at "U. S. Federal Government
Gateway for Year 2000 Information Directories"
itpolicy.gsa.gov you will find a list of
state sites dedicated to assisting state governments and citizens with
their Y2K efforts. A page there is dedicated to listing Y2K web sites
maintained by all government entities at the state level
itpolicy.gsa.gov. All such entities do have
web sites listed there, with the very conspicuous absence of Hawaii,
District of Columbia, Oklahoma and **** Maine ****.
Please note that New England is well represented by, Connecticut
doit.state.ct.us, Massachusetts
state.ma.us, New Hampshire
state.nh.us and Vermont
y2k.state.vt.us. I encourage you to visit those web sites and
see what your New England cousins are up to. With regard to establishing a
web site Maine is one of the last hold outs. Maine state government seems
to be the last to "Get It", as Peter de Jager says.
I did find a few scattered references to Y2K efforts on the pages of
state.me.us.
1. MFASIS (Maine Financial and Administrative Statewide Information
Systems) Accounting System
state.me.us
2. State employee health benefit coverage - Healthsource Maine and CIGNA
HealthCare state.me.us
3. A singular item appeared at the 1998-01-13 "Information Services Policy
Board" Meeting documented at state.me.us
Year 2000 Peer Reviews
Janet expressed her desire to be able to assure the Governor that the
State's systems will be prepared for the millennium change. She is
especially concerned with the small agencies and imbedded systems. She
recommended a formal check and balance system with a final sign off for
each agency be established. The ISMG will be asked to establish a committee
to develop compliance criteria, and field panels of IS managers to visit
each agency to review and test for compliance, and to identify where the
"last minute" resources will need to be focused.
Bob will discuss this concept with the ISMG at its 1/14 meeting. [No
indication of any action on this.]
4. A rather meager report, Y2000 Review Status by Bob Mayer, CIO -
state.me.us was presented in the 1998-04-18
.Y2000 Review Status by Bob Mayer, CIO [1998-04-14]
[snip] A March status report of Project Year 2000 (Y2K) was distributed
and an update will be available in May. Agencies need to strive toward
completion and Bob plans to communicate with them bimonthly. Governor
King's completion goal is 1/1/99 to allow ample time for testing. A few
agencies have a deadline extension to accommodate testing code change and
systems changes.
Bob expressed confidence that the majority of agencies will be completed by
1/1/99. If agencies have new systems, or further information on cost
estimates, please report them to Bob. BIS has established a testing
platform for changed applications on the IBM and the BULL mainframes and
agencies are encouraged to contact Mark Kemmerle to arrange testing
(mark.kemmerle.XOUT @state.me.us).
Bob McAtee inquired for the details included within the percent complete
column of the handout. Testing code changes and program identification are
the primary components. Bob Mayer was asked to compile a summary of
percentage covered for each of these items. He also noted the MFASIS system
is scheduled to become Y2K compliant by May 1, 1998. Katy Longley asked for
the status of the Y2K bill and Bob responded saying the legislation
requires quarterly reports to the Appropriations Committee, and $150,000
was appropriated to ensure Legislative systems become Y2K compliant. [end
snip]
At least one law firm in Portland, Maine "Gets It". See
mpmlaw.com "Murray, Plumb & Murray Resources".
There, mpmlaw.com, an article by John C. Bannon,
Esq., entitled "The Dunce in the Machine" is mostly technically accurate
and a cute beginning at an introduction to Y2K. A far better beginning
technical introduction can be found at
computerpro.com.
A citizens group in Lowell, Massachusetts
lowellonline.org "Belvidere Neighborhood Association
Year 2000 Project", lead by Ian Wells ian.XOUT@rsn.hp.com, is one of the
strongest and most level-headed community action groups in the USA.
With respect to Y2K Impact on your local water and sewage facilities, I
recommend "Y2K Truths and Consequences",
news.wateronline.com.
