FC: Y2K has no visible effect in UK

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

> From: "Alan Docherty" <freenet () globalnet co uk>
> To: "Declan McCullagh" <declan () well com>
> Subject: Y2K in the UK
> Date: Sat, 1 Jan 2000 12:21:04 -0000
>
> Declan,
>
> So much for planes falling out of the sky, bank's losing account statements,
> utility providers shutting down and third world glitches triggering global
> meltdown.
>
> Happy New Millenium!
>
> Alan
>
> +++
> > > From the (UK) Government Millennium Centre:
>
> Bulletin
>
> Issue at 08.45 on 1 January 2000
>
> The situation is quiet both in the UK and abroad. No obvious bug problems
> have been reported.
>
> Celebration
>
> No significant public order problems have arisen despite large crowds having
> gathered across the country.
>
> The estimated 2 - 2.5 million people who gathered in central London for the
> Millennium celebration appear to have got home safely.
>
> Outside London, celebrations around the country passed off successfully.
> Crowds have now dispersed and revellers gone home..
>
> Westminster City Council reports that their 150 road sweepers, assisted by
> 13 dustcarts and 18 mechanical sweepers, have already swept up 150 tons of
> rubbish left by the central London revellers. Fifteen percent of this
> comprises champagne bottles!
>
> This is four times the normal amount of rubbish.
>
> Scotland
>
> An estimated 180, 000 people attended the street party in Edinburgh and more
> than 30,000 were at events in Glasgow. More than 40,000 attended events in
> Aberdeen. Police report generally good behaviour through the night, and low
> levels of arrests. Some forces were quieter than last Hogmanay despite the
> crowds.
>
> Northern Ireland
>
> Celebrations were a great success across Northern Ireland. More than
>
> 40, 000 attended concerts and fireworks in Belfast with a further 12,000 in
> Londonderry. Arrests in both cities totalled 10 - no more than might be
> expected on any Friday night. The village of Roddlea "transformed" itself
> into Tonga and Alaska to enjoy celebrating midnight in three time zones.
>
> Wales
>
> Pressures on the NHS in Wales are considered to be typical of the winter and
> New Year period. There are no noticeable Millennium-related pressures
> identified at present.
>
> The NHS and Social Services overall had busy night and are in control and
> coping well.
>
> The utilities
>
> No bug problems reported with major utilities.
>
> Electricity: all companies report business as usual.
> Gas: Transco continues to report business as usual.
> Telecoms: All networks operating normally. Earlier congestion in mobile
> networks around midnight has now subsided.
> Nuclear power: All UK nuclear power stations which are operating continue to
> do so normally, without any safety related faults.
> Air Traffic Control reports all systems operating normally. First flights
> have landed at Heathrow and Gatwick. IATA report normal services operating
> world-wide. BAA confirm all systems operating normally.
> Finance
>
> There have been no reports of problems in the financial sector. ATMs, credit
> and debit cards are all reported to be working normally as are on-line
> banking services and 24-hour call centres.
>
> International
>
> There have been no obvious Millennium Bug problems in the countries that
> have passed the date change.
>
> http://www.millennium-centre.gov.uk/bulletins/000101_0845.htm
>
> Y2K computer bug problem didn't materialise
>
> The much feared millennium bug seems to have been a no show as banks,
> business and government reported no significant computer glitches in the
> first hours of the New Year.
> The threat of the Y2K bug has been taken seriously by business and
> Governments around the World.
>
> As well as the government, the Bank of England and the Financial Services
> Authority have also have 24 hour nerve centres monitoring computers.
>
> The Cabinet Office, which has been monitoring computers across the country,
> from its special Government Millennium Centre, said there had been "no
> significant bug related problems reported so far".
>
> The "business as usual" message was echoed by the water, gas and electricity
> industries and by the Bank of England, which has been keeping a wary eye on
> Britain's financial systems.
>
> Around 60,000 staff are working in the City of London through the millennium
> weekend checking that computer systems for the financial markets could deal
> with the 2000 date.
>
> Normal business is due to resume on Tuesday, but key organisations will test
> systems before real trading begins.
>
> The London Stock Exchange and the London International Financial Futures and
> Options Exchange (Liffe) is carrying out internal checks and will allow
> trading companies to check the systems through the weekend.
>
> The Electricity Association, which represents the UK's power industry, said:
> "While only a short period has elapsed since the date change the electricity
> industry is confident that there will be no significant millennium bug
> problems affecting UK power supplies."
>
> Concerns that air travel could be hit by the bug at the stroke of midnight
> also proved unfounded. British Airways said there were no reports of
> difficulties on any of its 15 planes which were in the sky at the moment the
> date changed.
>
> The Bank of England said cash machines systems were working normally as were
> telephone and computer banking services.
>
> Telecoms watchdog Oftel reported that the New Year passed without any
> serious communications glitches.
>
> In a statement the regulator said: "New Year's Eve was a very busy night for
> the telephone networks, but they coped extremely well and there are no major
> problems. There have as yet been no signs of any millennium bug problems."
>
