Re: Year 2000 woes solved? -- MIDRANGE-L

Joe wrote:

MI>> This article appeared in the Tech section of the Monday edition of the St
MI>Paul
MI>> Pioneer Press.
MI>>
MI>>  Year 2000 woes solved?  - James Romenesko, staff writer
MI>>  "A 14-year-old New Zealand boy says he's come up with a solution to the
MI>Year
MI>> 2000 computer problem - but he's not showing his stuff until he gets a
MI>patent
MI>> in his pocket. Meanwhile, the kid has let a computer analyst inspect his
MI>work,
MI>>  and the older pro says the young man just might have solved the dreaded
MI>> millennium bug problem."
MI>>
MI>>  Anyone heard about this?

Dean Asmussen wrote:

MI>BTW, did you hear about the guy that they found dead in the woods that was
MI>wearing a wet suit, mask, oxygen tank, snorkel, and swim fins?  Seems the
MI>forest fire-fighting plane scooped him up while grabbing another tank-full o
MI>water.  Did you hear that "Freshen-Up" gum was made of spider eggs?  Also, a
MI>kid put a whole package of "Pop Rocks" in his mouth at the same time and ble
MI>his head off!  What about the guy that found an entire rat in his Coca-Cola
MI>after he had already taken a sip?

MI>Just kidding :-D!  Sounds like another "urban legend" to me, and that James
MI>Romenesko should be taken to task for shoddy reporting.  A 14-year-old
MI>concerned with patent protection -- come ON, sounds like another "silver
MI>bullet"!

Dean has latched on to the real problem here... The Media and Big
Science.

Ever notice how news reports get "screwed up" when the topic is science
or anything remotely scientific?  I don't even want to mention every
computer programmer in the movies from "The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes"
to "War Games" to "The Net".

Think about how the media analyzes science.  It's as though there's a
Standard Operating Procedure:

1. Discuss the language.  Tell people what a gigabyte is and mention
   the Internet.

2. Discuss the celebrities.  Get a quote from Bill Gates if possible.
   It's as though Gates is the Jesse Jackson of the computer community,
   our glorified leader who can speak no wrong.

3. Discuss the fashion component.  Show Gen-X folks tapping away on IRC
   at Planet Java or something.  Maybe 'net soap operas.

4. Find a "majority" and stick to it... there are tens of millions of
   PCs and only half a million AS/400s, so never mention the AS/400,
   RPG, or any IBM products (except the "frontier" stuff, like copper
   chip technology).

5. Find a problem and jump to the conclusion that only Government can
   address major problems (they've done so well at the Post Office).


I'm continually amazed at how little content is provided about computers
and computer-related issues in the media.  I suppose we just don't fit
the mold (or the mold doesn't fit us).

Jesse McKay
jgm@nak.com
"System/36 and Beyond!"

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