With respect to electric utilities I refer you to
info.cv.nrao.edu [snip] October 31 1997: Power
plant control system failure. To test for Y2K compliance in a generator
temperature control system at a power plant in the United Kingdom, the
control system's clock was set to just prior to midnight, December 31,
1999. Twenty seconds past midnight, the unit tripped on high generator
temperature. The process value for the control valve for generator cooling
is time-smoothed and when the year became 00, the value was integrated over
infinity. The valve closed (fail safe), tripping the unit on high generator
temperature. The algorithms used in this control system are apparently
common throughout Europe. This is unlikely to be a big problem if it occurs
in isolation, but simultaneous failures in many systems would be. (Source:
Electric Power Research Institute Embedded Systems Workshop, Proceedings
dated October 4 1997, reported at the Utilities and Year 2000 website.) In
an unrelated report, Central Maine Power Company cmpco.com has
found date sensitive [embedded systems] in its transformers and power
equipment. [end snip]
With respect to telecom, I refer you to
netpci.com [snip] Executive Director Skip
Patterson, of the year 2000 Project for Bell Atlantic, with 38 million
phone lines from Maine to Virginia: Our customers have a lot to worry
about. The thing about this whole Year 2000 problem is we can get it all
right. But if everybody else doesn't get it all right, what's the point?
We're only one link in the chain.... We all have to get it right.[end snip]
With regard to Nuclear Power (which has excessive Y2K risk) I refer you to
[snip] Six states Connecticut, New Jersey, Maine, Vermont, South Carolina,
and Illinois rely on nuclear power for more than half their electricity.
[end snip]
senate.gov.
With respect to cooperative actions of local governments, I refer you to
nlc.org [snip]
Local Government Groups Launch Y2K Campaign -- NLC has joined with Public
Technology, Inc., the National Association of Counties, and the
International City/County Management Association on a campaign designed to
boost awareness among local governments about the Year 2000 problem. As
part of the campaign, a Year 2000 library has been established on Access
Local Government, the online service for local officials, at
algov.org. Details: becker.XOUT @nlc.org [end snip]
Additional contacts for the above-described effort are: NLC: Antoinette
Samuel, e-mail samuel.XOUT @nlc.org, 202/626-3124; nlc.org;
NACo: Fred Zeldow, e-mail fzeldow.XOUT @naco.org, 202/942-4264;
naco.org; ICMA: Lisa Huffman, e-mail lhuffman.XOUT @icma.org,
202/962-3584; icma.org; PTI: Mike Humphrey, e-mail humphrey.XOUT
@pti.nw.dc.us, 202/626-2432; pti.nw.dc.us.
Counties in Maine com No counties are
identified as having web pages at this site, nor have I yet identified any
Maine cities as having web pages. However, an independent search is
revealing some.
Main Municipal Association memun.org
Maine Cities and Towns state.me.us
Portland ci.portland.me.us
ci.portland.me.us
communitynetwork.com
Cumberland County maineusa.com
Counties in Maine by Population
1996 Pop 1990 Pop % Avg Inc Name Seat
251,087 243,135 3.27% 23,063 Cumberland County
Portland
171,482 164,587 4.19% 19,344 York County Alfred
144,989 146,601 -1.10% 17,711 Penobscot County
Bangor
116,214 115,904 0.27% 19,114 Kennebec County
Augusta
101,754 105,259 -3.33% 18,286 Androscoggin County
Auburn
78,113 86,936 -10.15% 15,238 Aroostook County
Caribou
53,797 52,602 2.27% 15,830 Oxford County South
Paris
52,507 49,767 5.51% 15,192 Somerset County
Skowhegan
49,500 46,948 5.44% 19,239 Hancock County
Ellsworth
37,487 36,310 3.24% 19,421 Knox County Rockland
36,224 35,308 2.59% 14,617 Washington County
Machias
35,822 33,018 8.49% 14,963 Waldo County Belfast
35,508 33,535 5.88% 19,156 Sagadahoc County Bath
31,303 30,357 3.12% 20,583 Lincoln County
Wiscasset
29,200 29,008 0.66% 15,713 Franklin County
Farmington
18,329 18,653 -1.74% 14,560 Piscataquis County
Dover-Foxcroft
It is my hope that we will soon see a Y2K web site in Maine, similar those
existing in the great majority of other states, and documented therein
evidence of aggressive Y2K leadership by the Governor's Office.
Harlan Smith
Synergistic Mitigation & Contingency Preparation -- "Austere
Infrastructure"
2000.jbaworld.com
scotsystems.com (for printout)
Quick Small Business Guide to Y2K
angelfire.com
Embedded Systems Remediation
2000.jbaworld.com
y2knews.com
YOU CAN HELP angelfire.com
--
Harlan |