> Oftel said the smooth working of the phone system was "testament to all the
> work by the telecoms companies over the past two years".
>
> But with most companies on holiday and many parts of industry still to
> return to normal work, the Bank of England along with other government and
> businesswatchdogs will continue to monitor the situation throughout the
> weekend.
>
> The millennium bug is caused by many computers and software programmes only
> using two digits to recognise year dates - for example using 98 for 1998 and
> 99 for 1999.
>
> The arrival of 2000 and the 00 date digits could confuse computer systems
> raising fears of computer crashes.
>
> Millions of pounds have been spent checking and fixing computer systems. BA
> alone spent £100 million while the Electricity Industry spent over £200
> million.
>
> The rest of the world has also enjoyed a bug-free New Year so far, with
> authorities from New Zealand to New York reporting no significant problems.
>
> http://www.itn.co.uk/Britain/brit20000101/010107.htm
>
>
> Saturday, 1 January, 2000, 10:48 GMT
> Y2K bug fails to bite
>
>
> The world has welcomed the new millennium without suffering any major
> millennium bug problems - at least so far.
>
> Despite entering the year 2000 more dependent on computers than ever before,
> humanity witnessed no nuclear power plants melting down, no aeroplanes
> crashing from the sky, and electricity, water, transport and financial
> systems around the world continued to work normally.
>
> The remarkable lack of problems amazed even those who were confident of a
> successful date rollover into the new millennium. "I would say I'm
> pleasantly surprised," said US Y2K trouble-shooter, John Koskinen.
>
> The only potentially worrying events occurred at nuclear power plants in
> Japan. Radiation-monitoring equipment in Ishikawa failed at midnight but
> officials said there was no risk to the public. Alarms had sounded at
> another plant at the same time but no problems were found.
>
> Russia's nuclear arsenal handled the date rollover
>
> The most dramatic event, an announcement by the US military that it had
> detected the launch of three Russian missiles, turned out to be unrelated to
> the Y2K bug. Russian officials confirmed that the Scud missile launches were
> part of its ongoing conflict with rebels in Chechnya.
>
> The global preparations for the millennium bug are estimated to have cost
> between $300 and $600bn and already questions have been asked as to whether
> this was necessary.
>
> Worthwhile investment
>
> "One of the questions you've begun to see surface is, 'well, has this all
> been hype?'" said John Koskinen, the US Y2K trouble-shooter.
>
> The answer is no, he said, adding that preparing for Y2K had been "the
> biggest management challenge the world has had in 50 years."
>
>
> Minor Y2K problems
>
> US official timekeeper, the Naval Observatory, reported the date as 19100 on
> its website
> Japan - system collecting flight information for small planes failed
> Australia - bus ticket validation machines failed
> US - Over 150 slot machines at race tracks in Delaware failed
> Spain - worker was summoned to an industrial tribunal on 3 February, 1900
> South Korea - district court summoned 170 people to court on the 4 January,
> 1900
> Italy - Telecom Italia sent out bills for the first two months of 1900
> UK - Some credit card transactions failed
>
> "I think that we should not underestimate the nature of the problem that was
> originally there," he said.
>
> Basil Logan is chairman of the Y2K Readiness Commission in New Zealand, the
> first industrialised country to see in the new millennium. He said: "New
> Zealand's investment in planning and preparation has paid off."
>
> And in South Africa, the director-general of the government department
> overseeing South Africa's Y2K programme, Zam Titus, said: "Months of
> intensive preparations have paid off so far."
>
> Matt Hotle, of the US technology consultants Gartner Group, agreed: "The
> reason we're in the position we're in is because we spent that money. Had we
> not spent this money, we would be facing worldwide calamity."
>
> Not over yet
>
> But despite the seemingly smooth transition into the 21st Century, experts
> are warning that there may still be problems ahead.
>
> Any damage from the millennium bug need not be restricted to the moment the
> date rolls over, but could occur any time a computer mistakenly reads a year
> 2000 date.
>
> Some websites showed the wrong date
>
> The Gartner Group predicts that less than 10% of Y2K glitches will occur in
> the first two weeks of January, with 55% hitting over the rest of the year.
>
> When offices begin to re-open and computers are turned back on, problems may
> start to appear.
>
> "We do expect to see glitches, headaches, hiccups in the systems that
> support business, some of the accounting and billing systems, so these will
> create inconveniences next week," Bruce McConnell, director of the
> International Y2K Co-operation Centre, said in Washington.
>
> Bruce Webster, co-chair of the Washington-based Year 2000 Group, said he
> expects the biggest system failures to occur gradually, over a period of
> days and weeks. Even so, he downplayed the risk,
>
> "Most Y2K errors are pretty dull," he said. "A program stops working or it
> makes a bad calculation. None of this means planes falling out of the sky or
> nuclear meltdowns."
>
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_585000/585013.stm


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
POLITECH -- the moderated mailing list of politics and technology
To subscribe: send a message to majordomo () vorlon mit edu with this text:
subscribe politech
More information is at http://www.well.com/~declan/politech/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------