Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alex who wrote (34905)	6/7/1999 11:55:00 AM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116764

From Boulder Daily Camera Thoughts on a Monday Okay, just how ready is the nation for Y2K? So what's to worry about, you ask? Haven't we been hearing one government agency after another (such as the FAA), one utility after another (such as our own Public Service Co.), and one industrial giant after another (such as General Motors) tell us confidently that they are either 100 percent computer compliant with the millennium change or are well on their way to being there by the time the clock strikes 11:59:59 on Dec. 31, 1999? And that has made many of us breathe a little easier. If they are telling us the truth, there will be no brown outs lasting for days or weeks, all our planes will fly safely, no one will lose any pay because business and industry can't function, our financial investments will be as secure as ever, hospitals will be able to operate their delicate, life-saving, computer-driven medical equipment, and the economy will continue to perk right along. Well, think again, say Y2K watchers. New investigations reported by the New York Times and others are producing frightening revelations. The "truths" that we're hearing may not be so true after all. Consider these allegations: Compliance gimmicks abound. For instance, the North American Electric Reliability Council has been allowing power companies to claim Y2K compliance by listing non-compliant systems as exceptions. At least 31 of Fortune 100 companies (these are the biggies) are rated below average on Y2K status. The percentage of companies around the nation expecting to be 75 percent compliant — not 100 percent, mind you — by the end of the year has dropped from 88 to 78 percent. The battle between truth and fiction isn't over, warns respected Y2K watcher Sheri Nakken. The spin doctors are hard at work, she says, wondering how they can keep the public lulled into ignorance for a few more months, hoping all the while that a software miracle will occur. (Which it won't, because Y2K is far more than just a software problem.) "Managers and owners are in for a shock," says Nakken. "One day a gnarly-looking programmer wearing sandals and a T-shirt is going to walk into the board room and declare, 'We need another year.' Jaws will drop, of course, but that wide-eyed look will quickly fade to a squint-eyed planning session — 'Okay, folks, we've got to figure out how to claim compliance anyway.'" What this means to all of us is to make sure we are sensibly prepared at home for possible losses of heat, lights, food and water for at least several days. We suggest you stop by the Y2K center at Boulder's Crossroads Mall where volunteers are on duty to help you do good-sense planning. Meanwhile, we will find out on Jan. 1 just how forthcoming the government, corporations and utilities have been with their claims of Y2K compliance. Sadly, our trust is so badly bruised by recent events that we can't help but be skeptical. Therefore, we continue to urge every family to begin thinking about preparedness — just in case. June 7, 1999 bouldernews.com