I have a livestream scheduled for December 31-January 1 for the 25th anniversary of the Y2K celebrations…
(Jennicam)
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I will try to attend for at least a few hours but will get sleepy at some point lol. So what news channel or outlet will we being watching during the livestream?
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Peter Jennings’ coverage on ABC.
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Is my PC 25 compliant?
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Reading Eagle (December 26, 1945)
Cautious confidence
As New Year’s nears, experts predict few technical problems
By Tracy Rasmussen, Eagle/Times
Those monitoring the Y2K situation say things should be fine, as long as the public cooperates.
When the ball drops in Times Square, it will become painfully obvious if someone has dropped the ball on the Y2K problem.
Don’t bet on that happening, though. According to most computer experts and officials, Y2K will be Y20K.
Lights will be on, phones will work, money will be available Saturday.
Unless…
Dr. Frederick D. Loomis, executive director of the statewide Pa2K outreach program, said the biggest potential problem of the new millennium is not the Y2K bug but irrational consumer behavior.
“My overall conclusion is that there will be minimal problems on that day, except for how the public may react,” he said.
It is a theme that is repeated throughout the utility and banking industries: consumers will be the wild card.
“We suggest that customers leave their testing until later in the day,” said Sharon Shaffer, spokesperson for Bell Atlantic. “If you want to make a call at midnight, of course go right ahead, but don’t pick up the phone at 12:01 for testing.”
She also suggested consumers not test the 9-1-1 system unless there is an emergency.
“You can imagine that the volume of those calls could be a problem,” she said.
Shaffer added, however, that test calls such as these would probably not crash the phone system, but would cause problems.
“You’d probably get a recording that says all circuits are busy,” she said, adding that is not the same thing as a Y2K problem.
“The same thing happens when there is an ice storm. If people are on the phone at peak periods canceling appointments or working from home, it’s going to cause some problems.”
Shaffer suggests reasonable behavior.
“Because of the special significance of this holiday, we’re expecting it to be busy,” she said. “But we’re issuing a note of caution about the use of the phone for testing.”
But, with several years, and $400 million invested, Shaffer said she is satisfied the phone system is Y2K compliant.
The same is true for power companies Pennsylvania Power & Light and GPU Energy, where extra staff will be available through the New Year’s holiday to fix any problems that occur.
“We don’t expect the lights to go out,” said George Biechler, spokesman for PP&L. “There may be local, scattered outages caused by wind, ice or New Year’s Eve revelers who get into accidents with power poles. But we’ve been ready since July 1.”
He added that the PP&L work force will be staffed at four to five times what it normally would be for a weekend night, with 550 people ready to deal with any problems.
“PP&L operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” he said. “We’re accustomed to responding to events as part of our daily routine. We’ve been working on Y2K for a long time and have spent about 140,000 hours and $13 million to make necessary changes.”
Kerry McGuinness, spokeswoman for GPU, said virtually the same thing.
“We will be staffed up just in case,” she said. “But we don’t really expect any problems. It’s all part of the Y2K plan we have.”
She said 600 employees will be on site and another 300 will be on call. Normally 70 employees work holidays.
“We’re ready,” she said, adding that there may be small outages due to the weather and accidents. “We have the staff ready to take care of them quickly. Just like in a storm situation.”
As for the financial sector, banks say they were among the first to be prepared for the rollover and they have every expectation money will be available and ATM cards will work.
As a bonus, the Federal Reserve Bank has ordered $50 billion of new currency put into circulation to cover a spate of potential cash withdrawals around the new year, as well as requiring rigorous testing procedures.
The financial industry is very ready, according to a Fed spokeswoman, who added there could be problems like there are every day, but people shouldn’t assume glitches are caused by Y2K. They probably aren’t.
Local bankers said not to worry. Money will be there when people need it. Sovereign Bank, the largest holder of deposits among Berks County banks, will have staff available to correct any problems that might occur.
“If the individual is in a critical position, we’ve asked him not to take vacation around the holidays,” said Domingo Martinez, Sovereign 2000 program manager.
But as sure as these experts are that there will be no cataclysmic Y2K event, they are equally sure some minor glitches will occur.
According to computer expert Polly Mathys of Alvernia College, even Windows 98 has required updating to make it Y2K compliant.
In addition, it’s expected many small businesses and home computers may not be prepared for the year 2000 rollover, making the assumption that new equipment and programs are automatically compliant.
“I’ve been getting patches and updates for everything,” Mathys said. “And every time they tell me that it’s the last one, and then the next week there’s a new one.”
Little talk of apocalypse heard
Religion experts say even fringe groups aren’t talking about the dawn of 2000 ushering in the end of the world
BOSTON (AP) – As frenzied revelers flock to Pacific islands or Times Square on New Year’s Eve, certain religious believers will be contemplating the end of the world. But experts on millenarian religion say they know of no sects that expect the apocalypse to actually occur in coming days.
Faiths that formerly talked that way are hedging. For example, the dwindling Chen-Tao, or “True Way,” sect of Lockport, N.Y., forecast nuclear catastrophe and rescue by heavenly spaceships at the end of 1999.
