On This Day Pre-Y2K

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January 20, 2000 Permalink

Frankly, we’re a little further ahead of the curve than I’d expected. In the last two days, I’m being told that incident rates are rising. Systems that were thought to be remediated and fine are suddenly NOT. Remediation continues but one fellow told me that it is very similar to trying to track down a “computer-chip sensor” on some of those first computerized cars in the late 1980s...in which you have to go thru a sequence to track down a problem. You start with sensor A and find it is bad. You can’t keep checking the other sensors to see how bad they are until you first replace sensor A that is bad. So you replace A. Then sensor B is fine, but C is not. You replace C only to find out that the new A has now also blown out again before you can test for sensor D. So now you have to go back and re-replace again sensor A. From what I understand there have been some incidents of this occuring that is driving some folks crazy. So they’ve been chasing their tails so to speak. I don’t know how prevalent this is across the industry, but my one source who is head Y2k remediator for a major refinery indicates that this has been his experience so far and is hearing that his story is not unique, but he’s not heard any details of elsewhere. Right now, its just a nuisance that makes the processes stop and start. In sharing this with others, I’m told it seems to match up to their experiences elsewhere. We are seeing folks getting hurt, some not reported to the media at all. Unless it makes for spectacular video for the 10 o’clock news nobody in the media is going to pay attention to it. After all, Y2k was a non-event Clinton said so.

—RC, Time Bomb 2000 Forums (LUSENET), 01/20/00

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