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Microcap & Penny Stocks : TPII - Year 2000 (Y2K); Groupware; Client Server Migration -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alan Coccio who wrote (9571)	12/11/1998 5:44:00 PM
From: Wallfly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10903

[OFF TOPIC] Alan -- If you get a chance could you look at the ridiculous trading on INNI and offer some insight? Quite a kooky day and I've been watching and reasearching since it was mentioned here.

To: Alan Coccio who wrote (9571)	12/11/1998 5:44:00 PM
From: BigJake	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10903

TPII did another SEC filing late today.

To: Alan Coccio who wrote (9571)	12/18/1998 11:33:00 AM
From: DR. MEADE	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10903

Interesting : Talk : Year 2000 : 2000 Date-Change Problem: Scam, Hype, Hoax, Fraud To: Jeff Redman (1023 ) From: J.L. Turner Thursday, Dec 17 1998 11:02PM ET Reply # of 1024 Are any of the companies you deal with from Japan? John mansfield posted this from Timebomb 2000 q&a forum On October 5, in response to the topic "Is Japan in final meltdown even without y2k?," there was a poignant response that was attibuted anonymously to someone who had worked in Japan for 6 years. It was called "Japan: Saving Face by Losing Time." The author discussed the concept of "saving face" and its implications for lack of y2k readiness in Japan. It was also posted on Gary North, and made a big impression on me. The author was supposed to have written further articles. Anyone seen anything like this? Asked by Steve Francis (sfrancis@sympatico.ca) on December 16, 1998. Answers I speak, read, and write fluent Japanese. I've studied the nation and culture for decades. I can tell you: Japan as a world economic power is toast. And we with them. But: due to their greater social discipline, willingness to accept suspension of individual interests, near-term memory of wartime hardships, the people will survive. Below is the post to which you refer: ----------------------------------------------------------------- In May,1996, I was doing a walk-through of an automated production line of one of the 3 largest companies in the world. My Japanese associates were well-versed in every intricate efficiency tuned into "their" personal part of the process. I was asking questions about inter-departmental connectitvity and the silence made me stop in my tracks. Process efficiency was microscopic, not macroscopic. If everyone focused on their tiny section, the complete department would function beautifully, but dependent on a single manager to pull it all together...based on his experience and knowledge only. I asked about the "millennium bug," since y2k had not really been coined yet and it is referred to as the "ni-sen mondai" in Japanese. As I probed further, I realized that they were clueless. The next day, I started asking( in a gentle, Japanese style) people closer to the top about timetables and understanding. There was a plan in place to begin work the 3Q of 1998. That night, I stayed awake all night to research other company timetables and planning. Not much was really available to research and I forgot about it for a year and a half. The "Wired" magazine article early this year kept me awake again for 2 nights as I hit the net. I was always reluctant to spend too much time on the net because it costs about $6.00 per hour for local phone calls here in Japan. Anyway, in May of this year I realized that Japan is doomed because of the cultural propensity to hide the bad news and murder the messenger. Japanese toast. Answered by PNG (png@gol.com ) on December 02, 1998 -RC Answered by Runway Cat (runway_cat@hotmail.com) on December 16, 1998. RC Thanks for the post. Actually, here's the text I was referring to: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Japan: Saving Face by Losing Time I have lived and worked in Japan for 6 years (for one of the world's largest companies) as an engineer and global business consultant. As a 45 year old executive with a career built on rational problem solving, I am faced with an irrational situation that is almost too horrible to talk about. To understand the Japanese mindset and interpret the true nuance of the language and culture is somethings Americans are not good at. 1. 100% of all government surveys and corporate statements are for saving face and "image" only. This does not mean that they are lies in the Japanese image of lying. In the western image, they are false statements. In the Japanese image, they are hopes for the future. To discuss bad news is culturally equivalent to suicide. You can read the "whys" of this in the near future from other articles I'll be writing about the Japanese approach to y2k-only the Japanese would make a cartoon of a smiley face on a computer screen and call it y2k awareness. Suffice it to say that effort is being made by major utilities, telecommunications, international transportation and international banking to maintain the external image of Japan. The problem is that Japanese industrial and manufacturing strenght is based on automated production to minimize direct material costs. The major manufacturering executives are still in denial and assesments of automated systems have only started recently -- this year. 2. As electronic and industrial parts makers to the world, many Jpanese companies are falsely issuing "no problem" compliance satements to any customer who asks for component compliance information. I have personally witnessed a major industrial automation and control manufacturer give an international customer a "fully compliant" report on a 7 year old building automation system without ever testing the system. The Japanese phrase "mondai nai" or "no problem" is the traditional Japanese business style of answering any request from a customer. If problems happen later, it is considered an opportunity to build a better relationship with the customer by solving the problem together. However, you must never let the customer worry before the problem happens...I know you think I am kidding, but I am deadly serious. So, the resulting problems for global manufacturers using Japanese electronic parts, components, and relying on JIT (Just in Time) delivery are going to be in for a global shock when the Japanese manufacturers are unable to deliver just in time because of the breakdown of their own networks of vendors who have also failed to remediate their automated production lines. The volume of PCBs (Printed Curcuit Boards) delivered to American companies by Japanese vendors is enormous. These cannot be manufactured by hand. They will not be delivered on time and it only takes a few days without parts to stop a complete industry. . . . Remember, the current Minister of Finance has stated that the first priority to improve the Japanese economy is to begin clearing the massive debt. He said the same thing when he was Prime Minister in 1993. Things move very slowly here when action is required, but many Japanese companies will not make it to the year 2000 because the global market forces at work now will force the Japanese economy to implode before then.