Now, spokesman Richard Liu says the 30 members believe the end will come “in the next year. We have no specific date.”
Israel expelled several end-times groups this year, and police are on the alert. But in any nation, it’s impossible to predict events within small apocalyptic sects. What outsider could have anticipated the Solar Temple, Heaven’s Gate or Branch Davidian tragedies of the 1990s?
Some authorities had speculated the close of the millennium might produce end-times eruptions. However, during panels on millennialism at a recent convention of the American Academy of Religion, an association for scholars in various religious fields, they shared no such expectations.
“In the mid-‘90s we were looking for a big wave, and it just seems to have fizzled,” said Richard Landes, director of the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University.
If New Year’s is no big deal for religious millennialists, there are good reasons. January 1 is not a religious date for anyone, and 2000 has no significance outside Christianity.
Christian chronologists say Jesus was born before 1 A.D. (the calendar is off due to ancient errors), and so the third millennium is already under way.
Literal-minded Christians draw many ideas from the biblical Book of Revelation, where chapter 20 depicts Jesus’ Second Coming and 1,000-year reign.
But, as Robert Royalty of Indiana’s Wabash College notes, Revelation “says nothing about years ending in a thousand.”
“Dates are set right and left, but 2000 is more of a secular apocalypse,” said Royalty, whose office is festooned with failed prophecies of the end from the tabloid Weekly World News, the latest doomsday having passed in November. “It’s not the date a prophet might choose.”
Of course, Royalty adds, if Y2K computer problems cause chaos early in the new year, as hard-right Christians such as economics guru Gary North have taught the past two years, this “could fit into an apocalyptic scheme, just like a war or an earthquake.”
Rather like believers who keep postponing dates for the end, specialists anticipate an upsurge in apocalyptic activity during the years ahead, perhaps among Jews and Christians, and more likely among the sort of New Age believers who follow the sensationalist tabloids, books, talk radio and Web sites.
Boston University’s Landes and Richard Abanes, author of “End-Time Visions,” noted upcoming dates that could have more apocalyptic potential than January 1:
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May 2000: The late Edgar Cayce, a prominent New Age psychic, forecast that earth’s axis would shift in 2000 or 2001, causing massive destruction. Some expect this on May 5 (5-5-2000) or May 17, when the moon, sun, and five planets will be in close alignment for the first time since 1962.
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2007: Some Bible prophecy buffs consider this year a candidate because it concludes the generation (40 years) after Jews reunified Jerusalem.
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2012: Other New Agers think the earth will be destroyed just before Christmas because the ancient Mayan calendar will run out of dates. (Historians say it won’t.)
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2033: This is a big one for some Christians: the estimated 2000th anniversary of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection.
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Beyond that lie 2076, which is 1500 in the Muslim calendar and could energize Sufi mystics and New Agers, and 2240, the start of humanity’s seventh millennium by traditional Jewish reckoning.
Christianity teaches Jesus will literally come again to reign.
But most churches have followed theologians like St. Augustine, spurning literal interpretations of Revelation and discouraging apocalyptic speculations.
Nonetheless, end-times thinking has continually captured the popular imagination.
In America, the biggest upsurge was led by self-taught preacher William Miller.
The last of his several dates for the end became the “Great Disappointment” of October 22, 1844.
A remnant persisted, though without date-setting, and became the Seventh-day Adventists. Miller’s Bible interpretation influenced many subsequent end-timers.
As their name indicates, the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) also started with a strong millennial bent, and founder Joseph Smith expected the end around 1890. Since then, the faith has played down predictions.
The most ardent apocalyptic group, Jehovah’s Witnesses, fixed in turn upon 1881, 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925, the 1940s and 1975.
Among Catholics, popular millennialism is bound up with European apparitions of the Virgin Mary that began in 1830 and currently finds expression in Bud Macfarlane Jr.’s novels.
Depictions of the last days inspire even faster sales for the “Left Behind” novels by Protestants Jerry Jenkins and Tim LaHaye.
In response to the wide variety of end-time beliefs he has heard, the Rev. Billy Graham noted, “Jesus warned us not to speculate about dates.”
Graham thinks the signs of the end that Jesus gave in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 – false messiahs, wars, famines, earthquakes, persecution of believers, sacrilege – “indicate we are moving toward some sort of climax.”
He has no idea how soon.
Untold millions of evangelicals are looking for the end, and fairly soon.
If we see major economic or social collapse, or some apocalyptic occurrence in Jerusalem, “people will come out of the woodwork,” said another expert, James Tabor of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
But “it takes a lot to get the apocalypse going,” he observed, and “these are the most normal of normal times.”
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– Emergency tips –
From our news staff
The following are steps people can take to prepare for a Y2K emergency:
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Gather canned, dried and non-perishable food that doesn’t take much preparation.
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Think and plan of alternative methods to heat and prepare foods if utilities are off. Some examples: candle warmers, fondue pots, Sterno fuel cans or propane stoves. Gas or charcoal grills can be used, but only outside. Have a good supply of matches handy.
