From:	JD <germany@*****************.COM>
Subject:	Re: Real-Life Computing ...
Date:	Thu, 28 May 1998 16:21:42 -0600

>So I'm not worried about my own computer (and my old one is a Mac,
which
>doesn't have the problem anyway), but I am worried about what'll happen
>when I go to the ATM for money or when I file my tax return.


I read a scenerio of what would happen at this time, based on problems
not associated with Y2K bug.

Dec. 31, 1999 is a Friday, making it Payday for approximately half of
the nation. It is arguably going to be the biggest party night of this
century and everyone will be going to the bank to cash checks that they
would have normally deposited and to remove extra money from their
accounts. With the media hype about the bug, someone will start a run
on the banks because an ATM just ran out of money. Nothing is wrong
with the ATM (it being made in the "safe" years), just a normal instance
of the ATM not having as much money as the people want it to.

Bringing this back On-Topic, the riots described in New York which lead
to the arming of corporations started because of such a simple
mistake -- the people did not understand what really was going on.

My opinion is that the media is to blame. There is a POTENTIAL problem
at hand. The vast majority of mission-critical enterprises, including
Social Security are safe from theis problem. Yes, some companies will
bite the dust, but that is the American way -- keep up with the SOTA or
you fail in the big leagues.

As for the DoD stating that they may have some problems... doesn't
everyone know that the DoD has problems? Will it change them to be more
efficient or more prepared in the future? Probably not. And this is
not just some half-baked opinion. I have relatives in each branch of
the military. The DoD will just wake up after the crash and declare
that it was a training exercise for terrorist insurgency against the
countries computer framework -- just another day at the office.

Jon Doud
germany@*****************.com