Monday, February 17, 2025

Goodies to Go ™
December 27, 1999 — Newsletter #60

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Goodies to Go ™

December 27, 1999 — Newsletter #60

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Please visit https://www.htmlgoodies.com

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Greetings, Weekend Silicon Warriors,

Did you hear


According to Andersen Consulting, 25% of all e-commerce orders taken
over the Web failed? What?!?!? 25 percent?!?! I had one failed transaction.
I really did. I attempted to buy a product from the UK and they wouldn’t fill
the order. I’ve been forwarded to their U.S. counterpart. They contacted me
by mail. Not email, but mail. Real paper. Goodness only knows when this
will all get straightened out. The main reason for sites not completing
transactions? Too many visitors. The servers just died or crashed.


Time’s man of the year is Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.com. Oh
I’ll bet that cheese Bill Gates just a bit.


The world’s astronomers aren’t afraid of Y2K. To them, this coming
December 31st midnight will actually be 2,451,543.5. That’s according to
the time keeping process they follow tracking days from the year 4,713 BC.
Those wacky astronomers


Y2K hit Atlanta. People received letters telling them that they should
report for jury duty in January of 1900. Oops. The problem was repaired
and those receiving the letters were informed that the glitch does not mean
they get out of doing their judicial time.


Now onto today’s topic


Two weeks ago, I asked the Goodies to Go! subscribers to tell me what
they felt was going to happen, if anything, as a result of the Y2K computer
bug. The question prompted well over 500 responses. I read every one and
kept those I thought were best.


In this final newsletter of 1999, I would like to relay some of your fellow
readers’ predictions. I’ll finish the letter with some of my own. Unlike many
of my Chip-Head friends (my new nick-name at school), I don’t see the bug
being a total bust. In fact it makes me a little nervous.

Here’s what many of you wrote:

*****1. The majority of those who responded didn’t see much of a problem,
if any:


“Zilch – the biggest anticlimax since the last millennium.”
– Peter Robert Flounders


“The Y2K is, has been, and will be way over-hyped. There will be no
problems, except with computers that are out of date, and I think everyone
is getting worried for nothing.” – Antilles@——.com


“Nothing. They’ve fixed it in the last 2 years.” – Marsha Wilcox


“People will work themselves into a frenzy and then find that a day is
but a day and 1st January like any other.” – Zee


“The only big event I see happening is the number of lawsuits from IT/IS
personnel who are forced to work overtime without recompense. Many
employers may not know that salaried employees who are exempt from
Federal Fair Labor
Standards Act provisions may well be covered by individual state laws. The
true cost could be phenomenal.” – Julie Miner


“I predict that after January 1, 2000, the price of electric generators will be
at an all time low.” – S. Reed


“Nothing will happen. Life will continue as it always has.”
– Christina D. Smith


“Not very much. A few errors, undoubtedly, but it won’t be Armageddon
or even a major inconvenience.” – Ian Court


“Nothing! But you wouldn’t get me in an aircraft for love or money.”
– Gerry Milner

*****2. Some readers believe that there will be man-made problems
created to make it appear as if there actually is a Y2K bug. I thought that
was an interesting take.


“I really don’t think we have much to worry about equipment malfunction.
What we need to look out for are the [people] that want to make things
happen and make it look like a Y2K issue.” – Sean Goodgame


“I think that people are going to plant bugs to make people think that it
was y2k.” – Lee Stevenson


Deliberately placed practical jokes and viruses set to go off on 1/1/00 will
probably far outstrip the innocent bugs and will probably cause some serious
annoyance. – BeKelly@——.net


*****3. Many believed that there would be no Y2K bug to speak of, but
were nervous about the media hype causing people to take actions they
normally wouldn’t.


“My biggest concern is society’s general hysteria about what they imagine
will happen.” – Irwin Diehl


“Many people will act irrationally based upon misinterpreted events
thereby causing real problems for others.” – Karl Price


“I have a friend whose in-laws are convinced that Y2K is going to be the
end of the world as we know it. They have built themselves a compound
in rural Ohio – complete with an underground house (especially built to
stay a steady 60 degrees all year long), a man-made hill (obscuring the
house from view), a flock of Guineas (to eat the bugs in their garden),
a wood burning stove, and a year’s supply of food and goods. It is very
sad. I believe nothing much is going to happen, and I can not wait to
hear what these people do when they learn that all that money was spent
in vain.” – Hollie Edwards


“I think people will blame a lot of things that go wrong on the y2k issue,
while in fact, these things go wrong for another reason. Like not being able
to make a call to wish someone happy new year, because of congestion of
the lines.” – Alfons Knaapen


Most of the troubles could come from anxious consumers who will try to sue
small businesses or withdraw their money in the long run. Reports say the
panic is non-existent right now, but long-term effects of a recession due to
utility and water outages and suits beyond the 90 days set forth in Congress’
Summer 99 bill will stop the bull [market].” – John Berry

*****Finally, there were those who believed there would truly be a Y2K bug
that would cause some problems.


“I think there will be a problem with the nuclear power plants. From all I’ve
read they’re not very prepared.” – Nick Barnes


“I believe the DMV [Department of Motor Vehicles] systems will crash
something fierce because my license expires on 1/1/2000 and I haven’t
received any notice to renew it.” – Jolt@——.com