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Think and plan how to stay warm. Insulated sleeping bags, extra blankets and down quilts can keep your family comfortable. Some alternative heat sources are fireplaces, wood-burning stoves and kerosene heaters. Kerosene heaters and electricity generators emit poisonous gases. Use cautiously.
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Store extra water, about two gallons a day per-person.
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Think of ways to save water. Buy paper plates and plastic utensils.
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Have flashlights or battery-operated lamps. Candles and oil lamps are less expensive, but use with caution.
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Every house should have a first-aid kit. Remember to keep a two-week supply of any medicine.
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Keep personal hygiene and cleaning supplies on hand.
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Have an adequate supply of batteries in various sizes for all essential equipment.
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Have a battery-operated radio with good reception.
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Make sure to have a fire extinguisher and battery-operated smoke detectors.
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Keep some cash on hand in case MAC machines or credit cards don’t work.
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Plan for life without television for a few days. Keep books, games and crafts available.
Checking your PC
Here’s how to verify that your computer running Microsoft Windows 95 or 98 will work properly when 2000 arrives.
From the Windows desktop, choose Start, Settings and Control Panel.
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Click Date and Time. The Date/Time Properties screen will appear.
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Change the Date to December 31, 1999, and the Time to 11:59:00 p.m.
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Click Apply and click OK.
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Shut down your PC.
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Wait approximately 3 minutes. Turn your PC back on.
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After Windows has restarted, choose Start, Settings and Control Panel.
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Click Date and Time. The year should be 2000 and the time should be just after midnight.
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Follow steps 1-6 to change the time back.
SOURCE: Hewlett Packard
For more on Y2K preparations and tips, visit https://www.readingeagle.com on the World Wide Web.
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H O T S P O T S
Check out these Web sites:
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Y2K.com: The online news site CNet snagged this Web address and has used it to post a useful resource. http://www.y2k.com
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American Red Cross: A basic readiness checklist includes keeping some money and supplies on hand, and at least half a tank of gas in the car. http://www.redcross.org/disaster/safety/y2k.htm l
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Y2K Gateway: This site is a gateway into the government bureaucracy that has grown up to address the Y2K crisis. http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mks/yr2000/y2khome.htm
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Federal view on Y2K: This site is run by the President’s Council on Year 2000 Conversion: http://www.y2k.gov
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Y2K For Kids: The government that once taught us to put our heads under the school desk in case of an atomic bomb blast says of the Y2K bug, “You might not notice it, but little things may happen.” http://www.itpolicy.gsa.gov/mks/yr2000/kidsy2k.htm
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Microsoft Year 2000 Portal Page: “Windows 95 and Windows 98 are compliant,” states a page at this site. But click on the phrase, and learn it is compliant “assuming all recommended actions specified in the respective compliance documents have been taken.” Good luck finding those documents and taking the actions specified. http://www.microsoft.com/y2k/
Fantastic thanks! I loved to be part of Y2K
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What are your memories of Y2K, Chewie?
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The New York Times (December 27, 1999)
Y2K/PULSE; for worriers, winding down on Year 2000
By Barnaby J. Feder
They have devoted months and sometimes years to raising consciousness about potential Year 2000 computer disruptions. Now, many of the most prominent worriers are folding their tents.
Jay Golter and his fellow advocates at the Northern Virginia Year 2000 Community Action Group wrapped up their group efforts with a “New Year’s Eve” party on December 18.
Peter de Jager, the Canadian programmer who became a Year 2000 Paul Revere in 1993, said he would be on the interview circuit through next weekend. But Year2000.com, the popular Internet site he set up with the Tenagra Corporation, is already on the auction block at eBay.com.
“The crusade part of this is just about over,” said Edward Yardeni, a Wall Street economist who still believes there is a 70 percent chance that Year 2000 breakdowns will usher in a worldwide recession. “Now it’s just a matter of what happens. There’s no point in being alarmist anymore.”
Apparently, though, it is time to send in the clowns. As the rollover approaches, enough people are paying attention for comedians to shift into full gear. Mr. de Jager can hope the rising urge to laugh at Year 2000 may help sales of one of his sideline ventures, a Year 2000 cartoon book called “The Bug Stops Here.”
But the field is getting crowded, mostly with survival tips that run the gamut from wry to lewd.
The Onion, a Madison, Wis., satirical newspaper, suggested, among other things, in its December 15 issue: “Develop the ability to convert sunlight into energy using the chlorophyll in your body.” The paper, viewable at www.onion.com, also advises: “If disaster strikes, it’s God’s wrath – quote the Old Testament. But if nothing happens, God is merciful – quote the New Testament.”
Euro RSCG/DSW Partners, a Salt Lake City-based advertising firm that is a unit of Havas Advertising, has been distributing “31 Ways to Prepare for Y2K”, a December calendar pamphlet with one suggestion a day. For December 11, the suggestion was “Have plenty of clean towels. It’s not specific to any millennial disaster but when have you ever not needed clean towels?”
A week later, DSW suggested collecting spoons because, “Right now spoons are everywhere but after January 1, who knows?”