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

To: C.K. Houston who wrote (3237)	1/11/1999 1:10:00 PM
From: jwk	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 9818

Monday January 11 12:13 PM ET Y2K Bug Will Begin With A Whimper, Not A Bang By Andrew Hay NEW YORK (Reuters) - If the dreaded Year 2000 computer bug has the power to choke computer systems and wreak havoc, it will slowly show it means business in the weeks and months ahead, experts say. As computers and machines grapple with more and more dates that spill into the year 2000, the experts say problems could appear through multiple small errors that -- when combined -- could cause failures. One symptom of widespread failure would be a slow, subtle slowdown in companies and organizations, Bob Cohen, an analyst with the Information Technology Association of America said. ''If it's going to happen, we're probably in the zone right now,'' Cohen said. But so far, there are no signs of such failures, he said. Fears that the millennium bug would bring computer chaos in the first weeks of 1999 are so far mostly unfounded -- an outcome that has raised existing optimism that systems will handle the Year 2000 date change without major disruptions. Signs of future problems did, however, appear at scattered points across the globe. - In Hong Kong, the Marine Department's computer information system, which tracks vessels in and out of the city's harbor, crashed on Dec. 31, according to the South China Morning Post. - The millennium bug hit police offices at airports in Sweden that issue temporary passports, Australia's Sunday Telegraph reported. - In Singapore, computerized meters on about 300 taxis went dead at noon on Jan. 1 for about two hours, London's Sunday Times reported. The greatest potential for problems comes from the once-common practice of using only two digits to refer to the year in dates like ''99'' instead of ''1999.'' The shortcut has the potential to confuse computers and machines that will read ''00'' as ''1900'' instead of ''2000'' as the year arrives. There are other dates in 1999 that could also trigger computer problems. - As in the case of the Swedish passport offices, glitches may also crop up with the number ''99.'' Their computers malfunctioned at the stroke of midnight on Dec. 31. The malfunction occurred as computers failed to read the date ''1999'' and instead read it as ''99'', a code to mean ''end of run'' or ''end of file'' in some programs. The date Sept. 9, 1999 could fool many computer programs into thinking the date is an entry of 9999 -- shorthand for end of file or date unknown. The date could see data deleted or programs crashing. - The rollover to ''0'' this summer on the calendars used in satellites which form the Global Positioning System (GPS) could cause problems. Receivers of GPS information might not be able to correlate geographical location and time correctly as of August, and industries, military systems and others using them could be disrupted. A recent survey by research company Cap Gemini America shows a majority of the United State's largest corporations have already experienced Year 2000-related failures and nearly all expect more in 1999. ''You'll see for the first time some highly visible failures that companies are not able to keep quiet,'' said Steven Hock, chief executive of research firm Triaxsys Research LLC. What remains to be seen is if these failures can create a cascade of errors that together could shut down systems. While Cohen is upbeat this will not occur, he says the ultimate test for most computers will be their ability to recognize the new year when it rolls round 51 weeks from now. ''The proof will be in the pudding, and the pudding date will be the Jan. 1 weekend.''