“[I] overheard a conversation from a couple of (Air Force Pilots), that this
year they will be in “Stand By Alert” and won’t be able to be apart of the
celebration. It’s not what is going on here for Y2K, it’s what is going on
with the nations which have weapon’s of mass destruction. That will have
the military on alert when Y2K strikes. So I heard.” – Skeyter Pesqueda


“I think there will be isolated problems with any systems that are heavily
time dependent, manufacturing processes and such, but nothing serious.”
– Leslie Chapman


“I think that the Y2K bug will have a domino effect. It will affect smaller,
older systems, and when other computers try to access or refer to the old
computer a huge error will occur (maybe affecting that computer, too).”
-RJ Liljestrom


“Do not trust water department, lay in stock of water for 7days.
Extra cash, extra food.” – Kim


“I think the most significant problem we will face will be a shortage of
imported oil into the U.S. due to embedded chip errors on oil wells in the
Middle East. I think we will start to notice it about mid-February.” – Tom


“Machines will show glitches here and there, where they were overlooked
and more will break down because of the UTC-time, which cannot be
adjusted. Testing used UTC-time + hours and UTC value remains the same. CONCLUSION: we don’t really know until 12/31 at 10:00 in the morning.
Beware of the cascading!” – Theo Hubenet


“As an IT professional I have been running around making sure that the
ever present y2k bug will have a minimal effect on my Web site. However
[I] must say that despite all the precautions, although I hold no fears for
any of the industrial 1st world nations, I do hold fears for those lower
2nd and definitely the 3rd world nationals who have bought technology
but not the means to maintain it.” – Cris McGrath


“Interest Rates will rise as a result of unprepared trading partners who
experience disruptions; the demand for the dollar world wide, as the most
“stable” currency will cause The Fed to work hard against national inflation
or depression.” – Brett Rodli


*****My Take


I should write here that the following predictions are my own. They come
from no where else but my own brain and do not necessarily reflect those of Earthweb or anyone else but me. (Therethat should do it.)


From everything I have read and all that I personally understand about
computers, there will be a Y2K bug. I see minor, mid-level, and major
problems coming from it.


To begin with, I do not see any great world-wide catastrophe. I do not
see airplanes dropping out of the sky, weapons of mass destruction firing by
mistake, entire power grids failing forever, or financial institutions (including
ATM’s) giving or taking away large amounts of money due to computational
errors. In fact, financial institutions are the least of my worries. I have no
intention of taking out any extra money. I don’t even see a run on banks
anymore. People just aren’t as frightened as they were six months ago.


Minor


I see a great many “see I told you so” events. Those who believe that
Y2K will destroy us all will be looking for things that go wrong so they
can point a finger and say “See? I told you so!”


These types of events will include short brownouts in a few metropolitan
areas, a few bits of comedy when dates mess up like the jury duty letters in
Atlanta. I see an elevator or escalator stopping and a couple of other pat
jokes coming from the bug.


Mid-level


I am concerned about worm holes and viruses opened and set by people
hired to repair the Y2K bug. I see millions of dollars of money stolen and
an equal amount of valuable data destroyed. This concern gets deeper in
my mind depending on what computers are hit.


Major


I am nervous about some rather serious problems occurring within
hospitals and the medical community. From everything I’ve read, this is an
area that is not fully up to speed. If a bank or a stock computer burps, the
results can be fixed. If a ventilator or an I.V. pump decides to burp, the
results can be devastating.


Finally


I’d like to make a prediction that really isn’t a prediction. I see one thing
coming out of the Y2K bug that no one expected. I know that’s a bad way
of putting it, but I see one thing happening that will make us all look at each
other and say”Wow. I didn’t see that coming.”


So here’s to a happy new year. I hope it’s safe, but the talk of terrorism
and people wanting to make a mark on the turn of the century scare me. I
don’t like the thought of anyone doing harm to others or themselves. It is
my hope that Y2K minor glitches and a few hangovers are the worst we
have to deal with.


Here’s to the new century. Yes, I know that the new millennium starts
on January 1st, 2001, but I think the big party will be a few days from now
rather than next year. I ask that we all just go with it. Don’t be that guy at
the party that constantly points out the semantics of time. Have fun, be safe,
eat cabbage, and take your most valuable possession outside at midnight.
I don’t know why. My Grandma Burns used to make me do it when I was
young. I’m 35 and I still do it.


Happy New Year!


P.S. – Update your virus software!


P.SS. – Leave your computer on over midnight Jan 1, so that it won’t cold
boot to a problem.


P.SSS. – Do Not pick up the phone at midnight to see if there’s a dial tone.
There is. And the light in the fridge goes off when you shut the door.


P.SSSS. – The sound a snake makes.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


That’s that. Thanks for reading. This year I’ve made a resolution have
better resolution. I’m going from 256 to 16.7 million colors this year!


Joe Burns, Ph.D.


And Remember: This December 31st, many of you will sing the song “that
nobody knows,” Auld Lang Syne. I’m proud to say that another Scotsman
Burns, Robert Burns, wrote the song…or did he? In a letter Burns wrote,
“[it] is the old song of the olden times, which has never been in print … I
took it down from an old man’s singing.” At least this year you can be the
one who can actually get through the first verse and chorus. It goes like this:

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o’ auld lang syne?

For auld lang syne, my dear, For auld lang syne,
We’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet, For auld lang syne!

Happy New Year

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