A rchive Date
[ 30-05-2000 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Microsoft ]

Ready for Y2K ... just in case

You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know there's nothing to worry about

By ROY CLANCY -- Calgary Sun

December 15, 1999

Just when we thought we'd gotten past most of that scary Y2K bug stuff, along comes more news that seems designed to give us the jitters all over again. Last week, we got the reassuring message that the government will have eight cabinet ministers waiting and ready in Ottawa for the big moment.

Also, just in case, our public servants are ready to declare martial law at the drop of a party hat. Some 25,000 troops will be on standby to respond to any emergencies. Just in case, you know. And, after an endless number of bill inserts and advertisements declaring they are "Y2K ready," the utility companies, banks and others are beginning to issue slightly more sinister-sounding messages.

Not that they aren't completely ready, of course. They just want to keep us informed about what to do, well ... just in case. Fair enough.

Those ominous messages are likely just a final precaution by these respectable and responsible companies and financial institutions. The icing on the millennial birthday cake, so to speak, to protect themselves against legal liability and public outrage if ... well, you know ... just in case. That is understandable. Commendable even.

After working in the news business for a number of years, I've become a bit cynical about mass-media coverage of events like the Y2K foofaraw. The Y2K bug touches a nerve that all of us can relate to in a world where it appears technology is beginning to take over our lives. In its various combinations and permutations, it provides an endless number of stories and potential for drama.

In other words, it is the perfect news event.

So I've watched the whole scare unfold with a slightly skeptical eye, confident technological advances would shelter us from what is really a pretty goofy glitch. It is understandable that only two numbers were used for the year part of the date, to save space back in the days of primitive PCs. But what have the chipheads been doing for the past 20 years or so since?

In any case, it has been fixed, right? So, the only thing we have to worry about are perhaps a few minor inconveniences, correct? At least, that's the conclusion I'd come to until a startling event made me think twice about the whole subject.

When the Mars Climate Orbiter went missing a short time ago, it dealt a crippling blow to NASA's credibility. It seems the Orbiter had been fed metric landing instructions, while the programs that run the machine understood only imperial measurements.

The result? One $190-million hunk of space scrapmetal, going where no man has gone before, and, possibly, where no man will ever be able to find it again. The guys who masterminded this embarrassing fiasco are the technological equivalent of rocket scientists, I don't know about you, but if rocket scientists are capable of such a stellar snafu, I'm feeling a little nervous about the Y2K bug again.

If these guys can pull a goofy stunt like this, who knows what the legions of lesser-achievers toiling the cyberspace universe are capable of botching. As the countdown intensifies, there really isn't much we can do about it, save taking some of the modest precautions advised by various "Y2K authorities."

In all likelihood, future generations will look back on the dawning of the year 2000 and get a good chuckle at our expense. They'll smile upon our naive fears in the same way we laugh at "primitive" people who cowered during the eclipse of the sun.

It seems fairly likely, aside from the odd glitch, that the main commotion come New Year's Eve will be the sound of millions of champagne corks popping all over the world. But I think I'll reread some of the precautionary measures being pushed in various quarters.

You know ... just in case.

Letters to the editor should be sent to callet@sunpub.com

]

Cross-Indexed:

Some pages may require Adobe Acrobat Reader^™