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

To: Bill Ounce who wrote (2457)	8/24/1998 12:40:00 PM
From: John Mansfield	Respond to of 9818

'Clueless, fix-its, alarmists and survivalists The Y2K problem (bug, crisis, whatever) is polarizing people into one of four camps. Which one are you in? 1. Clueless. You're either out of touch or in massive denial. Duh-2000 (www.duh-2000.com) is awarding a Duh-2000 each month for the dumbest thing reported in press. An example (quoting Marshal Igor Sergeyev, former commander of Strategic Missile Forces): "In Russia's Strategic Missile Forces, there is no risk because special computer technology is used." Special technology? That's a relief. 2. Fix-its. You believe the Y2K problem can somehow be fixed. Full speed ahead, damn the torpedoes. If it can't be fixed, well, you can improvise manual workarounds. Peter de Jager has written the rallying cry: "You're sick of the game! Well, now, that's a shame" (www.year2000.com/y2kgame.html). "Train switches don't work automatically? Put men with lanterns along the tracks," he advises. 3. Alarmists. You believe it's too late to avoid a global recession and lots of other nasty things, so we should prepare for the worst. Ed Yardeni (www.yardeni.com) is the leading advocate of this position. Yardeni's Internet-based 500 Day Conference on Aug. 19 (500 days before Jan. 1, 2000) is available on RealAudio at (www.yardini.com/y2kconf1.html). Alarmists believe the federal government is offering zero leadership and we're on our own, so let's take responsibility and work with our local communities. Paloma O'Riley's Cassandra Project site (http://millennia-bcs.com) lists things you can do now in your community to promote awareness and prepare for a worst-case scenario. The idea is catching on. The City of San Jose declared Aug. 19 "Year 2000 Awareness Day" (www.ci.san-jose.ca.us/y2kw.shtml) and its year 2000 project manager Deborah Barker set up information booths in City Hall and the main library. She's also coordinating a task force to assess the Y2K readiness of San Jose water, police, traffic, airport and other city services. Barker is looking for volunteers to help set up a Web site. You can contact her at deborah.barker@ci.sj.ca.us. An unlikely alarmist is the U.S. Federal Reserve Board, which recently announced that it's increasing its cash reserve from $150 billion to $200 billion during its 1999 fiscal year to "cover anticipated demand caused by cash withdrawals made from banks due to year 2000." Apparently they read the Gartner Group's unsettling report that half of 6,000 IT specialists surveyed plan to withdraw one to three month's worth of cash before Jan. 1, 2000. Another is Robert Bennett (R-Utah), chairman of the Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, who says Americans should document financial information and stock up on food and essentials just before Y2K day. 4. Survivalists. You don't plan to hang around for the apocalypse, period. There are two types of survivalists: communitarians and individualists. The communitarians are forming self-sufficient communities in remote places. The most hyped of these, Heritage Farms 2000 (see "Doomsday Fears About Y2K," May 4 issue) has been blocked by South Dakota's Sully County Planning Commission. They're now looking for a new location. And the just-announced New Eden Project (www.conquestinc.com) hopes to turn 160 acres in Kansas into a self-sufficient community. ... techweek.com

To: Bill Ounce who wrote (2457)	8/26/1998 11:51:00 AM
From: Bill Ounce	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 9818

Watch the Euro in 1Q 1999 for preview of Y2K banking problems... This could be a good indicator of either "better than expected" or "worse than expected" scenerios for Y2K. Usenet post on this follows: From: ape@desupernet.net Newsgroups: comp.software.year-2000 Subject: Euro Chaos Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 14:09:52 GMT begin quote================== infoseek.com; lk=lb&col=NX&kt=A&ak=news1486 Central Bank urged to beware of potential euro chaos 06:13 a.m. Aug 26, 1998 Eastern By Henry Engler LONDON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - European central bankers display an unsettling lack of awareness of the risk of disruptive payments problems when a single currency is launched at the start of next year, bankers say. ''Many banks have taken a minimalist approach toward preparing for the euro and I don't think the ECB (European Central Bank) is fully aware of what could go wrong on day one and day two,'' said one banker at a large international bank. snipo London bankers say official silence on the issue is for a variety of reasons, not least the desire not to cause panic. But most say the dearth of public discussion results from a lack of communication between central bankers and the banking community. The simple fact, say bankers, is that there has been little initiative on the part of the national central banks to visit commerical banks to see how they are doing. And even when such visits occur there is a natural tendency among bankers to say preparations are proceeding smoothly even if they are not. [This sounds just like Y2K PR] ''The fact is that there is no incentive for a bank to be up front to the world or the regulator and say, 'I'm not actually going to be able to service my client's needs on day one.''' added another banker. While some of the largest international banks are seen as well advanced, others are considered far behind and some have not even completed a necessary review of what has to be done. Unless turned around, this lack of readiness could lead to sizeable disruptions in trading and the settlement of payments during the first few days of the euro's arrival. [Why only in the first few days? If the software wasn't rewritten by December 31, how could it possibly be corrected on January 5?] The critical days in question run from December 31 to January 4, the first full day of trading in the new single currency. The so-called conversion weekend will include vast changes to computer and payment systems and many say it is essential that everyone acts together, particularly in relation to standard settlement instructions (SSI). Such instructions are critical since they show agreed settlement instructions with counterparties. They can include information on a bank, branch or specific department. Bankers say SSIs need to be clarified well in advance of the conversion weekend so that banks know where euro payments should be sent. snip end quote===================== Is this another nail in the coffin? John T. Frimenko