Klarinet Archive - Posting 001003.txt from 1999/11

From: "Mark Charette" <charette@-----.org>
Subj: Re: [kl] Off-topic: Y2K stuff
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 1999 12:54:20 -0500

> Thank you!! That reminds me: What's best for this list at the end of
next
> month? Some of us won't know for sure that our computers will work. My
> husband hopes he can fix his computer well enough so that we can continue
to
> send and receive e-mail and connect with the Internet, but if his fixes
don't
> work, I don't want to contribute to clogging up your computer with bounced
> messages. But if a bunch of us unsubscribe at the last minute, could we
foul
> things up that way, too? Is it better for you if those of us who don't
know
> what to expect unsubscribe well before January 1? If so, how soon?

The Sneezy computer can handle pretty much any email load you throw at it,
including bounces. It's been set up that way (it's why I chose certain
software to run on it). The only problem you're going to have is an
"annoyance" one - for those people who will be setting their clocks back on
their computers, the messages will have incorrect "sent" dates.

>For instance,WordPerfect, AOL and the makers of all my other
> software have long since quit supporting the versions that will run on my
486
> and will not provide Y2K fixes for those versions.

You could always run Linux ... runs perfectly well on a 486, you can
overrride the BIOS clock, and there's a reasonably good free "Word" and
"Excel" clone available from Sun. 16 Mb is more than enough to run most of
the stuff. My 486 is a 16Mb one and I've run the programs - they function
pretty well. One at a time, though, or you're swapping to death.

>The people who make the decisions at some of these
> companies think the E.P.A. people are a flock of clucking Chicken Littles
> anyway and agree with you that "people overblow the Y2K thing." Therefore
> some pesticide manufacturers refuse to take the precaution of standing
down
> over New Year's. They say they're absolutely positive they know what
they're
> doing. I sure hope they're right.

Actually, Lelia, the big problem _is_ with those machines that are
programmed with a _day_ instead of a _date_. Like "do this on Monday, this
other thing starting at mignight on Tuesday", etc.

> Back up my hard drive? How do I put it in reverse?

With no trepidation and soldering iron in hand, Mr. Charette attacks the
inside of the previously hermetically sealed drive ...

:^)

Cheers,
mark C.

Back to getting that stuffing ready ...

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