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Politics : Clinton -- doomed & wagging, Japan collapses, Y2K bug, etc -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Sidney Reilly who wrote (734)	11/3/1998 3:21:00 PM
From: SOROS	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1151

Tech News - 11/03/98 Don't bank on it. We mentioned in a previous column that the Federal Reserve Board recently put aside $50 billion in preparation for Y2K bank runs (the Fed doesn't use that language, of course). Now they've stashed another $50 billion—a total of $250 billion. But is that enough to tide us over? In mid-October, Weiss Ratings Inc. released results of a bank survey that showed 12 percent (about 1,300) of the nation's banks and financial institutions are behind schedule in their Y2K-compliance efforts. Most vulnerable: community banks and credit unions. If you are concerned about your bank's preparedness, here are some questions that the publication Y2KToday (http://www.y2ktoday.com) suggests that you ask: How do you know that vendor-supplied systems are (or will be) Y2K compliant? Did you test all mission-critical systems, even if they were tested by your vendor? Will you have sufficient cash to handle increased withdrawals? Do you maintain the source code for mission-critical systems and have these systems been fully repaired and validated? What policy changes to your underwriting and servicing of loans have you made? Escape hatch for vendors? President Clinton has signed the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Dis closure Act (S.2392), also known as the Good Samaritan Act. The act limits the liabilities of computer system and software vendors in year 2000 lawsuits and fosters an environment where they can feel comfortable about sharing information. But ComputerWorld reports that some IT managers are worried the law will "render all [prior] vendor letters and representations about year 2000 statements as meaningless," as the Act itself says. Clinton also signed a bill that includes $3.4 billion for fixing federal computer systems. Too little too late? Who are ya gonna call? Wired News recently reported that a "SWAT team" of Napa students will "fan out across the San Francisco Bay Area with orders to eradicate the dreaded millennium bug from the computers of groups least able to cope with the problem." Not exactly, as the Hertz car rental ad says. Mick Winter, organizer of Napa's Bugbuster program, says the students will just be doing simple BIOS checking, and only in Napa County. Organizing communities to deal with the Y2K problem is a great idea, though, and The Napa Valley Year 2000 site (www.y2knapa.com) is a good model. Winter welcomes inquiries from other communities at mick@y2knapa.com. Talk about bad timing The year 2000 bug will hit just as the sun's 11-year solar cycle hits its maximum. That means heavy solar storms, with bursts of high-energy particles that can knock out power lines and transformers as well as those satellites that survive the Nov. 17 Leonid meteor showers. That includes those 72 brand-spanking-new Iridium global cellular telephone satellites. Y2K worker shortage? We've reported studies showing a surplus of Y2K workers. Now we're hearing the opposite. DCI, a Massachusetts-based organizer of technology conferences, issued a year 2000 report that quotes a Keane Inc. recruiter as saying the computer services firm has to go abroad to hire Y2K programmers. On Sept. 24, the House of Representatives voted to raise the H1-B visa cap to 115,000 through 1999. H1-B's are temporary visas that allow foreign workers to work in this country for three years (and the employer can extend it for three more). In addition, an Oct. 22 General Accounting Office report, Year 2000 Computing Crisis: Status of Efforts to Deal with Personnel Issues (GGD-99-14), says "about half of the 24 large agencies and a quarter of the 41 small agencies and independent entities reporting to the Office of Management and Budget expressed concerns that the personnel needed to resolve the year 2000 problem would not be available" and contractors can't keep up with the demand either. Do we really need to hire foreign Y2K programmers, or is this just an excuse to get cheap labor? What do you think? Tell us on TechWeek's Countdown 2000 forum at www.techweek.com/count.

To: Sidney Reilly who wrote (734)	11/4/1998 5:55:00 PM
From: Alan Markoff	Respond to of 1151

Dear Bob, We will have to go into the Ark of Yeshua for our protection and peace. The entire world will be involved in this one and as the scriptures say people will be begging for the rocks to hide them for there will be nowhere to hide. However the Lord said to flee to the mountains when we see the abomination that causes desolation sitting in the Temple, and that may be a first clue. I do know He can rain manna for food or send it by Ravens, we need to grow very close and keep watch. Nancy