By Jenifer Baker – WSAD Outreach Coordinator + Programmer and Jim Hancock - Programmer

Why is everyone getting so nervous about the Y2K bug? What is Y2Kbug? Well we have some pretty good idea what it is. There are 2 parts of this Y2K bug.

• 1^st is the computer chip that display date, month, day and year that are in some of your things at home or at work that could possibility have some problems operating correctly after January 1, 2000, such as a VCR or your computer.
• 2^nd part is the large company computer programming. In the business world, banks, the stock market, businesses, government, utilities (electricity, water, and so forth), transportation of supplies to retail outlet (grocery stores, department stores, and pharmacies),all are working hard to fix this Y2K bug.

Y2K is caused by a shortcut used in computer programs.  For example, they used 98 rather thant 1998.  Programmers did this to save money and storage cost.  The computer system will assume 00 is 1900, not 2000.   This shortcut could caus many computers system to malfunction. When one wishes to get the age of a person, or date of purchase, or date of deposit, there is a section in the computer program, using this logic to get that answer by using the date such as:                                                    

                                   Year Digit       99                   00                                                                  

                                     minus           54                   54

                                                         45                   ??

No one really knows for sure what will happen when this year ends and the dates in the computer switches from ‘’99’’ to ‘’00’’. Computer programmers are making adjustments to let it subtract 1954 from 2000 by adding the full year date. 

A computer program controls a lot of things. They control utilities (electricity, water, and so forth), transportation of supplies to retail outlet (grocery stores, department stores, and pharmacies), customer records in business/stores and government records. Computer Programmers all over the world have been working on this problem few years ago and still working on it even today on it.

As time gets closer, with these 2 problems, people all over the world will start getting tenses about the day of Jan 1, 2000. There is even a Y2K clock for sale that tells how many days, hours, minutes and seconds before Jan 1, 2000 happens.

So what should you do now until Jan 1, 2000?

• Be on a lookout in newspaper, magazines, TV for tips on how to overcome the Y2K bug. Check out some of the website links listed below.
• Also take a GOOD look around your home, and determine what things you own that might have a computer chip that display dates in it. Some could a microwave oven, and it might your computer or even is your car. Also lot of your software on your computer may need to be replaced before the year 2000 or some of the data that you have created or stored with the older version of the software may not be accurate after the year 2000. Even the operating system on your computer that controls the digital date on your computer such as WIN3.1 or even some WIN95 might have problems after the year 2000. It is BEST that you contact the company or the store you purchases it from that made your device or software and ask them if it is Y2K compatible (work after Jan 1, 2000. Any software that uses dates such as bookkeeping/accounting software, or databases will mostly likely be the biggest headaches.

No one can’t say for sure whether any of the program system will go down, but it doesn’t hurt to be ready, just in case. Here are some of the suggestions we found in a newspaper article for some simple preparation you can do:

• Food – Most of us keep about 2 weeks of supply of food. At a minimum, increase that supply to 6 weeks. If your can, set aside more than you need to help family members or neighbors. Perhaps even better is to buy canned food, or other type of food that doesn’t require cooking or boiling water.
• Water – Buy filtered, ozonated water, which stores very well. Set aside about 60 gallons. You can buy two or three gallon of water and a little extra food each week, which won’t have a tremendous impact on your grocery bill.
• Cooking – The alternatives for cooking your food range all the way from the small, stand-alone heater may work. Find out if the one you buy needs to e vented. If you live in a city apartment, your best bet is probably a non-vented heater.
• Heat – If you don’t have a wood stove or fireplace, a small, stand-alone heater may work. Find out if the one you buy needs to be vented. If you live in a city, your best bet is probably a non-vented heater.
• Car – have a full tank of gas in your car for emergencies.
• Medicine – If you have a medical condition that requires supply of medication, consider setting aside some extra medication.
• Cash – Consider having some cash on hand in denominations ranging from $1 to $20. I plan to set aside about a one month’s supply
• Important documents – Keep copies of important documents, including those showing your account balances, social security earnings and so forth.
• Travel – Some suggested it is best not to travel during 1999 Christmas and New Year holidays.

Please share this article among your deaf friends.