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People and links that I find trustworthy and useful
We at gofast.net, Inc. ran community preparedness online forum that led to all sorts of follow-up activity around here. Here's a link to the forum. Here you can read transcripts of the conversations that have taken place -- the forumīs pretty much dormant now.
I love this "breakthrough articles" site. A great starting point for your exploration. Some of the best thinkers' work, all in one place.
New! Boston University has a great site -- the Center for Millennial Studies. This is a place to go for information regarding millennarian or apocalyptic groups and their potential for disruptive behavior in the coming months; the site provides many good links in addition to numerous interesting and illuminating interpretations of ongoing social response to both Y2K and the Millennial Date Change Event.
Bruce Chapman, President of the Discovery Institute, wrote a great 3-part series on the policy and leadership issues around Y2K. Here's the link
Edward Yardeni is a Wall Street analyst who has a comprehensive assessment of the situation. He's gloomy. Here's the link He's making the distinction between "alarm" which he views as a good thing as people get motivated to action (like me), and "panic" which he views as a bad thing. He recently gave a RealVideo interview on ZDNet. I think it's a darn good one. Here's the link
Edward Yourdon is very concerned. His analysis, voiced for so long to unlistening audiences, has turned shrill. Thus he's often dismissed as an extremist and a doomsayer. But he's the person that invented many of the techniques of large-scale systems development and is very credible to me -- I use methodology based on his work to this very day. Read his words carefully, and recognize that this is one incredibly frustrated fella. Heīs been a leading voice for reforming the way we write software for over 20 years. Here's the link.
Douglass Carmichael has written the most inspirational page about community preparedness I've come across. I'll put it here and in the Community Preparedness section. Here's the link.
New! This site took me 7 hours to read -- and I wound up reading every word. The U. S. Naval War College has one of the best writeups Iīve come across so far about Y2k. This is a terrific synthesis of a lot of the writers I trust, plus a dash of historical perspective. To read the whole thing, follow this link to the whole study. But at a minimum, follow this link to their really interesting conclusions -- as challenging and mind-bending as Doug Carmichaelīs stuff.
Eric Utne (another Minnesota chill-bird and founder of the Utne Reader) has published over a million copies of his Y2k Citizen Action Guide. Itīs got a bunch of great information, and could be a useful tool for you if you are working on "awareness raising" right now. I think you can get copies for free. Check with Eric.
The good folks at the Co-Intelligence Institute say "Let's use the Year 2000 problem (Y2K) to make a better world, moving beyond business-as-usual to resilient, sustainable communities; social change; and personal and cultural transformation." I agree with em. They have a great site. Here's the link
Mark A. Frautschi has written a nifty (pretty technical) summary of the "embedded systems" problem. Best stuff I've seen so far on how those dang pesky chips cause all the trouble. Pretty dense reading, but worth it -- and a great "links" section at the end. Here's the link.
Americans Talk Issues is a polling outfit that just did a pretty comprehensive (and surprising) Y2K survey. The summary? Americans are aware of Y2K, they want to help, they don't trust the government. Here's the link
Other views
One trouble with the Y2K discussion is that there are many voices, and its often hard to sort out the middle ground. Naturally we all consider ourselves "moderates" bracketed by Doomsayers and Skeptics. Myself included! <grin>
Most of the above sites make sense to me.. But I think its important that you see my biases -- the sites below are here so that you can calibrate your own views.
People and links that are too extreme, too negative for my tastes
Gary North has one of the earliest and most comprehensive sites in this arena. He is often quoted, by all sides. Many of the "Y2K is a hoax" sites got their start as Gary North bashers. His material is often used for shock value by people who are frustrated because they can't get people to listen any other way. Here's the link
Survivalists have been around for a long time. The Y2K issue has spawned some new sites. Y2K Survive! is pretty typical. [By the way, this should not be confused with Jim Lord's darn nifty Survive Y2K site -- too bad the names are so similar] Here's a site that combines a religious conservative position with self-defense and a dash of Y2K.
"Y2K is a hoax" sites -- people and links that are extremists on the other side
This fellow bills himself as a systems analyst who's just darn mad that he didn't think up this hoax on his own, so he could cash in. He's got a great set of links to other "skeptics" pages. I endorse those who are trying to throw a little bit of a wet blanket on the hysteria. Here's the link.
The John Birch Society has a page that dismisses the Y2K problem as overblown. Here's the link
Here's some "hoax" media stuff. There's lots, these are just ones that came easily to hand. Interestingly enough, Popular Mechanics magazine thinks it's a hoax. Here's the link. Here's Don Steinberg's piece on C|Net with pretty much the same view.
"Gary North is a Big Fat Idiot" page. Title says it all -- this really isn't a site about Y2K as much as it's a page that bashes Gary North. But it raises important (and valid) questions about Gary Northīs motivation and history. Here's the link. |
