The Millenium Bug
The millennial sun will first rise over human civilization in the independent republic of Kirbati, a group of thirty low lying coral islands in the Pacific Ocean. Kirbati straddles the equator and the International Dateline halfway between Hawaii and Australia. "For those who live in a world that relies on satellites, air, rail and ground transportation, manufacturing plants, electricity, heat, telephone, or TV, when the calendar clicks '99 to '00, we will experience a true millennial shift (Peterson)." As the sun moves westward on January 1, 2000 and the date shifts silently within millions of computerized systems, we will begin to experience our computer dependent world in a new way. At the stroke of midnight, the new millennium heralds the greatest challenge to modern society that we have yet to face as a planetary community. Whether we experience this as chaos or social transformation will be influenced by what we do immediately. What is theY2K (Year 2000) problem? When computer systems were built in the 1960's and 1970's computer hardware was too expensive. To reduce costs, programmers looked for ways to reduce data storage requirements. It was common for year to be stored in databases in tw
" How can you prepare? Try to make all possible preparations as soon as you can. There is currently widespread awareness that Y2K involves more than the failure of an individual's personal computer, or an incorrect date in a spreadsheet. Many people do not understand how a simple computer glitch could affect the world. What could happen? Your telephone service is terminated because of errors in data calculations, your driver's license expires because the motor vehicle department cannot recognize dates after December 31, 1999, the department store rejects your credit card because your payment is 100 years overdue, your bank's automated teller swallows your card, thinking it has expired and your Social Security payments are cut off because the agency's computers miscalculate your age. For many organizations work has not even begun! Why isn't the Y2K being addressed? The biggest problem today is the lack of concern by many businesses and governments to take this problem seriously, in spite of literature available. Kerosene heaters and wood stoves are alternative means for heating your home. Y2K is a technical problem that cannot be solved by technology, the first ever non negotiable deadline, a systematic crisis that no one can solve alone, a crisis that transcends boundaries and hierarchies, and an opportunity to simplify and redesign major systems (Peterson 1). It may not sound like much effort to fix these machines, but in fact, it involves a great deal of time and expense. " Have plenty of battery-operated lights, long burning candles or kerosene lamps. Audience Note: This essay would be found on the front page of the Dallas Morning News. " How bad is the Y2K problem? Many studies have been done to estimate the cost of addressing this problem.
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Acceptance Essays
