 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group PC (President's Comments) Morris Tobias morrist@melbpc.org.au |
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Y2K. It came, it went, it fizzed. I have found myself thinking how history will view the worldwide paranoia that went with the end of the second Millennium. Will they be amused at the way we acted? We couldn't get enough information from the doomsayers who proclaimed that the world would be engulfed in complete chaos when the clock struck midnight on 31 December 1999. Will they view the event in the same light that we view those who thought the world was flat? Those doomsayers have mysteriously disappeared from the public view, particularly the ones who had built fortified homes in the middle of nowhere, and the rest of us find life going on very much as it always has.
Even the viruses that were supposed to be triggered as the year turned from 1999 to 2000 haven't eventuated. We will never know if the billions of dollars spent in Australia to counter any real or perceived problems have been worth it. It is widely said that insurance is not worth it until you make a claim, but the sceptic in me recalls an article I read in The Age recently. British Telecom spent millions of pounds ensuring that their systems were compliant. In South Korea, where the same systems are in place, it was believed that there wouldn't be a problem and nothing was spent. The fact that everything is working as it should in both countries should come as a surprise.
Beware the doomsayers touting computer problems on 29 February 2000. One good thing that came out of the Y2K was the frenzy of backing up that went on around the world. Even in our office, four separate back-ups of data and accounting files were saved to floppies. We should all remember though, that back-up should be updated regularly.
I will take this opportunity to welcome a couple of new faces as well as some old ones to the committee of management. Noel Peters and Ray Beatty have joined the ranks, and I welcome Keith Beresford and John Morris back into the fold. Our thanks also go to David Owen who took on the job of Returning Officer with gusto, and we saw a very well organised election process. See David's report of the election later in this issue.
This week I attended the East SIG's first meeting of 2000. It was preceded by the annual BBQ and I can happily report that a good time was had by all. Please note the change of venue for East SIG meetings - 120 Eley Road Blackburn. I highly recommend anyone who lives in the area to wander along to their next meeting. After the annual wind down for the holiday period, our training courses are now back in full swing. Check out the training pages later in this issue for details. One of our more popular new courses in the latter part of 1999 was Introduction to Linux. More are being planned.
Reprinted from the February 2000 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
